906 



of an elongated conical form, pro- 

 jecting considerably beyond the rest, 

 and of uninterrupted growth, are 

 called " tusks ; " such are the incisors 

 of the Elephant and Dugong, the 

 canines of the Boar and Walrus : 

 the long and large incisors of the 

 Rodents have been termed, from the 

 shape and structure of their cutting 

 edge, scalpriforrn or chisel-teeth, 

 " denies scalprarii." The inferior in- 

 cisors of the flying Lemurs (Galeo- 

 fithecus] have the crown deeply 

 notched like a comb, and are termed 

 " denies pectinati." The canines of 

 the Baboons are deeply grooved in 

 front, like the poison-fangs, " denies 

 canaliculati" of some serpents. The 

 compressed conical crowns of the 

 molar teeth of the small clawed 

 seals (Sfenorhi/nchus) are divided 

 either like a trident, into three sharp 

 points, or like a saw, into four or 

 five points ; the molars of the great 

 extinct Zeuglodon had a similar 

 form ; such teeth have been called 

 den'es serrali. But the philosophical 

 course of the knowledge of nature 

 tends to explode needless terms of 

 art, invented for unimportant vari- 

 eties, and to establish and fix the 

 meaning of those terms that are 

 the signs of determinate species of 

 things. 



The Cuviers divided the molar 

 series of teeth, according to their 

 form, into three kinds: "false mo- 

 lars," " carnassials," and " tubercu- 

 lar molars ; " and, in giving the ge- 

 neric characters of Mammalia, based 

 the dental formula? on this system : 



thus the genus Felis is characterised 



2 2 



as having <: fausses molaires 



TEETH. 



cavnassieres 



11, 

 11 



22 

 tuberculeuses 



11 



8 



(3' 



00' 



The uninterrupted line marked 

 " Cuvier" in V. FELIS of fig. 580., 

 intersects the teeth in each jaw 

 called carnassieres ; those anterior 

 to them being the teeth called 

 " fausses molaires ;" the single tooth 

 behind in the upper jaw is the " tu- 

 berculeuse." Most Zoologists, both 

 at home and abroad, have adopted 

 the Cuvierian system of formalising 

 the molar teeth. It seems a very 

 natural one in the case of the Cat 



* " Les Dents cles Mammiferes consi- 

 derees comme Caracteres zoologiqucs," 

 8vo. p. 77. In the original the numbers 



422 

 are given f. in. . ; c. = ; t. -, the teeth 



of each side being clubbed together; 

 they are distinguished into right and left 

 in the text, to facilitate the comparison 

 with the formula; used in this Article. 



Fig. 580. 



HOMO. 



URSUS. 



CANIS. 



MUSTELA. 



FELIS. 



MACHAIRODUS. 



MOSCHUS, 



Cuvier. De Bl 



Homologies of the teeth in Diphyodont Mammals. 



