r 
JOURNAL 
OF THE 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
OF ENGLAND. 
XXII. — Dentition as indicative of the Age of the Animals of the 
Farm. By Professor G. T. Brown, of the Veterinary 
Department of the Privv Council. 
Early maturity is the sine qua nan of breeders and exhibitors 
of farm stock, and it is one of the objects of Agricultural 
Societies to encourage them in their efforts to produce breeds 
which reach a state of perfect development at a comparatively 
youthful period. In order that judges of stock may be in 
a position to decide between animals of undoubted merit, the 
age is in all cases to be taken into account ; and it is presumed 
that of the competing animals, which are in other respects 
equal, the youngest will receive the palm. Whether or not the 
practice is invariably in conformity with this theory may be 
open to question, but there is no doubt that the principle is 
correct, and in order that it m.ay be carried into effect it is 
necessary to inform the judges of the exact age of each animal 
in every class. 
No argument is required to show that the breeder's certificate 
would afford the most reliable evidence of an animal's age,' 
if scrupulous exactitude and honesty were inherent human 
qualities ; it is equally obvious that, in their absence, the 
evidence of a certificate is more calculated to mislead than 
to assist the judgment. 
It will probably be conceded that persons who are concerned 
with the breeding and feeding of animals are not always free 
from risk of error, and it certainly can be proved by the logic of 
facts that all are not scrupulously exact in such matters as the 
statement of an animal's age. It therefore becomes necessary 
to supplement or correct the exhibitor's certificate by such evi- 
dence as the animal itself affords ; and by common consent the 
periodical changes to which the teeth are subject are accepted as 
VOL. XVIII. — S. S. 2 C 
