TEETH OF THE SHEEP. 267 



teeth, before they are shed ; and they frequently, as in this 

 cut, stand so far behind the third pair of incisors that they 

 can not be seen, on looking into the mouth in front. Conse- 

 quently, unless the broad incisors are counted, the sheep is 

 often mistaken for a full-mouthed one. 



The teeth aiford the most decisive test there is of the age of 

 a sheep, until it is four years old, though there is sometimes 

 a variation of a number of months or even a year in their 

 development. High kept and rapidly grown sheep acquire 

 their second teeth earlier. 



When perfect, the incisors are sharp, rounded on the edge, 

 as in the cuts ; a little concave without and convex within (or 

 gouge-shaped;) and they project forward, so that with the 

 firm, elastic pad on the upper jaw with which they are 

 brought into contact, they are capable of taking up the 

 smallest body. They will not only crop the shortest grass, 

 but scoop up its very roots. A sheep yarded on unpuUed 

 turnips usually scoops out the centers of them so far as they 

 are in the ground, leaving little more than the mere skin of 

 the sides and bottoms, remaining imbroken like cups in 

 the soil. 



At six years old the incisors of the Merino begin to 

 diminish in breadth and lose their fan-like shape and position. 

 At seven they become long and narrow, stand about perpen- 

 dicular with respect to each other, and have lost their 

 rounded, cutting edges. At eight they are still narrower, 

 and their outer ends begin to converge considerably toward 

 the middle. At nine the convergence is still greater, the teeth 

 are not thicker than very small straws, and are very long, 

 particularly the middle ones. At ten these appearances have 

 increased and the teeth are becoming quite loose. At about 

 this period of life the teeth begin to drop out, though 

 frequently all are retained until twelve.* The sheep is then 

 called "broken mouthed." In two or three years after 

 beginning to lose them, all the incisors are usually gone but 

 one or two. These should be pulled by a pair of nippers, as 

 they prevent the sheep from cropping short grass, f The 



* It is stated by Dillon, in his Travels in Spain, 1779, (quoted by Tonatt,) that 

 "the teeth of the Spanish ram do not fall out until the animalis eight years 

 old ; whereas the ewes, froth the delicacy of their frame, or from other causes, 

 lose theirs at five." These are undoubtedly the loose assertions of a misinformed 

 traveler: at least, they do not approximate to accuracy in. respect to the American 

 Merino. 



+ Mr. Touatt is clearly mistaken, however, [in saying " that if any of the teeth 

 are loose they should be extracted," {vide p. 5.) All the incisors are frequently 

 loose, to a considerable degree, a year or two before any of them drop out, and the 



