A web search produced the following page the content of which follows. The web site
attributes the story to Francis Bacon.
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/horse.htm
HORSE'S TEETH
In the year of our Lord 1432, there arose a grievous quarrel among
the brethren over the number of teeth in the mouth of a horse. For
thirteen days the disputation raged without ceasing. All the
ancient books and chronicles were fetched out, and wonderful and
ponderous erudition such as was never before heard of in this
region was made manifest. At the beginning of the fourteenth day,
a youthful friar of goodly bearing asked his learned superiors for
permission to add a word, and straightway, to the wonderment of the
disputants, whose deep wisdom he sore vexed, he beseeched them to
unbend in a manner coarse and unheard-of and to look in the open
mouth of a horse and find answer to their questionings. At this,
their dignity being grievously hurt, they waxed exceeding wroth;
and, joining in a mighty uproar, they flew upon him and smote him,
hip and thigh, and cast him out forthwith. For, said they, surely
Satan hath tempted this bold neophyte to declare unholy and
unheard-of ways of finding truth, contrary to all the teachings of
the fathers. After many days more of grievous strife, the dove of
peace sat on the assembly, and they as one man declaring the
problem to be an everlasting mystery because of a grievous dearth
of historical and theological evidence thereof, so ordered the same
writ down.
Francis Bacon, 1592
Richard Platt
St. Mary's College of Maryland
