748 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

 Examination op the Mouth for Age. 



DURATION of LIFE OF HORSES MEANS OP ASCERTAINING A HORSe's 



AGE PARTS OF A TOOTH DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEETH FORM 



OF THE TEETH STRUCTURE OF THE TEETH CHANGES UNDERGONE 



BY THE TEETH WITH AGE ^DATES OF TEETHING CAUSES WHICH 



MAT HASTEN OR RETARD THE APPEAEANOB OF THE PERMANENT 



TEETH DATES PROM WHICH HORSES ARE AGED TEETH WHICH 



RETAIN THE MARK AND CENTRAL ENAMEL BEYOND THE ORDINARY 



TIME ^IRREGULARITY IN THE RESPECTIVE SIZE OF THE UPPER AND 



LOWER JAW ^IRREGULARITIES IN THE TEETH BISHOPING ILLUS- 

 TRATIONS OF DIFFERENT AGES. 



Duration of Life of Horses. 



The chief difficulty in solving this question, is the fact that 

 owners of domestic horses generally kill them, when these animals 

 are past work, and records of the respective births and deaths of 

 wild horses are seldom, if ever made. Goubaux and Barrier tell 

 us that their confrere, M. Laurent, sent them the jaws of a horse 

 which was 49 years old, and that in 1845 they saw a horse of the 

 Cuirassiers, which had gone through the Russian campaign of 1813, 

 and, on that account, was probably 38 years old. Mr. H. B. Hiles, 

 M.R.C.V.S., most' kindly sent me the jaws of a horse which was 

 42|^ years old when he was destroyed by his owner, who had him 

 for 36 years. The teeth of this animal are shown in Figs. 272, 

 273, and 274 (pp. 812 and 813). Thirty years is about the age 

 limit of thoroughbred stallions kept in studs. 



High feeding, by hastening precocity, tends to shorten the life 

 of animals. Friends of mine who have had long experience among 

 horses abroad, inform me that horses brought up under natural 

 conditions on grass, until they are at least 5 years old, live much 

 longer than those whose growth has been stimulated by corn. 



