CHAPTER IV.. The Teeth--Their Natural Growth, and the Abuses to Which They Are

THE TEETH--THEIR NATURAL GROWTH, AND THE ABUSES TO WHICH THEY ARE LIABLE.

“No legs, no horse,” is, with a particular class, a very familiar phrase. This assertion, becoming a maxim, has apparently directed attention in a special manner to the lower extremities. All purchasers are particular about the legs and feet of an animal; but the teeth are merely glanced at, to ascertain the age. Such a custom is evidently wrong; since it would be as true of the organs of mastication as it is concerning those of locomotion should the horsemen also say, “No teeth, no horse.” For the creature that is valuable only on account of its labor, cannot be equal to its toil if it do not consume a fitting quantity of sustenance. Though the majority combine, as it were, to pass the teeth over without notice when inspecting the horse, nevertheless many owners seem to appreciate the value of these organs to the welfare of the quadruped, it being not uncommon to hear horse proprietors complain, “the beast cannot eat sufficient for the demand which is daily made upon its capabilities.”

The animal was sent on this earth provided with every apparatus necessary to crop, to comminute, and to digest the green verdure of the earth. Man has seized on and domesticated the body, which is exquisitely adapted only for special purposes. He works it while in its infancy, or forces it to labor until the sight is lost and the limbs are crippled. To fit the creature for his uses, he changes the character of its food. Artificially-prepared oats and hay, with various condiments, are used to stimulate the spirit. No one inquires whether such a diet is the fitting support of the animal. But when the energy lags, beans, beer, etc. are resorted to as restoratives for exhaustion. The quadruped, thus treated, men have agreed shall be aged by the eighth year; but the author has seen very old horses which had not attained the fifth birthday. Opinion seems to be based upon the circumstance that, by the time recognized as “aged” in the equine species, the indications of the teeth do no more than tempt a guess. The cessation of dental growth, however, does not announce maturity to be consummated; but man appeals to the teeth as corroborative of his judgment, without asking himself whether those parts have been doomed to unnatural wear, and therefore may not have assumed an unnatural aspect.

The author has not lately seen a specimen of =bishoped teeth=. In Ireland, such sights obtrude themselves at every horse fair. The majority of horses are, in that country, sold cheap, most of the purchasers being clothed in rags. It is a sad feature in the practices of imposition, that it is always violently rampant where there is the least certainty of reward.

To fully explain in what bishoping consists, it is necessary to inform the reader that on the nipping or cutting surfaces of the young horse’s front teeth there mostly are dark indentations or deep hollows. Below is presented an enlarged engraving of this portion of a tooth, taken from the head of that which was a three-year old colt. The dark spot in the middle of the diagram represents the situation of the hollow into which the food naturally falls, rendering the interior of the cavity of a deep color approaching to blackness. Bishoping supposes the cavity always to be present; invariably to be of one form, and in every instance to sink to the like depth, which suppositions are contrary to fact; but even were such rules observed by nature, there are still means by which the cheat may be detected. Immediately around the dark-colored space is developed a fine line of enamel, which is always white. The rogues can counterfeit the black mark, but they cannot imitate the crystalline white bordering which surrounds the opening. The presence or absence of this is of more importance, therefore, than the existence of a black indentation. Again, those who tamper with the teeth cannot change the shape of the surface on which they work. The young tooth is wide from side to side, and narrow from the front to the backward margin. He who ventures where bishoped horses are to be found, should familiarize his eye with the shape of the youthful organ.

THREE YEARS OLD. TWELVE YEARS OLD.

An enlarged view of the difference in form and in aspect which separates the table of a twelve-year old bishoped nipper from the same part in the three-year old colt.]

In contrast with the natural tooth, the reader is also presented with an exaggerated sketch taken from an organ which had been tampered with, and which was extracted from the head of an animal that had at least attained its twelfth year. The natural size has been considerably enlarged, as the author thereby hoped to render the contrast the more obvious. This last member, it will be remarked, has parted with its juvenile width, or is now characterized by depth and angularity. The central cavity, it will also be observed, bears small resemblance to the natural depression which it is meant to imitate. The color, moreover, is quite black, and of an even tint throughout, while the presence of the girding line of enamel cannot be detected.

The difference, however, is more striking, when two full rows of teeth are placed in contrast one with the other, after the manner in which they are displayed in the next engraving. In the young mouth, the incisors are arranged in a gracefully curved line; the posterior margins of the organ present little peculiarity. In the aged teeth, the prominent center of these has retracted, while all idea of grace in the order of their disposal has departed. Each member in the old jaw evinces an inclination to become equally prominent, and the posterior borders evince an obvious angularity.

Then, if the marks in each are examined, the central cavities in the bishoped have jagged edges; while from these indentations arise certain eccentric lines, which invariably run toward the circumference. Such lines evidently were not made with any design. They were caused either by the inaptness of the operator, the coarseness of the tool with which he worked, or they were provoked by the natural struggles of the animal that was subjected to a merciless operation. The marks, moreover, are of a deep-black color; while the lines are remarkable for sometimes being of a lighter hue than the surface on which they repose.

There are, however, other signs which faithfully denote the age of the quadruped. The permanent incisors, when first cut, are almost perpendicular; but as years accumulate, these organs assume a more horizontal direction. The tushes also, when they first appear in the mouth, point forward. These members, after a time, become straight; but as age progresses, they ultimately lean decidedly outward and at length incline backward. Besides these well-marked indications, from the disposition of the front nippers to arrange themselves in a line, only two can be seen in old quadrupeds when the mouth is viewed from the side; while the membrane covering the gums altogether loses its fleshy hue, becoming evidently thick, yellow, loose and baggy.

Such marked signs may, by many persons, be esteemed sufficient protection; but there are yet additional characteristics with which all who venture to purchase horses of unknown sellers should be acquainted. The general indications of senility are strongly impressed both upon man and upon horse; though the teeth are usually appealed to, the appearance of the mouth should not be absolutely and solely regarded. A white horse is rarely young, any more than a white-haired man is, as a rule, in the possession of youth. Then, as the juvenile period ceases, absorption begins to operate. Deposit no longer takes place; but with senility a rapid wasting ensues; both bones and flesh suffer under this new action.

The branches of the colt’s lower jaw are wide apart, and in the cavity thus formed the tongue reposes. This space is called the “channel.” The lower margins, also, of the inferior maxillæ are in the colt full, round, and prominent. When age is present, the edges retract, the channel narrows, while the lower margins of the bones appear to the fingers of the examiner, accustomed to handle young horses, to be positively sharp.

A YOUNG HORSE. AN OLD HORSE.

Comparative difference in the channels or in the spaces between the branches of the lower jaws.]

