198 THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NOSE AND MOUTH. 



irregularity about the gums from the violence used in forcing out the teeth — 

 the small growth of the first and fifth grinders and the non-appearance of the 

 sixth grinder, which if it is not through the gum at three years old, is swelling 

 under it, and preparing to get through— any or all of these circumstances, 

 carefully attended to, will be a sufficient security against deception. 



A horse at three years old ought to have the central permanent nippers 

 growing— the other two pairs wasting— six grinders in each jaw, above and 

 below — the first and fifth level with the others, and the sixth protruding. 

 The sharp edge of the new incisors, although it could not be well expressed in 

 the cut, will be very evident when compared with the neighbouring teeth. 



As the permanent nippers wear, and continue to grow, a narrower portion of 

 the cone-shaped tooth is exposed to the attrition, and they look as if they had 

 been compressed, but it is not so. The mark, of course, gradually disappears 

 as the pit is worn away. 



At three years and a half, or between that and four, the next pair of nippers 

 will be changed, and the mouth at that time cannot be mistaken. The central 

 nippers will have attained nearly their full growth. A vacuity will be left where 

 the second stood, or they will begin to peep above the gum, and the corner 

 ones will be diminished in breadth, worn down, and the mark becoming small 

 and faint. At this period, likewise, the second pair of grinders will be shed. 



Previously to this may be the attempt of 

 the dealer to give to his three -years old an 

 additional year, but the fraud will be de- 

 tected by an examination similar to that 

 which has been already described. 



At four years, the central nippers will 

 be fully developed ; the sharp edge some- 

 what worn off and the mark shorter, wider, 

 and fainter. The next pair will be up, 

 but they will be small, with the mark 

 deep, and extending quite across them. 

 The corner nippers will be larger than the 

 inside ones yet smaller than they were, 

 and flat, and the mark nearly effaced. The 

 sixth grinder will have risen to a level with the others, and the tushes will 

 begin to appear. 



Now, more than at any other time, will the dealer be anxious to put an addi- 

 tional year upon the animal, for the difference between a four-years-old colt, and 

 a five-years-old horse, in strength, utility, and value, is very great ; but, the 

 want of wear in the other nippers — the small size of the corner ones — the little 

 growth of the tush — the smallness of the second grinder — the low fore-hand 

 . — the legginess of the colt, and the thickness and little depth of the mouth ; 

 will, to the man of common experience among horses, at once detect the cheat. 

 The tushes (see p. 192) are four in number, two in each jaw, situated 

 between the nippers and the grinders — much nearer to the former than the latter, 

 and nearer hi the lower jaw than in the upper, but this distance increasing in 

 both jaws with the age of the animal. In shape it somewhat resembles a cone ; 

 it protrudes about an inch from the gum, and has its extremity sharp-pointed 

 and curved. At the age now under consideration, the tushes are almost 

 peculiar to the horse, and castration does not appear to prevent or retard their 

 development. All mares, however, have the germs of them in the chambers of 

 the jaw, and they appear externally in the majority of old mares. Their use is 

 not evident. Perhaps in the wild state of the animal they are weapons of 

 offence, and he is enabled by them more firmly to seize, and more deeply wound 

 his enemy. 



