Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

183 CATTLE.
covered with enamel, both to produce and retain this necessary sharpness.
The crown of the tooth, or that part of it which is above the
gum, presents a surface somewhat convex externally, rising straight
from the gum ; while inside the mouth, it has a concave face, diminishing
gradually in thickness as it recedes from the gum, and termi-
nating in an edge, than which, in the young animal, few scissors are
sharper. The elastic nature of the pad preserves itself from lacera-
tion ; but the grass on which the Animal is browsing, less elastic, is
partly cut through.
The molar teeth are as well adapted for the mingled laceration and
grinding of the grass. There are two oblique surfaces, those on the
lower jaw taking a direction upwards, and from without inwards, and
those in the upper jaw slanting in an opposite direction, while the
surface of the tooth is sawed into deep grooves. There are three in
the last molar, the edges of which, from cones of enamel sunk deep
into the substance of the tooth, are sharp and cannot be meddled
with without laceration, and these receive corresponding projecting
portions from the opposite' teeth. From the prolonged although
leisurely action of machines like these, the food is reduced to a state
of extreme comminution, that every particle of nourishment may be
extracted from it. The ox, on whose flesh we subsist, must extract
every particle* of matter which the food contains, and therefore not
a fibre is seen in the faeces. The dung, except from a stall-fed
beast, is comparatively of little worth.
THE AGE OF CATTLE AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH.
When describing the horns of cattie (p. 148,) we. spoke of the
SECOND WEEK.