The Horse's Mouth, Showing the Age by the Teeth

Part 1

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

oe ligatures have been expanded.

The footnote in Paragraph #35 on page 69 (the only one in the book) was moved to follow the paragraph from which it is referenced.

Eight pages of advertisements that preceded the title page have been moved to the end of the book and placed before the two pages of advertisements that closed the book.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

More detail can be found at the end of the book.

SHOWING THE AGE BY THE TEETH.]

THE HORSE'S MOUTH, SHOWING THE AGE BY THE TEETH.

CONTAINING A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE PERIODS WHEN THE TEETH ARE CUT; THE APPEARANCES THEY PRESENT; THE TRICKS TO WHICH THEY ARE EXPOSED; THE ECCENTRICITIES TO WHICH THEY ARE LIABLE; AND THE DISEASES TO WHICH THEY ARE SUBJECT.

BY EDWARD MAYHEW, M. R. C. V. S.

DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons,

AND EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS COLOURED ENGRAVINGS FROM DRAWINGS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THE WORK, AND TAKEN FROM AUTHENTICATED MOUTHS; WITH THIRTY-TWO WOOD-CUTS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE LETTER-PRESS.

FOURTH EDITION.

LONDON: MESSRS. FORES, 41, PICCADILLY.

TO THE

PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL

OF THE

ROYAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SURGEONS,

THIS WORK

IS (BY PERMISSION) RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY THEIR OBLIGED AND

VERY OBEDIENT SERVANTS,

THE PUBLISHERS.

41, Piccadilly.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. Page. Frontispiece--The Head of a Horse with the teeth exposed Nine months old, and 2 years old 70 Three years old, and 3 years off 80 Rising 4 years, and 4 years old 82 Rising 5 years, and 5 years old 94 Five years off, and 6 years off 96 Seven years off, and 8 years off 104 Twelve years old, and 20 years old 112 Sixteen years old, and 30 years old 120

WOOD CUTS.

Section of an incisor tooth 21 Arrangement of the substances composing a molar tooth 26 View of a molar tooth 29 A permanent and temporary incisor tooth 48 Molar tooth about to be shed 62 Molar tooth recently cut 62 Table of the 3 year old incisor tooth 79 Table of the 3 year off incisor tooth 79 Tables of the incisor teeth at 4 years off 85 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth rising 5 years 92 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth at 5 years old 95 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth at 6 years old 99 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth at 7 years off 103 Tables of the incisor teeth at 8 years off 106 Tables of the incisor teeth at 9 years old 109 Tables of the incisor teeth at 10 years old 110 Tables of the incisor teeth at 12 years old 112 Tables of the incisor teeth at 14 years old 112 Tables of the incisor teeth at 16 years old 115 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth at 28 years old 119 Tables and arrangement of the incisor teeth at 29 years old 120 Tables of the incisor teeth at 30 years old 121 Irregularity in the growth of the corner incisor tooth 140 A parrot mouth 147 Changes caused by a diseased tooth 175 Mr. Gowing's tooth forceps 183 The lever to ditto 184 The forceps, fixed 185 Mr. Gowing's framed chisel 188 Mr. Gowing's guarded chisel 190 Mr. Gowing's repeller for the guarded chisel 191 Mr. Gowing's lateral repeller for the guarded chisel 193

Part 2

CONTENTS.

Par. Page.