When a person having a horse to sell talks boastfully of all “the marks” being present in the mouth, avoid him as a suspicious individual. Honest men know, or at least all honest men should by this time be aware, that there is no dependence to be placed in these so-called “marks;” therefore they do not strive to direct attention toward fallacious indications. By simply parting the lips of the animal, a judge can see everything which he cares to behold. The kind of teeth present are easily recognized; or when such signs declare the animal to be aged, the position of the teeth, the condition of the bones, and the general aspect enable him to guess as to a probability. Therefore, when a gentleman requests to see the mouth, the horse dealer, unless specially commanded to do so, no longer endeavors to tug the jaws asunder, a proceeding which, when conducted hastily, is apt to provoke resistance; but the groom is ordered to merely separate the lips, a measure to which most animals will complacently submit.

Should the person to whom the teeth are exhibited, by an evident lack of recognition declare his ignorance of their announcement, the honest dealer may slyly quiz his patron’s want of knowledge; but assuredly he will not endeavor to take advantage of it. The author of the present volume has found the dealers in horse flesh to be quite as honest as, if not more honest than, traders in less perishable commodities. There are certain blackguards who profess to be dealers in horses, but who have no fixed place of abode or of business. So also there are scamps who style themselves traveling jewelers and itinerant booksellers; but the transactions of neither class of rogues (he whose stock-in-trade consists of a whip, or they whose most valuable possession is the mahogany box or the specimen number which is carried from house to house) can be taken as evidence against the more respectable members of the calling to which all will assume to belong. A gentleman, ignorant of any acquaintance with jockeyship, can walk with perfect safety into the yard of any respectable dealer; look at the animals which are for sale, and walk out again, without encountering any undue solicitation to purchase. How many shops are there in London, in which a person, equally uninformed, could perform the like manœuvre?

When this is written, it is not meant to imply that a horse dealer keeps all his stock open to public inspection. On the contrary, in most respectable yards there are certain snuggeries which conceal the more choice articles. The pick of these are not even open to every purchaser who can pay the price. No! Horse and picture dealers are alike in one characteristic trait: each has a pride in the article he sells. The first individual will allow his dinner to grow cold, while he remains gloating over the points and beauties of some fresh acquisition. “How it would look carrying Her Majesty!” The image amuses his fancy! “What a spanker to hold a first place in the Beaufort hunt!” He warms with the idea! “What a charger it would make for Cambridge at a Hyde Park Review!” He is in ecstasies at the thought! He cannot possibly decide what so much perfection is fit for. He can never consent to treat such loveliness as a mere chattel,--a thing to be sold and then to be enveloped in obscurity. The animal must not be parted with to any unknown individual! The feeling common to his order forbids him to exhibit the object of his pride to general inspection. But he might dispose of it, even at a sacrifice, were he convinced it would occupy such a position as he esteems it is fitted to adorn. He then could point to the animal and vaunt that it came from his yard. Honor, fame, and profit must accrue to him who could refer to such exalted dealings;--therefore there is a strong sense of self lurking under that which at first glance appears to be mere Quixotic denial of self.

At the same time, if all respectable dealers are above positive imposition, it is not every dealer who will prevent a self-conceited novice from imposing upon himself. Such a person, acting upon his own judgment, may be allowed to purchase the worst screw which some yard contains, at the money that should procure a first-rate animal. Even then, the dealer has an escape, which every form of worldly honesty will not provide. The quadruped, if not approved of, can be exchanged within the fortnight following the transaction. To be sure, such exchanges generally advantage only one party: but a tradesman must live; he cannot be expected to waste hours showing his stock and chattering with fools for no business purpose!

However, to protect the reader from every chance of imposition, so far as the age of the horse may be concerned, let him attentively accompany the author through the following pages; let him also particularly notice the engravings with which the text is illustrated.

A foal at birth has three molars or grinding teeth, just through the gums, upon both sides of the upper and of the lower jaws. The little animal, however, generally displays no incisors or front teeth; but the gums are inflamed and evidently upon the eve of bursting. The molars or grinders are, as yet, unflattened or have not been rendered smooth by attrition. The lower jaw, moreover, when the inferior margin is felt, appears to be very thick, blunt, and round.

A fortnight has rarely elapsed before the membrane ruptures, and two pairs of front, very white teeth begin to appear in the mouth. At first, these new members look disproportionately large to their tiny abiding-place; and when contrasted with the reddened gums at their base, they have that pretty, pearly aspect which is the common characteristic of the milk teeth in most animals. They must occasion pain to the foal at this period: the appearance of the little mouth affords sufficient evidence of that fact; but it is astonishing how meekly these beautiful creatures will submit to our examinations of their teeth,--as though they came into the world possessed of all confidence in man’s intentions and with every dependence upon his sympathy. Some of the diminutive strangers seem even to derive pleasure from their irritable gums being inspected. They behave almost as though they recognized their future master and felt flattered by his notice. Alas! that brutality should ever repel the trustfulness of nature, and that experience should instruct most of our mute fellow-beings to regard mankind as enemies.

It is not until another month has passed, or until the foal is six weeks old, that more teeth appear. By that time, much of the swelling present on the gums of the newly-born animal has softened down, though all trace of it cannot be said to have entirely departed. The membrane, as time progresses, will have to resign much of its scarlet hue. In the brief period, however, which has elapsed since the former teeth were gazed at, the growth has been such that the sense of very disproportionate size no longer remains. The two front teeth are now fully up, and these appear almost of proportions suited to the mouth which they adorn. But when the two pairs of lateral incisors first make their appearance, it is in such a shape as can imply no assurance of their future form. They resemble the corner nippers, and do not suggest the smallest likeness to the lateral incisors which they will ultimately become.

The foal, during the first six weeks of its existence, does not learn to appreciate, at its just value, that which poets have termed “the milk of human kindness.” A little shyness, however, exhibited about this period shows that doubt has partially shaken the confidence with which the appointed master was formerly welcomed. But the little being is still docile; it does not altogether avoid mankind. It will yet accept their caresses, permit patiently their mercenary inspections, acting as though its mild disposition, the natural inheritance of its tribe, derived actual pleasure and amusement by submitting to the will of him whom it must shortly recognize as an earthly tyrant.

Why should not the primary lessons of domestication be now gently commenced, when the spirit requires not to be subdued and the temper needs not to be conquered? Is there not unnecessary cruelty in the plan which is commonly adopted? The young life is allowed to roam at large till the time arrives when man conceives the colt ought to be “broken in.” There is no gradual instruction; no endeavor to coax or to soothe by a display of gentleness. Obedience is remorselessly wrenched out of the being. Harshness naturally engenders resistance; but increased severity is employed, till the willing creature is literally conquered and its spirit “broken.” This is done to an animal which is born anxious to please its superior. Let the reader ponder over this custom, and then reflect upon the retentive memory of the subjected race. They must remember--they have no ability to forget. Consider the custom, and also regard the nature upon which that custom operates; then say whether the breeder goes the proper way to develop that sweetness of temper and that gentleness of disposition which increase the value of equine property.

