THE MULE. 85 



present a browner hue than the other part of the tooth. 

 It will be surrounded by an edge of enamel, and there 

 will remain a little depression in the center, and also a 

 depression around the case of the enamel. But the 

 deep hole in the center of the enamel, with the black- 

 ened surface it presents, and the elevated edge of the 

 enamel, wdll have disappeared. The mule may now be 

 said to have a perfect mouth, all the teeth being pro- 

 duced and fully grown. 



What I have said above must not be taken as a posi- 

 tive guide in all cases, for mules' mouths are frequently 

 torn, twisted, smashed, and knocked into all kinds of 

 shapes by cruel treatment, and the inexperience, to use 

 no harsher term, of those who have charge of them. 

 Indeed, I have known cases of cruelty so severe that 

 it were impossible to tell the age of the animal from his 

 teeth. 



At seven years old the mark, in the way in which I 

 have described it, is worn out in the four central nip- 

 pers, and is also fast wearing away in the corner teeth. 

 I refer now to a natural mouth that has not been sub- 

 jected to injuries. At eight years old the mark is gone 

 from all the bottom nippers, and may be said to be 

 quite out of the mouth. There is nothing remaining in 

 the bottom nippers by which the age of the mule can 

 be positively ascertained. The tushes are a poor guide 

 at any time in the hfe of the animal to ascertain his 

 age by ; they, more than any other of the teeth, being 

 most exposed to the injuries I l\ave referred to. From 

 this time forward, the changes that take place in the 

 teetli may bo of some assistance in forming an opinion; 



