6i6 TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
of this case had lived longer, there is little doubt but 
the continued pressure would have caused a complete ob¬ 
struction. 
AGE OF THE HORSE AND MESMERISM. 
In these times of table-turning, spirit-rapping, and mes¬ 
merism, we may be excused for the following extract from 
the Gioniale di Medicina Veterinarian Torino, 1859* 
To know the age of the horse without inspecting the 
teeth, pull a hair out of the mane of thetanimal of which 
you wish to ascertain the age, pass it through a plain gold 
ring, of a certain substance, hold the two ends of the hair 
between the thumb and forefinger, suspend it in this manner 
in the centre of a tumbler, taking care that the latter is per- 
fectlv level, and that the hair is long enough to allow the 
ring to reach the side of the glass. Holding it very steady 
in this position, in a few minutes, or even seconds, a slight 
oscillation of the ring is perceived, which soon increases, and 
the ring strikes the side of the glass as many times as the 
horse is years old. (?) 
Another account .—II Signor Piazza, veterinary surgeon, 
was in company with a rich proprietor, who assured him 
that he always used this method to know the age of horses, 
and, to prove it, went into the stable, and pulled a hair out 
of the mane of a seven-year-old horse, and one from a colt, 
thirty months old; then going into the drawing-room, he asked 
for a glass half full of water, and also procured his wife’s 
plain gold ring. Then passing one of the hairs through the 
ring, he held the two ends between his forefinger and thumb, 
dipped the ring in the water, then suspended it in the 
middle of the glass, just below the rim; in less than half a 
minute, the ring struck the glass seven times. The same 
was done with the other hair, and the glass was struck twice 
for the colt. He afterwards asked for a hair of his wife, and 
proceeded in the same manner, when thirt} r -five strokes were 
heard, and the register proved that her age was thirty-five 
years. “All this,” the writer says, “I saw with my own 
eyes, and whoever likes, can try the experiment, which may 
be repeated as often as you like, but always taking a fresh 
hair from the mane, as the one that has been once used will 
have no further effect.” This phenomenon is ascribed to 
mesmerism, or, perhaps, may depend on the physiology of 
the hair, based on the microscopic anatomy of the same. (?) 