But, to return to the subject of the present paper. There is now a long pause before more teeth appear in the mouth. The little one, in the mean time, lives chiefly upon suction, and runs, during the period of perfect happiness, free by its mother’s side. Upon the completion of the first month, seldom earlier, it may be observed to lower the head and nip the young blades of the shooting grass. From the third month, however, the habit becomes more frequent, until, by the advent of the sixth month, the grinders will be worn quite flat; or, having lost their pointed and jagged prominences, will, by the wear of constant mastication, have been reduced to the state which is suited to their function.

The corner incisors come into the mouth about the ninth month, the four pairs of nippers, which have been already traced, being at this time fully developed. Above is a view of the foal’s teeth, as these are exhibited at the period named. The reader will remark that the corner incisors, which are depicted as through the gums, do not yet meet, though these organs point toward each other; neither has the membrane of the mouth at this time entirely lost the deepened hue of infancy.

From this date, however, the gums gradually become pale, till, by the completion of the first year, the membrane has nearly assumed that complexion which will endure throughout the earlier period of existence. All the incisors are, by the first birthday, well up. The masticatory agent, although consolidated, has not, when the quadruped is one year old, entirely lost the roundness and bluntness of its inferior margin, for which the jaw at birth was peculiarly remarkable.

This fullness of the bone is caused by all the grinding teeth which are in the mouth when the foal first sees the light being of a temporary character; the enlargement is consequent upon the jaw, therefore, having to contain and to mature the long permanent grinders which, within the substance of the bone, are growing beneath the temporary molars. To contain and to allow the large uncut teeth to become developed, before appearing above the gums, causes the small jaw of a diminutive foal to be disproportionately thick, especially when this part is compared with the same structure in an aged horse; but the mind is reconciled to its apparent clumsiness when apprised of the uses to which the organ is subservient.

At one year old, the first permanent tooth appears in the head. This is the fourth molar, or that which is represented as the most backward grinder in the appended engraving. The reader will not fail to remark the greater length which the jaw-bone presents at one year old. The additional extent also in the opposite direction cannot otherwise than be observed. This increase of size was necessitated to cover the increasing size of the recent molar; also, to afford room for the partial development of two other grinders, which, as age progresses, will appear behind that which is now the last tooth.

About this time, frequently at birth, little nodules of bone, without fangs, merely attached to the gums, appear in front of each row of grinders. These are vulgarly denominated “Wolves’ Teeth,” and were once held to be of vast importance. At present, however, they are recognized as the simple representatives of those organs which in other animals (as in man) render the teeth a continuous or unbroken curve. They are, by experience, found to be harmless. It is idle to remove these organs, especially as they generally disappear with the shedding of those members facing which they are located.

Although by this period the foal has lost the furzy tail, nevertheless it has not assumed the aspect of the horse. Its face and its back want length; its trunk needs bulk; its legs are much too long; and no one in his senses should, for an instant, imagine it could be a full-grown specimen of its race. Indeed, the author would not mention such a possibility, did he not know a single instance where an error of this nature was actually perpetrated with a creature of the equine order. A cockney gentleman took up his residence, a few years ago, in one of the channel islands, and wishing to procure some safe animal for the amusement of his children, the simple Londoner actually purchased and worked a little donkey, barely one year old, in his ignorance mistaking the animal for an ass which had attained its maturity. That no reader of the present volume may commit so cruel a blunder, the portrait of a horse, as it appears at the first year of its age, is presented below.

The changes in the teeth, after the first year of life has been attained, are characterized by the longer periods which divide them. Nature appears, as it were, resting to draw breath for a mightier effort than she has hitherto undertaken. Months have, heretofore, separated the advent of single pairs; but, from this date, these appearances are to be reckoned by numbers and by years. The foal, to the point of its present necessities, has been provided for. It has teeth sufficient to support and to maintain its growth.

Nature has now to render perfect the body, before the teeth. Accordingly, between the first and the second year the alteration in the general aspect is very marked. All the helplessness and pretty ungainliness of infancy disappears by the expiration of the time mentioned. The animal’s frame then suggests something of those beautiful proportions which it is soon to display. Its body, however, still needs maturing; and no one, less wanting in common sense than a racing man, would think of subjecting the youthful and tender form to the hardest of all actual work. The very aspect of the creature should denote it to be unsuited for such performances. It must, to foreigners, read as strange intelligence, that the nobility, who patronize the English course, applaud the contests between two-year olds; while the bumpkins, who breed horses for the general market, allow the quadruped to enter the third year before the colt is given over to the breaker. Alas, for the hardihood or want of sensibility displayed by the most exalted, when prompted by the greed of gambling!

Nothing in the above sketch is more striking than the contrast presented by the character of the head, when compared with the image which immediately preceded the last illustration. The face has perceptibly lengthened; for by this time a second permanent molar, making five grinders on both sides of the upper and of the lower jaws, has broken through the fleshy covering of the gums. Preparation is also being made for the advent of the sixth grinder, and for changes in those milk molars which were in the mouth when the animal was born. At the same time, additional width is imperative to allow the permanent incisors to appear when the proper season arrives for these last organs to displace their temporary representatives.

Should the front teeth of a two-year old mouth be examined, there will be perceived a want of that fixedness which, one year before, was the characteristic of these organs. The central nippers appear to have done their duty, or, at all events, suggest something approaching to maturity has, during their brief existences, been attained. It will hardly provoke regret--certainly it cannot excite wonder--should these once beautiful ornaments of the foal’s mouth be displaced. Indeed, the aspect of jaws in the two-year old plainly intimate approaching alteration, which in a few months will become apparent.

Three years old is the period when the greater number of colts are brought to market. About this age most animals begin to perform work. Omnibus horses are purchased when only thus far advanced in life. The army also buys its remounts when no further matured. Carriages are drawn by young horses which, when they become three years old, are resigned to the bit, the bearing-rein, and the exactions of London’s fashionable ladies. Huntsmen, to be sure, have discovered that a quadruped must be “full five” before it can gallop “cross country,” take fences, and be ridden in at the death, or even be expected to “hold” a good place during “the run.” But all gentlemen like to sit on the yielding back of a youthful steed; though, to be properly maintained, such a seat will, very probably, cost fifty pounds a year, if not more money. The upper classes of society, and those who sacrifice personal judgment to mimic their example, seem to act as though they were assured that equine life was, by the third summer, fully fitted to endure the severest extortions of mankind!

