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Dentition as indicative of the Age 
The Teeth of the Hoese. 
Among the animals of the farm, the horse has always occupied 
a prominent position, and everything relating to his manage- 
ment in health and disease has received special attention. It is 
not therefore remarkable that horsemen were familiar with the 
method of judging the animal's age by the teeth long before 
it was ascertained that a similar method was applicable to 
other farm-stock. And at the present time, although the 
investigations which have been carried out by A-eterinary 
authorities on the Continent and in this country have led 
to the collection of a large amount of valuable evidence in 
reference to the development of the teeth of the ox, sheep, 
and pig, the fact must be admitted that the teeth of the horse 
exhibit reliable indications of the age for a much longer period 
than those of any other animal. 
The ages of cattle, sheep, and swine are to be judged with 
accuracy only during the period occuped by the cutting of the 
temporary teeth and their replacement by permanent organs ; 
but a peculiar conformation of the teeth of the horse enables the 
expert to form an opinion of the animal's age long after the 
completion of permanent dentition. Girard carries his descrip- 
tion of the changes which occur in the form of the tables of the 
incisor teeth, or more properly the nippers, up to the age of 
twenty years, but very few observers of the present day would 
venture to assert whether a horse were sixteen or twenty years 
old ; and for practical purposes it is not necessary to pursue 
the inquiry beyond the age of twelve or fourteen years. 
When dentition is completed, the horse has six incisors or 
nippers in the front of the mouth in both upper and lower 
jaws, and twenty-four molars, six on each side, in the jaw. 
In the male there are also four tusks, one on each side of the 
upper and lower jaws, between the corner incisors and the molar 
teeth. Small conical teeth, known as wolves' teeth, appear in 
many instances in front of the first upper molars in the colt, 
and sometimes remain after the temporary are exchanged for 
permanent teeth ; but as merely rudimentary organs, they will 
not require any notice beyond the statement that a vulgar 
prejudice has assigned to them a special significance as a cause 
of blindness, and on this ground they are often punched out. 
If this operation is roughly done, it is a mere act of cruelty. In 
any case it is superfluous. But, so far as the teeth are con- 
cerned, their retention or removal is a matter of indifference. 
It is customary in regard to the horse, as to other animals of 
the farm, to judge the age by the incisor teeth, for the probable 
reason that they are more easily examined. The amateur may 
