432 
Dentition as indicative of the Age 
which he is inspecting may be actually over the stated age at 
the time of inspection, without, in consequence, being liable to 
disqualification. This condition of things constantly occurs at 
the Shows which are held after the date up to which the ages 
are calculated ; it is obviously necessary to add the days or 
weeks which have elapsed, to the animals' certified age, at the 
time of making the examination ; for example, in cases Avhere 
ages are calculated to the 1st of June, while the Show takes 
place early in July, a pig which is certified to be five months 
three weeks and five days old in the class for animals not 
exceeding six months, will be more than a month over the 
certified age when it is seen by the inspector. 
Again, it must be noted that the premolars are not always 
developed, and in the same litter one or two pigs will be found 
occasionally in which this tooth is absent. The fourth molar 
is, however, remarkably regular in its appearance, and may be 
referred to for the purpose of resolving any doubt which may 
arise in consequence of the absence of the premolars. 
Disqualification of a pig or pigs entered as not exceeding 
six months would occur under such circumstances as the follow- 
ing. The inspector, it may be supposed, is examining the 
teeth of a pig which is entered as five months and two days ; 
he adds the weeks which have elapsed since the date up to 
which the age is calculated, and deals with the animals as 
having arrived at the age of six months and nine days. At 
this period he expects to find the premolars and the fourth 
molar well up, the fourth molar being close to the angle of the 
jaw, and scarcely free from the covering of gum at the extreme 
posterior part. But if the fourth molar stands out from the 
angle of the jaw, leaving space behind it, and if he observes in 
addition that the temporary corners have been changed for 
permanents, he does not hesitate to assert that the pig is at 
least a month older than it is certified to be. In some pigs 
the corner permanents are found with their points through the 
gum at seven months, but in the majority of cases the tem- 
porary organs remain till the animal has reached the age of 
eight months. 
At nine months, the corner permanent teeth are well up, and 
the presence of the permanent tusks may be through the gum 
in very forward animals at this age. In looking over the notes 
of the inspections which have been made for many years past, 
it is quite certain that, as a rule, the pig at the age of nine 
months has the temporary tusks, or at least some of them, still 
in position ; in fact, the presence of well-developed tusks in a 
pig entered as not exceeding nine months would be a fair 
ground of disqualification, unless the animal were a boar, in 
