of the Animals of the Farm. 
;589 
remarkable exceptions to the rule of development of the teeth of 
different animals. It is, however, contended that the expert is 
perfectly familiar with the exceptions, and knows exactly how 
to make allowance for them in forming his opinion of an 
animal's age. Any one of common intelligence can become an 
expert in judging the age by the teeth, if he chooses to devote 
some years to the patient and critical study of the subject ; but 
until he has thus qualified himself he ought not to assume the 
right to criticise opinions based on evidence which he cannot 
appreciate. The events of the last exhibition of the Society at 
Reading, without referring to similar cases, which have been 
sufficiently numerous in past years, suffice to prove that what 
ought to be the unquestionable evidence of a breeder's certificate 
cannot always be accepted without hesitation. At the last 
Show eight pens of pigs were absolutely disqualified, and 
exhibitors were cautioned in respect of the pigs in seven other 
pens.- Pigs which wei'e shown under the condition that they 
should not exceed two months had the dentition of three months 
and six months respectively. Pigs shown under six months 
had the one-year-old teeth well up, and others in the same class 
had the dentition of eight and nine months. One man was 
seen to move a pig, after the inspection was finished, from an 
old class into a younger one. The attempt to secure for the 
animal a better position than it was entitled to really led to its 
disqualification — a consequence which, however unpleasant for 
the exhibitor, is not the most serious outcome of the attempted 
fraud ; such proceedings as those which have been referred to 
naturally tend to excite universal suspicion, which may often 
fall unjustly and without sufficient reason. 
In one sense it may be considered satisfactory that, from the 
first, disqualifications have been recorded chiefly in respect of 
the pigs of a few exhibitors, who year after year, in spite of- 
warning, persisted in trying how far they might presume on 
the forbearance of the inspectors, urging, in reply to all remon- 
strances, that it would not answer for one or two to " show 
straight," unless they all agreed to do so. 
The great majority of exhibitors during the last twenty years 
have not given any grounds of complaint ; and in many 
instances, notably among the pigs exhibited by Her Majesty, 
by the Royal Agricultural College, and by Messrs. Howard, the 
development of the teeth has been rather below than in advance 
of the rules which have been laid down as the result of Ions 
experience. Altogether the evidence of more than a quarter of a 
century justifies the statement that the evidence of age which is 
afforded by the teeth, without being absolutely irrefragable, is the 
most reliable, under all the circumstances, which can be obtained. 
