“After a fatiguing scramble up the sides of the mountain, we arrived at the place from whence we could see the aërie beneath; the distance was so great that the young eagles appeared no larger than pigeons. After placing us in a secure situation on a projecting ledge of the rock, Tomson left us, carrying his rope in his hand, and disappeared for upwards of half an hour; when, to our great joy, we discovered him creeping on his hands and knees up the spiry fragment, on which lay the unfledged eaglets; when, knowing he was then in our sight, he knelt on the top, and looking towards us, waved his hat. At this time it was impossible to see the situation he was in without trembling for his safety; the slender point of the rock on which he knelt was at least 800 feet above the surges of the Atlantic, which, with unbroken violence, were foaming beneath him. Yet he deliberately took from his pocket a cord, and tying the wings of the young birds, who made some resistance with their bills and talons, he put them into a basket, and began to descend, and in a few minutes the overhanging masses of stone hid him from our view. The old birds were in sight during the transaction, and made no attempt to defend, but, soaring a quarter of a mile above, occasionally uttered a short shrill scream, very different from their usual barking noise. Had they attempted a rescue, the situation of the climber would have been extremely dangerous, as the slightest deviation or false step would have precipitated him into eternity, a misfortune that a few years since befel his brother on the same spot, when in his company.
“After waiting in a most painful state of suspense for near an hour, our climber suddenly made his appearance, and, laughing, presented his prize.”
“In Doomsday Book a hawk’s aërie is returned among the most valuable articles of property; which proves the high estimation these birds were held in at the commencement of the Norman conquest.”—Bullock—Strutt.
Æthiop’s-mineral, s. A medicine so called, from its dark colour, made of quicksilver and sulphur ground together in a marble mortar.
Age, s.
Age of a Horse.—The age of a horse may be discovered by certain marks in the front teeth of the under jaw until he is eight years old, about which period they are generally worn out. An experienced person can, however, judge of a horse’s age pretty nearly by the countenance and general appearance of the animal, as well as by the length of the teeth and form of the tushes. Between the second and third year a colt begins to change his sucking or colt’s teeth, as they are termed, for permanent teeth, which are larger, and of a different form and colour. The sucking teeth are small, and of a delicate white colour. When a colt is three years old, or between the second and third year, he changes his two front teeth, above and below; between the third and fourth year the two next are changed; and between the fourth and fifth year the two next, or corner teeth, are changed. About the end of the fourth year, or a little later, the tushes appear. Mares have seldom any tushes. At five years old the horse has a full mouth of permanent or horse teeth, and the corner teeth are those by which the age is ascertained after that period: they have a remarkable hollow or shell-like appearance when they first come up; but by the time the horse has completed his fifth year they have acquired some size, and look more like the other teeth. There is a cavity on their upper surface, at this period, of a dark or blackish colour. At six years old the cavity is much diminished, and at seven it is still less; at eight it has entirely disappeared, or if any mark remain, it resembles rather the eye of a bean. The tushes at five years old have two concavities withinside them, converging upwards, and terminating in the point of the tooth: at six, one of these concavities is lost; that is, the one next the grinder: at seven, the other is diminished, but not quite gone: at eight, it is generally gone, but not always: afterwards the tush gradually gets more round and blunt. These are the changes by which the horse’s age is usually determined; but they are subject to variations, and the only certain method of ascertaining the age, after six, is by a reference to the breeder. The length of the teeth is no criterion whatever; nor can the countenance be depended upon until the horse becomes very old and grey. The marks in the upper teeth have been thought to indicate the age: the marks in the two front teeth disappearing at eight, in the two next at ten, and in the corner teeth at twelve.
The general signs of age, unconnected with the animal’s teeth, are easily distinguishable. The head grows lean and fine; the features look more striking; the hollows over the eyes deeper; the eyes themselves grow irritable, and twinkle; the cheeks become lank; the gums and soft palate pale and shrunk; the sub-maxillary space is capacious; and grey hairs make their appearance in various places, more particularly over the eyes and about the face. In regard to the body generally, it also makes a more striking display of its shapes, than in any former part of life; the neck grows thin and fine; the withers grow sharp, and give an appearance of increased length and obliquity to the shoulder; the back sinks; the quarters assume a more blood-like turn, and seem to lengthen; tumors of all kinds, spavins, splents, windgalls, &c. generally become in part or wholly absorbed; the legs feel sinewy and free from puff, though they may evince instability and weakness. Now-a-days it is not often that we meet with horses thus advanced in years; still more rarely with any that have grown decrepit from age.