60 
rather than right beneath their roots, as to occa- 
sion their temporary transmutation into what is 
technically called wolf's teeth. The crown of a 
milk-tooth pressed sideways by its successor is 
pushed out of its place to the forepart of the first 
grinder ; it remains there for a considerable time, 
causing soreness of the gums, and sometimes ex- 
coriation in the cheek; and, very generally, it 
cannot wisely be left to the slow process of ab- 
sorption for removal, but must be forcibly ex- 
tracted. ‘The period between the fall of the first 
pair of milk-nippers, and the full growth of their 
successors, affords a well-defined indication of 
age, and is often distinguished by difficulty in 
the colt’s grazing, or by a necessity for his being 
partly fed with cut food, or with mashes and corn. 
At three years of age, the teeth of the colt will 
consist of the central pair of nippers, large and 
growing ; the other two pairs of‘nippers wasting ; 
| and six grinders above and six below, the first 
| and the fifth level with the central ones, and the 
sixth protruding. The ‘mark’ in the central 
nippers is long, narrow, deep, and black ; that of 
the pair next the central ones is nearly extinct ; 
| and that in the third or corner pair is very much 
reduced. The appearance of the mouth at this 
time is shown in J%g. 4, Plate J. The indi- 
cations of age here are so many and strong— 
especially those afforded by the lowness, large- 
ness, sharpness, and broad mark of the new or 
| central nippers, and by the comparative small- 
ness and the worn condition of the other nippers 
| —that a novice might suppose nothing to be more 
| easy or certain than the identifying of a three- 
year-old colt. Yet this is precisely the period 
when rascality makes its first great attempt to 
deceive the horse-purchaser. “ The ages of all 
horses used to be reckoned from May ; but some 
are foaled even so early as January, and being 
| actually four months over the two years, if they 
| have been well nursed and fed, and are strong 
and large, they may, with the inexperienced, have 
an additional year put upon them. ‘The central 
nippers are punched or drawn out, and the others 
appear three or four months earlier than they 
otherwise would, In the natural process they 
could only rise by long pressing upon, and caus- 
ing the absorption of the first set. But opposi- 
tion from the first set being removed, it is easy 
to imagine that their progress will be more rapid. 
Three or four months will be gained in the ap- 
pearance of the teeth, and these three or four 
months may enable the breeder to term him a late 
colt of a preceding year. To him, however, who 
| is accustomed to horses, the general form of the 
animal, the little development of the forehand, 
the continuance of the mark. on the next pair of 
nippers, its more evident existence in the corner 
ones, some enlargement or irregularity about the 
gums from the violence used in forcing out the 
teeth, the small growth of the first and fifth 
grinders, and the non-appearance of the sixth 
grinder, which, if it is not through the gum at 
AGE OF ANIMALS. 
three years old, is swelling under it, and prepar- 
ing to get through,—any or all of these circum- 
stances, carefully attended to, will be a sufficient 
security against deception.” —| Youatt on the 
Forse. | 
At three years and a half of age, or between 
that period and four years, the second pair of 
grinders and the second pair of nippers will be 
shed, the central pair of nippers will have at- 
tained nearly their full size, the second pair of 
new or permanent nippers will be beginning to 
protrude from the gum, and the third or corner 
pair of nippers will be worn down, diminished in 
breadth, and divested of a considerable portion of 
their mark. Any attempt of the horse-dealer to 
give the animal’s mouth at this time the appear- 
ance of an additional year, may easily be detected 
by a similar examination to that for discovering 
the fraud upon a three-year-old colt. At four 
years of age, the permanent central nippers have 
attained their full size, and are beginning to lose 
a portion of their edge and of their mark ; the 
second pair of permanent nippers are partially 
developed, and have a deep mark, extending 
quite across them ; the corner nippers are larger 
than the second pair, yet have diminished in their 
own size, and almost wholly lost their mark ; the 
sixth grinder has attained the same level as the 
other grinders; and in males the tushes begin to 
appear, though in mares only the germs of the 
tushes as yet exist, and even these only in the 
chambers of the jaw. The appearance of the 
mouth of a four-year-old colt is shown in 
fig. 5, Plate I. Strenuous efforts are usually 
made by dishonest dealers to pats off a four-year- | 
old colt for a five-year-old horse ; but these may 
be detected by the unworn condition of the first 
and second pairs of nippers, by the smallness and 
unmarkedness of the corner nippers, by the em- 
bryo condition of the tushes, by the smallness of 
the second grinder, and even by the comparative 
thickness and small depth of the whole mouth. 
The tushes, however, if treated as the sole cri- 
terion, may possibly occasion the animal to be 
pronounced younger than he really is; for while 
they cannot be forced by knavish practice into 
a greater advance of development upon nature 
than a few weeks, they may fail to be naturally 
developed till the animal is four and a half years 
of age. 
At about four and a half years of age, or be- 
tween that period and five years, the central nip- 
pers are considerably worn, the second pair are 
beginning to show evidences of usage, the third 
or corner pair of the foal set are shed, the corner 
pair of the permanent set are beginning to ap- 
pear, and the tush, in general, is half an inch in 
length, and has externally a rounded prominence, 
with a groove on each side, but is evidently hol- 
low in the interior. At this stage, the colt be- 
comes, in popular language, a horse; and the filly 
becomes a mare. At five years of age, the corner 
nippers are quite up, and have their mark long, 