To embitter the fact, every year of the horse’s life is not calculated according to the calendar. Man chooses to estimate the age of his possession by another standard than that of the seasons. The first year of hardly two animals in the kingdom is precisely of the same length. Horses are, by the Jockey Club, permitted to have only two birthdays. Thus, all blood foals must first see the light on the first of January; or, should one presume to peep at the world upon the thirty-first of December, the decision, which admits of no appeal, will esteem the intruder one year old when the second day of its existence commences. Then all animals, not thorough-bred, must forbear to look upon creation until the first of May comes round; or, if they dare to mistake the time, even by an hour, they are absolutely pronounced one year old, before the little beings can fairly stand up and look about them.

Such regulations may be very convenient for the purposes of the Jockey Club; but nature has not yet given in her submission to human institutions. Medical men know that ladies cannot always calculate to the minute; therefore mares, which have not yet learned arithmetic, should not be held so very strict to their reckonings. Moreover, when men will pay to sit upon the back of a three-year old, it is of all importance to the spine, which has to endure the burden, whether the nominal birthday represents the actual time or merely implies the animal is two years and half an hour of positive age. However, the teeth most obstinately ignore the sage code of the Jockey Club; but the laws of that controlling body disdain to notice any variation; for the creature which has lost but one nipper, and the quadruped which has four permanent incisors fully up, are both esteemed to have been dropped at the same hour, though an animal suffering the first-named change, speaking truthfully, may be only rising three.

At the same time, the confirmed mouth, with the nippers thoroughly consolidated, and gums not showing a tinge of redness, can be esteemed of no greater age: both are three years old; for both must have been born on the first of January or on the first of May,--they had no business to appear at any other time. If they were presumptuous rebels against the just authority and recognized dignity of the Jockey Club, then they are beyond the pale of all consideration, and must bear the consequences of their temerity. The differences exhibited by their mouths are, therefore, held to be of no account.

The age at this period ought to be absolutely ascertained; for most horses, when three years old, undergo the greatest exertion. At this period, the animal generally has to suffer the instruction of a rude and an ignorant--frequently of a brutal and a savage--man, who is justly denominated “a breaker.” Then, should the “broken” be thought worthy of a saddle, it is given up to the gentle mercies of a rough rider, and has to be tortured till it is gotten well together, and has thoroughly learned its paces. In short, its gentle spirit has to be subdued, or fear has to master timidity. How little does man know about that life he has been accustomed to coerce! The pride of this world prefers the compulsory drudgery of a spirit-broken slave, to the happy service of a willing friend. The horse is sent upon earth, prepared to serve and eager to share the happiness of its lord; but it is not understood; it meets with no sympathy; it is treated as a wild and ravenous beast, whose subjugation must be enforced and whose obedience must be compelled.

The bit is put into its mouth when the third year has been attained. It is driven from the field and from the cool grass; at a period of change and of debility it is expected to display the greatest animation, or to learn strange things from him who teaches only with the lash or with the goad. When its gums are inflamed; when the system is excited; when the strength is absorbed by an almost simultaneous appearance of twelve teeth, it is led from the plain and made, with its bleeding jaws, to masticate sharp oats and fibrous hay. At this age, when fever prevails in its blood, and the growth of its frame naturally weakens the muscles, it is expected to have leisure to master new teachings, animation to show off strange acquirements, and stamina to endure the weight of the tyrant on its back.

From this date, it is the inhabitant of a close, a fetid, and a heated stable. It may languish for a cool draught of pure air; but its head is haltered to the manger, and there it must remain, to inhale the tainted atmosphere of its abode. The fire natural to its condition may rage; but it must not slake the thirst which consumes it till the groom brings a pail, only to permit so many gulps or “go downs” to be imbibed. Nay, if the poor captive should shift its feet, turn its head, or change its attitude, in the restlessness of fever, it offends its custodian, who, lounging upon the locker, watches to maintain order, and can punish, should any horse sin against a groom’s notion of propriety. Within the stable, of an afternoon, all is silent! The man is uneasy, because of an inward consciousness that he is not discharging a humane office. The animals are fidgety under unnatural restraint. The very air of the place is oppressive. Nothing appears at ease, save the cat, and this creature dozes and purs with enjoyment. But for the poor colt there is no sympathy. For should the cutting of many teeth inflame the gums and destroy the appetite, an iron is made red hot and violently forced into the mouth, under pretense of burning away the groom’s favorite disease--“the lampas!” which is purely an imaginary disorder.

It has been described that a three-year colt cuts twelve teeth. The above engraving represents half the lower jaw of an animal which had seen three summers. In it the reader will readily recognize those organs which are of recent appearance, by their darker color, by their larger size, or by their differing in shape from the other members. These new teeth are a central incisor and the first two grinders. The horse has two jaws and two sides to each jaw; therefore the same number being present within each side of both jaws, the teeth already alluded to appear during the third year. However, even the quantity named rather understates than overrates the fact, for frequently the tushes are cut during this period; should such be the case, the colt acquires no less than sixteen teeth in twelve months. We know what the young beings of our own species suffer when the gums are ruptured and the bones absorbed by the organs of mastication; the danger then encountered leads to a belief that the great agony endured is increased by a rapid growth of the body simultaneously weakening the system. The teeth are only a part of the living organism; therefore, as when a part moves we may conclude the whole system is in motion, the advent of sixteen huge teeth, alone, might reasonably unfit the quadruped for commencing its education, or for undergoing the severest portion of its labors. But how do the customs of humanity appear, when illumined by a consideration of the sufferings which nature is imposing at the time the colt is tasked to its greatest exertions?

Some very low classes of horse proprietors will, however, make the work of the three-year old colt as light as possible. The vulgar generally regard the frame at this age as not perfectly matured, and they treat the strength as not equal to full labor. A nice practical comment is thus published upon the behavior of those gentlemen of title and of fortune, who train, start, and make animals run races at two years old! Few members of existing society, however, will accord any indulgence to a colt during its fourth year. Yet if the quadruped once possessed any claim upon consideration, the animal at this period has positive title to our forbearance. For the second effort must be more exhausting than the first; since the latter has to be accomplished with diminished power. Thus the four-year old has to perfect as many teeth as are known to protrude into the mouth of the three-year old.

The tushes in this view, however, must be disregarded. The precise time of appearance is uncertain with these analogues of the canine teeth in man, or of the tusks in the porcine race. They may come up at the third--they often are delayed to the fourth year; sometimes these teeth never pierce the membrane of the gums, it being very far from uncommon to see horses’ mouths of seven years in which the tushes are absent.

