122 FOUR YEARS OLD 



changed, and the mouth then is very unmistakable. 

 The central nippers will have very nearly attained l 

 their full growth, a hollow will be left where the second 

 pair stood (or the new ones will be just beginning to 

 show above the gum), and the corner teeth will be 

 diminished in breadth, worn down, and the mark will 

 be becoming small and faint. At this period the 

 second pair of grinders will likewise be shed, and it 

 is just previously to this that the dishonest dealers 

 endeavour to make the mouth appear like that of a 

 four-year-old ; but this can easily be detected in the 

 manner I have before described. 



At four years old the central nippers will be perfectly 

 developed, and their sharp edges somewhat worn, 

 and the mark shorter, wider, and fainter. The next 

 pair will be up, but still small and the mark deep, and 

 extending quite across them, and the corner nippers 

 will be larger than the inside ones, yet smaller than 

 they were, and flat, and their marks nearly effaced. 

 The sixth grinder will also have risen to a level with 

 the others, and the tusks will have begun to appear. 

 Any tricks played on a mouth at this stage are very 

 easily detected. Dealers endeavour to encourage the 

 tusk to show, so as to make the mouth appear like that 

 of five years of age, but it will not always show, even 

 when the gum is lanced. 



At four and a half, or nearly five years, the last 

 important change takes place. The corner nippers 

 are shed, and the permanent ones commence to 

 appear. The central nippers are considerably worn, 

 and the pair next to them are beginning to show marks 

 of usage. The tusk has now come through, and is 

 fully half an inch in height. The latter, viewed ex- 



