OUDEE OF PACHYDEEMATA. 



191 



It is also by means of the teeth that we are enabled to know a 

 Horse's age — a knowledge which is of the highest utility ; for a 

 Horse increases in value in proportion as he approaches maturity, 

 again decreasing in worth as he becomes older. Up to nine 

 years the age can be determined pretty accurately by means of 

 the changes which take place in the teeth. 



The foal, at its birth, is usually devoid of teeth in the front of 

 the mouth, and has only two grinders on each side in each jaw 

 (Fig. 48). At the end of a few days, the two middle fore-teeth, 



Fig. 48. — At eigliteen days. 



Fig. 49. — At three years. 



or pincers, make their appearance. In the course of the first 

 month a third grinder shows itself, and in four months more the 

 two next fore-teeth also emerge ; within six and a half or eight 

 months the side incisives, or corner-teeth, show, and also a fourth 

 grinder. At this period the first dentition is complete. The 

 changes which take place up to the age of three j^ears depend 

 only on the fore-teeth being worn away more or less, aud the 

 black hollows being obliterated gradually by contact with food. 

 In thirteen to sixteen months the cavities on the surface of the 

 pincers are effaced ; they are then said to be razed. In sixteen to 

 twenty months the intermediate fore-teeth are likewise razed, and 

 in twenty to twenty-four months the same thing takes place with 

 the corner-teeth. 



The second dentition commences at the age of two and a half 

 or three years (Fig. 49). The milk-teeth may be recognised by 

 their shortness, their whiteness, and the construction round their 

 base, called the neck of the tooth. The teeth which replace them 

 have no neck, and are much larger. The pincers are the first to 

 fall out and be replaced by new ones. At the age of from three 