By the completion of the fourth year, the colt has certainly gained twelve teeth; that is, by this time there should exist, on each side of both jaws, one new lateral incisor and two fresh molars, being the third and the sixth in position. The appearance of the mouth now announces the approach of maturity; but the inferior margin of the lower bone still feels more full and rounded than is altogether consistent with the perfect consolidation of an osseous structure. We cannot take cognizance of the swollen and enlarged condition of the jaw, without being assured that some important process is going forward within its interior. It is among the firmest physiological truths, that nature is a strict economist and never does anything without intention; that every enlargement or every depression--however insignificant it may appear to human eyes--is a permanent provision for some appointed purpose, and has its allotted use in the animal system. Accordingly, it is discovered the sign we just remarked upon indicates the process of dentition is not finished by the termination of the fourth year. There are more teeth to be cut, as well as the fangs of those already in the mouth to be made perfect. This must be a laborious effort. Nature always toils slowly in proportion to the density of her work; when we regard the compact structure of a horse’s tooth, we may conjecture the quantity of blood, the amount of inflammation, and the intensity of suffering which are necessary for its perfection.

Still a gentleman may purchase a colt with one lower lateral incisor barely through the gum. Nevertheless, such a condition of mouth must be accepted as announcing the animal to be four years old. That fact is not to be disputed, for have not the Jockey Club proclaimed it? Being four years old, most people view the colt as needing no indulgence. The creature, at this age, is generally urged to the extent of its power. Would mortal intellect think on that which it beholds, and endeavor to understand the evidence which is presented to its sight, how much that is now carelessly passed by unnoticed would be read as a plea for forbearance, and how much misery might be banished from that abode which the idle complacently term “a vale of tears”! The gums newly lacerated or the jaws bleeding do not indicate that conformation of parts or announce that established strength which could endure extreme exhaustion. Such signs rather suggest pain, and declare that life is suffering the penalty of existence. They ought to kindle the sympathy of him who likewise is born to sorrow, and crave the commiseration of one whose sad inheritance it is to draw breath at the risk of misery. Would any man expect his child--whether girl or boy--when only acquiring the permanent front teeth, to be equal to the toil which a task-master should allot to fully-developed strength in its prime or in the maturity of its power? The horse is not a speaking creature. It has no voice to plead or to complain. But what right has the lord of earth, being blessed with ability to control his acts and with reason to comprehend the signs of nature, to enforce that fate upon the dumb slave in his possession from which he would esteem it a duty to shelter his own offspring?

The colt with four incisors in either jaw, all fully grown and worn flat with use, is esteemed to be no older than the animal with only one lateral nipper barely through the swollen gum. Both creatures, according to man’s reckoning, are of one age. Neither can, says the Jockey Club, be an hour in advance of the other. Yet the colt with four pairs of permanent incisors in the mouth has not paid the penalty which nature exacts from early life. There are still the corner milk nippers to be shed; yet, while the provision necessary for that labor is taking place within the body, or while nature is preparing her mute offspring for the coming struggle, man considers the poor quadruped as fully developed and as enjoying the prime of its existence.

The teeth may be scarcely visible in the mouth, nevertheless such a sign announces the fifth year to be attained. Man, who estimates a horse’s life according to the laws of the Jockey Club, and ignores nature’s mode of declaring the duration of existence by signs and attributes; man, who in his impatience refuses to reckon age by those functions which the body has perfected or which it has to mature--man seizes upon the imperfect being, as a creature fitted for the accomplishment of any kind of labor. There are, at five, no more bothering teeth to cut. All are through the bone, and the mouth will soon be sound. The animal must be in its prime, and the longest day or the hardest run should not beat it to a stand-still. Therefore, show off your horsemanship. Mount, trot, prance, gallop, and leap, as you please. Everybody says the horse at this time is in its prime. Tear on to plowed fields. Whip the brute over the widest ditch. Dig your spurs into the flanks and take the stiffest hedge. The laboring beast may breathe a little hard or possibly may reel: but, so the quadruped does the performance, and is scarcely alive after it is accomplished--the owner can hail his five-year old as a seasoned horse!

One upper corner permanent incisor has been cut. The lower corner milk incisor is still retained.]

Were the writer to pursue this line of observation from year to year, the features becoming more minute as time progresses, the investigation might ultimately grow wearisome. As age increases, so do the bones contract, till absorption at length commences: or at thirty years all the appearances of strength, which were conspicuous, will have entirely vanished in the domesticated quadruped that has been subjected to hot stables and hard food. The jaw no longer seems endowed with greater bulk than is needed for the discharge of its function. It has become comparatively thin, and where it once was wide, it is now narrowed. Then, the grinding surfaces of the molars are no longer even or straight. Comminution of an artificially-prepared diet, continued for a number of years, seems to have worn the organs of mastication into a shallow and eccentric curve; or, as pressure persevered with upon any living substance promotes absorption, probably the constant grinding of hardened food has caused parts of the once even surface to be removed.

However, many readers may feel disposed to turn from the next illustration, feeling their dislike of the image to be justified by denominating it an extreme instance. As such it is adduced, and no wrong is, therefore, done by so regarding it. It was inserted simply as bearing conspicuous evidence of that fact which it was the desire to establish. Few, very few English horses live to reach the thirtieth year; but to show that those signs which were remarkable in the last engraving commence at an earlier period, below is the jaw of a twelve-year old horse, in which the presence of all the indications that at the thirtieth year seem exaggerated, may be clearly discerned in their commencement.

The author must now explain the phenomena to which he has directed the reader’s attention. The molar teeth are not all of the like size, nor of one form. The organs occupying the upper jaw are nearly, not quite, double the width of those which are located in the lower jaw. The inferior molars are the grinding agents, or the active organs of mastication. The superior teeth are simply the passive tables upon which, or against which, the food undergoes comminution. The slab is always the lowest of the two in human mills; but nature has more to provide for than the mere pulverization of certain substances. With mastication, actually commences a very compound process. With the act of chewing, digestion begins; it was ordained that more than any mechanical invention can accomplish should be imperative to the due performance of this function. The benevolence of the All-wise instituted that while his creatures were promoting the healthy exercise of the appropriative necessity, they should likewise excite their enjoyment. Therefore when pulp is masticated, the pressure of the teeth expels the juices, which fall directly upon the seat of taste. When a harder substance has to be comminuted, the bulk is first shattered into fragments; the particles, descending upon either side of the teeth, have to be gathered up and placed again between the masticatory organs. The movements of the tongue and jaw excite the salivary glands; the broken substance becomes mingled with the secretion of the last-named bodies. Saliva extracts the savor from the food; and the tongue also brings these in contact with the seat of taste, while discharging its office of collecting the broken pieces.

The reader being now fully informed as to facts, may have patience sufficient to peruse an explanation of the principles on which the foregoing statements are founded. Such a mode of proceeding may, to certain methodical writers, seem to be transposing the proper arrangement. The author does not undertake to defend his actions on the score of their propriety; but he feels that he is addressing human beings in whom a desire to know is the best possible foundation on which knowledge can be established; consequently, principles become less repulsive when communicated after incidents have kindled curiosity.

THE CONDITION IN WHICH THE TABLE OF A TEMPORARY MOLAR IS CAST FROM THE MOUTH OF A HORSE.

