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It is also by means of tbe teeth that we are enabled to know a 
Horse’s age — a knowledge wbicb is of the highest utility ; for a 
Horse increases in value in proportion as he approaches maturity, 
again decreasing in worth as he becomes older. Up to nine 
years the age can be determined pretty accurately by means of 
the changes which take place in the teeth. 
The foal, at its birth, is usually devoid of teeth in the front of 
the mouth, and has only two grinders on each side in each jaw 
(Fig. 48). At the end of a few days, the two middle fore-teeth, 
Fig. 49. — At three years. 
Fig. 48.— At eighteen days. 
or pincers , make their appearance. In the course of the first 
month a third grinder shows itself, and in four months more the 
two next fore-teeth also emerge ; within six and a half or eight 
months the side incisives, or corner-teeth , show, and also a fourth 
grinder. At this period the first dentition is complete. The 
changes which take place up to the age of three years depend 
only on the fore-teeth being worn away more or less, and the 
black hollows being obliterated gradually by contact with food. 
In thirteen to sixteen months the cavities on the surface of the 
pincers are effaced ; they are then said to be razed. In sixteen to 
twenty months the intermediate fore-teeth are likewise razed , and 
in twenty to twenty-four months the same thing takes place with 
the corner -teeth. 
The second dentition commences at the age of two and a half 
or three years (Fig. 49). The milk-teeth may be recognised by 
their shortness, their whiteness, and the construction round their 
base, called the neck of the tooth. The teeth which replace them 
have no neck, and are much larger. The pincers are the first to 
fall out and be replaced by new ones. At the age of from three 