1. That the teeth of the horse denote the age of the animal &c. 1

2. In every case the evidence of the teeth is secondary to direct and substantiated testimony; &c. 3

3. Some of the causes which induce certain persons to doubt &c. 4

4. The teeth more frequently contradict an arbitrary calculation than disagree with fact. 7

5. For the security of the purchaser of a horse, not connected with the turf, the teeth are a sufficient guard, &c. 10

6. The description of the teeth &c. 14

7. The teeth are situated &c. 15

8. The teeth are organised, &c. 16

9. The horse possesses forty teeth, &c. 16

10. Three substances enter into the composition of the horse's tooth. 18

11. The crusta petrosa &c. 18

12. The enamel &c. 20

13. The ivory &c. 20

14. The uses of the ivory, enamel, and crusta petrosa &c. 22

15. The separate uses of the three component structures, &c. 24

16. The various parts and peculiarities of form, &c. 32

17. There are infundibula also in the molar teeth, &c. 35

18. To distinguish an upper from a lower molar tooth &c. 36

19. The teeth of the horse are very firmly implanted in the jaws, &c. 37

20. The molars of the lower jaw are the active agents of mastication, &c. 37

21. Provision has been made by Nature to meet the wear to which the horse's teeth are subjected. 38

22. The cavity of the pulp &c. 42

23. Nature provides the horse with two sets of teeth. 43

24. To know the temporary from the permanent teeth, &c. 46

25. To recognise a milk incisor tooth &c. 46

26. The permanent incisors are indicated by their greater size, &c. 49

Part 3

27. The temporary cannot be well distinguished from the permanent molars, while the horse is alive. 51

28. The various points which denote youth &c. 52

29. The indications of age &c. 53

30. The incisor teeth in old age, &c. 54

31. Some judges depend upon the tushes as indicative of the age, &c. 57

32. The wolf's teeth or eye teeth aid us in judging of the age; &c. 59

33. The mode in which the horse cuts his teeth &c. 60

34. The manner of examining the teeth &c. 65

35. At birth &c. 69

36. At six weeks, &c. 69

37. At six months, &c. 69

38. At nine months old, the corner milk teeth are up, but their edges do not yet meet. 70

39. At one year, &c. 70

40. At eighteen months, &c. 71

41. At two years old, there is a full mouth of milk incisors, all of which show considerable wear. 71

42. At three years old, the centre horse teeth are well up, and are distinguished by their size, shape, and colour. 72

43. At three years off, the lateral milk teeth are shed, and the permanent teeth are coming up. 80

44. When rising four years old the lateral horse teeth are in the mouth, but their edges do not fairly meet. 81

45. At four years, four pair of horse teeth are well up, but the corner milk teeth are retained. 82

46. When rising five years old all the horse teeth are in the mouth, but the corner teeth have yet to meet. 90

47. At five years old there is a full mouth of horse incisors, all the edges of which fairly meet. 94

48. At five years off the corner teeth only show slight wear, and the posterior margins are round. 95

49. At six years of age the corner teeth look more firmly set, and their edges begin to be uneven; &c. 97

50. At seven years off, the corner teeth, without showing age, exhibit further evidence of wear. 99

51. At eight years off, the gum of the lower corner tooth has become square, and the lower tush blunt. 104

52. After the eighth year, &c. 106

53. At twelve years old, there may be tartar on the lower tush. The teeth are longer, narrower, and the enamel darker. 110

54. At sixteen years old, when the teeth are viewed from the side, only two incisors can be seen in the lower jaw, &c. 112

Part 4

55. At twenty years old, the form of the mouth has changed, and the lower teeth are imperfectly seen from the front. 115

56. At thirty years old, the jaws are contracted; the lower are not seen when the upper teeth are in view. 117

57. The tricks that are practised on the teeth, &c. 123

58. The irregularities of growth in the horse's teeth &c. 138

59. The diseases to which the teeth of the horse are subjected, &c. 149

60. The agents which are likely to injure the teeth, &c. 177

61. The instruments used in connexion with the teeth of the horse &c. 181

PREFACE.

When submitting to the reader this my first work on Veterinary Science, I cannot forbear from addressing to him a few remarks, in the hope of explaining some of those peculiarities which it may appear to present.

At a period of life, when many men retire from active business, I commenced the study of a new profession. My mind was not prepared to receive instruction through the ordinary process, and I was, by necessity, obliged to be, in a great measure, my own tutor. I found that I could learn only through observation, and this circumstance led me into inquiries which often left me in opposition with established opinions. Hence many of the facts announced in the following pages are new, and not very much contained in them is strictly accordant with the acknowledged authorities. The latter circumstance I may regret, but I have no apology to offer for it. My convictions are derived from the study of Nature, and are conclusions gained from a higher source than conjecture or opinion sanctioned by time or approved by professors.

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