The dotted lines merely indicate the extent of the tooth previous to absorption. ]

The primary molars cannot boast the length of the fang, though they exhibit very nearly the same extent of superficial surface as characterizes the succeeding teeth. They have rather shallow roots, which are not composed of those consolidated materials that are present in their immediate successors. When the original molar is shed, the temporary tooth is not expelled entire from its position, but the pressure of the growing organ (which comes into the mouth exactly where the milk grinder stood) causes the root to be absorbed, till nothing but a superficial shell has to be ejected.

A FIRST PERMANENT MOLAR, AS IT APPEARED IN THE MOUTH, UNCOVERED.

This tooth occupied the fourth situation in the jaw; therefore the root would require to be considerably extended by subsequent growth. ]

The horse, in its natural state, exists on fibrous grasses; it therefore becomes essential the animal should retain the power of masticating such substances. Nature never withholds what is necessary to the well-being of her creatures. The mode in which the Common Parent provides for the preservation of this ability in the horse is perfectly distinct from any provision that He makes for most earthly creatures. The temporary remains of a molar tooth are not shed till another organ is in the mouth at hand to permanently supply its place. But the permanent tooth does not appear ready flattened and prepared to discharge its office. It is cut with certain angular prominences upon its masticating surface, which must render the animal disinclined to employ it on the instant of its development. This disinclination allows a pause, during which the various structures can be consolidated, and at the end of such brief space the prominences have become blunted, while the organ, being firmly planted, is then ready for mastication. Is it not surprising how a plain statement of facts can reasonably account for that disinclination to feed which, to the groom’s mind, announces a state of disease that shall necessitate the employment of burning iron to eradicate what the man styles “Lampas!”

There remains, however, to account for that width and depth of jaw by which the head of the youthful horse is distinguished. The reader is requested to attentively inspect the last illustration. The size and length of fang cannot fail to awaken his surprise. Nevertheless, if this part be regarded it will be seen depicted as of a ragged, incomplete, and apparently of a hollow condition. So, when the tooth has displaced the temporary molar, and has taken its station within the mouth, it has still to grow. The protruded portion may be consolidated; but the unfinished extremity is denominated the cavity of the pulp. That pulp consists of a fine bladder, on which ramify numerous blood-vessels; but the interior of which contains simply a clear fluid. This is the secreting membrane of the tooth. Out of this watery bag the wonderful chemistry of nature can extract the most condensed material that resides within the strong body of a horse.

Another feature of the above tooth, because it balks expectation, can hardly fail to attract notice. The dark hue of the outward covering, being abhorrent to human notions of youth or of purity, is generally attributed to dirt. The tooth of the horse is, however, composed of three substances: a tough and fibrous material, called crusta petrosa; a thin layer of crystalline deposit, named enamel; and a kind of compact bone, spoken of as dentine. They occur according to the order in which they are named. The bone exhibits a yellow tinge, and is present in the greatest quantity, for it forms the inner bulk of the tooth. The crusta petrosa is a comparatively thick external envelope, being about five times the substance of the enamel, to which it is an outward protection. The components are thrown into various convolutions; but the order alluded to is always preserved. The bone or dentine is invariably the internal substance; it needs to occupy such a position, as within it the sensation resides. The crusta petrosa and the enamel may be tampered with without perception being aroused; but the dentine is capable of communicating the acutest agony; and it is upon the dentine that rogues operate, when they “bishop” an old horse.

To convince the reader that nature has not needlessly sacrificed the whiteness of the horse’s tooth, the author will dilate fully upon the many services afforded by the dark-colored crusta petrosa. To render the explanation more intelligible, reference will be here made to a common tool seen every day in the hands of an ordinary mechanic. The bricklayer’s trowel appears to be nothing more than a thick layer of metal; but it is hourly put to uses for which iron would be too soft, and steel would be too brittle. Therefore, the blade is composed of a thin layer of steel, inclosed within two comparatively thick layers of iron. By the combination of opposite qualities, perfect utility is produced; and this trowel, it seems hard to believe, was not suggested by that arrangement which is conspicuous in the horse’s tooth.

The enamel, hard, brittle, and readily fractured, but presenting a fine or a cutting edge, is developed as a thin layer, convoluted upon the sides of the dentine, and securely covered by crusta petrosa. That the incisive substance may fulfill its office, may sever or comminute the tough and fibrous herbs upon which the equine race subsist, it is inclosed between two elastic bodies, the whole being held together by the vessels which pass from the exterior to the interior of the organ, though these vessels do no more than travel through the enamel without nourishing or supporting it; the latter structure being of a crystalline nature, or strictly inorganic, therefore not fitted to appropriate nutriment.

The crusta petrosa is, however, of further use than has been already stated. The horse’s grinders are generally supposed to be gifted with a power of growth whereby they are enabled to repair that perpetual loss of substance to which their employment must subject them. The teeth, certainly, are not perfected when the crowns first appear in the mouth; so far the opinion is capable of being upheld. But when once completed, the dentine is not endowed with any innate ability to renew its loss of substance. The wear consequent upon continual use is provided for by the length of fang which characterizes the permanent molar of the quadruped. As the surface gradually decreases, so are the lower parts of the teeth, by the contraction of the jaw-bones, forced into the mouth, while the outward investing substance--the crusta petrosa--being gifted with a limited power of increase, is enabled thereby to firmly retain the protruded fang in its new position; although the contraction of the bones, which is always going forward as age advances, does not necessitate the power of growth should in early life be largely exhibited.

With almost every form of being, as years accumulate, the ability to masticate becomes enfeebled. It is with the horse as it is with other animals. The thin coating of enamel does not extend to the ultimate root of the fang, so that in advanced age the power of the molars is almost destroyed by the absence of the cutting agent upon the grinding surface. The chief component, moreover, or the dentine, diminishes in quantity as in solidity; the last portions of the molar, therefore, could not fill the socket, only for that ability to increase with which the crusta petrosa is gifted. Upon the extreme roots of the grinders, taken from the jaws of very old horses, this substance is always found in great abundance. In illustration of this fact, a sketch made from the tooth of an aged quadruped is here inserted; the body has been sawn asunder, to exhibit the proportions and the substances that entered into its composition. The reader will remark certain dark lines upon the dentine. These indicate the places where existed the cavity of the pulp, which once served to nourish the organ; but it is lost as vitality lessens with the advance of senility. Does not the reader, as he inspects the engraving, perceive the wickedness and the folly of placing harsh and dried food before a creature which nature, in age, deprives of ability to comminute such a form of sustenance?

The permanent incisors are not cut after the same manner as the molars. The nippers being merely employed to bite the grass, a wide vacancy does not necessarily incapacitate the other portions of the excising apparatus. A blade can cut, even though a large notch exist upon its edge. Whereas the points which are developed upon the upper surfaces of the newly cut molars must render the grinders entirely useless; although the short period of enforced abstinence, which announces the appearance of a fresh double tooth, may be nature’s own medicine to quiet a feverish system, burning with morbid excitement.

