I 
354 
On the Teeth of the Ox, Sheep, and Pig, 
tushes. The first permanent incisor is a corner tooth ; the pig 
differinf^ altogether from our other domesticated animals in the 
renewal of the corner teeth before the others. This no doubt 
depends somewliat on the circumstance that the teeth displaced 
were earlier tlirough the gums than the middle or the lateral 
incisors. Besides this change of the incisors, the permanent 
tushes, as has been just remarked, also supplant the temporary. 
These peculiarities are depicted in fig. 50, representing the front 
of the lower jaw at nine months. The permanent incisors are 
marked p. i., and the permanent tushes p. t. It will also be seen 
that the temporary incisors are short Avhen compared with the 
figures representing other ages. This diminished length has 
been before alluded to. It has been going on since these teeth 
at six months of the pig's age had nearly acquired their full 
length, and assists the in- 
' quirer in his researches 
into the age of the ani- 
mal. I may add that, in 
pigs " hard kept," it often 
happens that by the time 
they are ten months old, 
the "lower incisor teeth 
are so worn away, that 
on a slight inspection of 
the front part of the 
mouth, the animals seem 
nearly toothless. A re- 
markable instance of this 
kind was brought to my 
notice when examining 
the pigs of Mr. Majori- 
banks, of Bushy Grove, 
Watford. The subject was a young boar, aged ten months, 
bought to cross with the stock, which we judged to have been 
kept on coarse food, or have been turned into the fields to seek 
his own living. Notwithstanding this state of the mouth, the 
animal was in fair condition, and showed no incapability in 
collecting the food on which he was then living. 
As to the cutting of the permanent tushes, which as Ave have 
seen takes place at about nine months, it may be here repeated, 
that tliese teeth are subject to more variations in their develop- 
ment than either the incisors or molars. Breed, sex, character 
of food, system of management, castration, &c., all exert more 
* Fig. 50 represents the cutting at nine months of age of the corner incisors and 
the permanent tushes, p. i. incisors ; r. T. tushes. \ 
