Chapter IV (2)

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.