The front milk teeth have fangs when they appear in the mouth; but no fang exists when the primary members are shed. The root of the temporary organ, when perfect, however, resembles that of the permanent incisor. It is only sufficient to fit the member for its purposes. In the same canal as was occupied by the milk tooth, the permanent incisor generally appears. Much suffering must attend the absorption of bone; yet, during the time the huge permanent nipper is forcing its way through the narrow channel, which held firmly the diminutive milk tooth, and while the smaller fang is by pressure being also absorbed, the colt receives no consideration at the hands of the groom or of its master. Both are equally ignorant of the necessity for kindness; but each regards any indication of pain as one of those visitations of disease to which young horses are said to be peculiarly liable.

When the foal has shed the front milk teeth, the entire of the serviceable or visible portion of these members is displaced. They are endowed with no power to supply any diminution of their substance, neither are they capable of renewal; whereas the long permanent incisor may be viewed as all tooth, and possessing no fang; for as the upper portion wears, so does the lower part protrude or supply its place. The two teeth, however, present a strong contrast when considered as organs, both occupying one cavity, and both united to fulfill the like uses in the same animal. The illustration last displayed represented a permanent and a temporary incisor; the uneven mark dividing the milk tooth indicates the appearance of the organ after the absorption of the fang causes it to be cast from the mouth, while the dotted line shows the shape and the extent of the fang previous to its absorption by pressure.

SEVEN YEARS OLD.

EIGHT YEARS OLD.

TWELVE YEARS OLD.

TWENTY YEARS OLD.

THIRTY YEARS OLD.

THE INCISORS OF HORSES OF DIFFERENT PERIODS OF AGE AFTER THE FIFTH YEAR.]

The amount of root natural to the permanent incisors enables those organs, as years increase, to alter their arrangement, length, and direction, without being displaced. In youth, the united front teeth compose a curve, or almost a semicircle. In age, the same members incline toward a straight, or at best form an irregular line. In the colt, the teeth are flat, smooth, and filbert shaped; but in the old animal, they are decidedly long and angular. When the permanent teeth first appear, they are nearly perpendicular; but when they have been a long time exposed, they protrude almost in the horizontal direction. Looking, from the side, at a young mouth, the spectator can behold half the nippers; but when inspecting the old teeth from the same point of view, two only will be visible, though the full number shall be present in the mouth. In the aged quadruped, moreover, the narrowing of the incisors allows the spaces between the organs to be vacant. Within these spaces the food accumulates, which, being there retained and becoming black, looks as though the creature had been chewing tobacco. Such signs are too fixed to be disguised. The accumulation of blackened food, it is true, may be taken away; but its removal will leave the interspaces, if possible, still more conspicuous. So also the long teeth may be shortened; but they will not be elevated to the perpendicular, or changed to a filbert form, or restored to the semicircular arrangement.

The tushes likewise may be regarded. These teeth are sometimes absent in mares, and in animals of the female sex are seldom developed of the size which they commonly exhibit in the male. When first cut, the tush is spear shaped, having well-defined grooves running down its margins. As age advances, all pretension to this form is lost. The tooth either becomes very flat upon its crown or it may be rendered level with the gum; else it grows very long, looking more like a coarse spike than the organ it really is. Also, when it originally appears in the young mouth, the tush ranges evenly with the parts from which it grows, and points forward. As senility is attained, the member is directed outward; with extreme old age, it faces backward. The contraction of the jaw causes the tongue to protrude from the free spaces between the teeth, while the consequent shallowness of the canal formed by the branches of the bone occasions the saliva to dribble forth when the lips are parted.

The indications of extreme age are always present, and though during a period of senility the teeth cannot be literally construed, nevertheless it should be impossible to look upon the “venerable steed” as an animal in its colthood.

No man can accurately interpret the signs of the teeth after the fifth year. A guess, more or less correct, can be hazarded; but nothing like confident judgment can be pronounced subsequent to the period just named. Cases will frequently occur, which shall set our best endeavors to be correct at defiance. But for such instances it is not difficult to account. The Jockey Club may order as it pleases about birthdays; but children and foals will, nevertheless, obtrude upon the world all the year round. Such downright absurdity, as a pretense at controlling the operations of nature, was never perhaps equaled, save by the burlesque monarch depicted by Mr. Planchè, who, because he is hungry, wills that it be one o’clock, when the sun declares the time to be only twelve. It might be more convenient, certainly, if foals could agree all to put in appearances at a particular date; but until such an arrangement has been entered into by the parties principally concerned, it is idle presumption for any set of men to issue ordinances which, never being observed, render “confusion worse confounded.”

The difference between the times of birth in various animals, it is true, may cause different aspects in the teeth, and even induce men, in obedience to the rules of the Jockey Club, to call a colt four, which truth and the teeth declare to be only three. Horses may therefore be readily reckoned older than they really are: but there is a general belief that rogues in Yorkshire can make the teeth say five, when the actual age is only four; or, in other words, can so successfully tamper with the mouth as to induce the teeth to belie the actual age. Ignorant people have a blind faith in the power of those who chance to be more knowing than themselves; but the author can only regard the general belief in “Yorkshire fives,” as illustrating the total unacquaintance of the public with all that concerns equine economy.

An elderly lady once laid claim to a dog which she beheld led about the streets for sale. The possessor disputed her title, and the pair were by the police introduced to a magistrate. Both gave a different name as that belonging to the animal. The dog came to either appellation. When put down on the floor of the court, it went to man or lady with equal indifference. It was a puzzling case. At length, the bench was illumined by a bright idea. “Hand me the dog,” cried his worship, who quickly placed it out of sight. Then, addressing the female supplicant, he said, “I beg your pardon. All you have said about signs and marks may be perfectly correct; but such things, possibly, in two animals, may be the same. The creature evidently does not appear to recognize its mistress; for, though it comes to your call, yet it will leave you when spoken to from an opposite direction. I beg your pardon, madam, we have settled, apparently, all points but one. Pray excuse me! But was your animal a gentleman or a lady?” “Oh! sir!” replied the distressed female, “mine was a lady dog.” “Then I am afraid I must give the case against your ownership, for this dog is decidedly a gentleman.” With that, he returned the animal to the man. “Stop, sir! Stay! Oh! pause! Consider, sir, those dog stealers can play such tricks,” sobbed forth the disconsolate female.

So particular people appear to credit Yorkshire horse dealers with an ability to perform “such tricks.” No doubt they have every wish; but the author questions whether they have yet attained the power to compel nature at their bidding. All they are said to do, as pulling out the milk teeth, firing and blistering the gums, are like the arts which were formerly used to raise the evil one; and, in the writer’s opinion, about as likely to be attended with success. Cruelty is more calculated to retard than to promote development. However, if the mouth exhibit the signs proper to a five-year old, the animal may with safety be purchased, as being of that age. Should it be younger than five, the owner is the gainer; since the teeth do no more than indicate the development of the body, and an early maturity is the best evidence that the quadruped, during the previous years, has been tenderly nurtured.

Certain readers may feel opposed to the illustrations which have been inserted into this division of the present volume. It may be justly advanced that, in the earlier portion of the present treatise, the author asserted horses could live until the animal had reached its sixtieth year. However, recently he adduced the mouth of a quadruped which endured but half that period; yet this specimen exhibited features indicative of immediate decay.

Such an accusation would be well grounded; it could not be denied. The sixty-year old of which the writer spoke was not feeding in the stable. The creature whose teeth are delineated to represent the appearances displayed at the thirtieth year was not in the field, but tied up in a stall. The one quadruped was consuming its natural food, the other had to masticate those artificially-prepared substances which man finds it most convenient to place before the dumb captive.

The engravings inserted to illustrate the aspect of the mouth, during the thirtieth year, may therefore be regarded as exemplifying the evils which result from the present mode of feeding. Hay and oats, as now given in dry and hard conditions, are the most expensive articles of sustenance which could be found. Much of the hay passes through the system only partially digested. In what condition the oats are voided, the sparrows of the roadway and the chickens on the dung hill equally attest. Under the present system at least half the diet is ejected from the body unappropriated. Much more would be lost, but for the capacious and convoluted intestines of the equine race. Within these, the provender swallowed is long retained, and during the entire period of its retention it is exposed to the digestive action which its components are beautifully formed to resist.

Aloes, a most drastic purgative, is the one in common use with stable-men. It takes four and twenty hours before its operation is witnessed; for an entire day it lies dormant within the body, notwithstanding the aids of warm water, bran mashes, and occasional exercise are resorted to, so as to quicken its laxative effects. The animal, during this period, is obviously ill, and the medicine may be heard causing a “rumbling noise” within the bowels. But if a drastic purgative is four and twenty hours traveling along the digestive track, what period will be occupied by those dry materials which must have positively a constipating effect? However, the latter kind of diet is not all acted upon when cast forth; that portion which is ejected in an unchanged condition represents so much cash which has been expended to no purpose.

Of course, the mastication of artificially-prepared food wears the teeth, and also taxes the powers of nature far more than would the natural diet. By the operation of both causes, the horse’s life is rendered much shorter than it would be were the animal kept after a natural fashion. The diminished period of existence we will mildly estimate at one-half the natural duration; therefore, under the existing mode of stable management, every gentleman pays twice as much for an animal as under a better system need be given. Nay, the extravagance does not end here; for the unnatural nourishment first generates weakness, and weakness is the beginning of disease. There is, therefore, to be added to the account--annoyance, loss of service, and the veterinary surgeon’s charges. To crown all, the proprietor cannot obtain the full exertion from the animal; the body being only partially supported even during the seasons of imperfect health. The incompletely digested food has also to be considered. Altogether, as the author has no desire to make out a case, suppose the latter influences reduce the value of the remaining portion of life one-half, and we arrive at the conclusion that the horse proprietor literally squanders fifteen shillings out of every pound he pays for his horse; and he is thus extravagant, simply because, to consult the convenience of his groom, he will persist in feeding the animal upon a most unnatural and injurious kind of diet.

This subject will, however, be fully considered in the next chapter, where “food” is separately regarded. The author must only here state that he is not advocating a return to grass, although grass may suggest an idea as to the proper kind of nutriment without itself being the thing desired. It is certainly true that horses look round for their food, and the stable is always in commotion when the hour arrives for its distribution. This fact, however, establishes nothing. Horses are fidgety equally during the period of watering. Horses, in other countries, are uneasy when the stable companions are being fed; yet in all countries they do not live as in England. In the extreme northern parts of the world, they eat dried fish; in the Crimea, they gnawed one another’s tails; in Arabia, they feast upon barley and chopped straw; in India, rudely cut grass, which has frequently parted with its moisture as well as shed its seed, and a dark grain termed “gram,” is their support. In Germany, they enjoy black bread. In Ireland, they delight in raw potatoes. In various parts of England, they enjoy different sorts of nourishment. In some countries, boiled substances are the favorite dish. In others, cut roots are swallowed with avidity; while there is a growing custom of administering those various seasonings, all of which bear the general designation of “patent food.” In short, the stabled horse can apparently be brought to consume anything; but of all the known varieties of diet, the author must regard that which is harsh, dried, and artificially prepared, as the most convenient--but the most injurious and unnatural.

Its consequences are, perhaps, best exhibited by the thirst which it will generate. The horse is not, naturally, a large drinker; but if the internal portions of the body have to supply moisture, in order that these parts may extract the nutriment from dry food, the water must be replaced from an outward source. Horses have been known to be ill from excessive thirst. Mr. William Percivall, the late respected author on veterinary subjects, has recorded a case of this description. Nevertheless, copious draughts of cold water are frequently attended with danger; only, does it not exhibit a refinement upon cruelty--firstly, to imprison an animal, and fasten it to one spot; secondly, to give only such provender as must generate a craving for fluid; thirdly, to withhold the liquid which our folly has created a desire to imbibe?

The stable diet, moreover, throws the incisors out of use. These teeth, in the domesticated animal, are employed only to grasp a little hay and to pull it from the rack. They are of no further service. One of their popular names, “nippers,” is in general a misnomer, for they are permitted to nip nothing; much less are they allowed to exercise their incisive faculty. Therefore, being thrown out of use, the members have no function to control their natural growth. They continue to protrude as age advances, till, by the thirtieth year, or by the time the quadruped has attained half the period of its natural existence, the front teeth have become long spikes, and are actual deformities within the mouth they were designed to adorn.

So palpable a sign is, however, not understood. To be sure, the present treatment of the horse slaughters the majority of its fellows before dentition is perfected. Few gentlemen, therefore, may have looked upon an aged quadruped; for prevailing fashion declares the creature, whose strength and youth have been devoted to man’s pleasure, should be sold so soon as the advent of age is apparent. The chances, consequently, are, that the present chapter will be “news” to the greater number of readers. It may record facts which will be perused with wonder, and it may adduce circumstances which will be read with surprise.

Though up to the present moment these things may not have been properly regarded, from the present time there can be no excuse for continuing existing customs. Why should the teeth of the horse alone be subjected to abuse? The dog lives off biscuits and cooked flesh; the cat enjoys the scraps from the family table. Why should the horse, of all strictly domesticated creatures, be doomed to consume raw food? It would be cheaper to prepare all sustenance for digestion, since, in that form, less would communicate more nourishment; and if the matter is to be decided as a money question, there can be no doubt as to the side on which pecuniary interest would range.