126 THE DESCENT OF MAX. Part I. 



In man the canine teeth are perfectly efficient instru- 

 ments for mastication. But their true canine character, 

 as Owen 39 remarks, "is indicated by the conical form 

 " of the crown, which terminates in an obtuse point, is 

 " convex outward and flat or sub-concave within, at the 

 " base of which surface there is a feeble prominence. 

 " The conical form is best expressed in the Melanian 

 " races, especially the Australian. The canine is more 

 " deeply implanted, and by a stronger fang than the 

 " incisors." Nevertheless this tooth no longer serves 

 man as a special weapon for tearing his enemies or prey ; 

 it may, therefore, as far as its proper function is con- 

 cerned, be considered as rudimentary. In every large 

 collection of human skulls some may be found, as 

 Hackel 40 observes, with the canine teeth projecting con- 

 siderably beyond the others in the same manner, but 

 in a less degree, as in the anthropomorphous apes. In 

 these cases, open spaces between the teeth in the one 

 jaw are left for the reception of the canines belonging 

 to the opposite jaw. An interspace of this kind in a 

 Kaffir skull, figured by Wagner, is surprisingly wide. 41 

 Considering how few ancient skulls have been examined 

 in comparison with recent skulls, it is an interesting 

 fact that in at least three cases the canines project 

 largely ; and in the Naulette jaw they are spoken of as 



enormous. 42 



brata, that chiefly led me to the above conclusion. This extraordinary 

 fact of their regrowth remains inexplicable, if the belief in reversion to 

 some extremely remote progenitor must be rejected. I cannot, how- 

 ever, follow Prof. Gegenbaur in supposing that additional digits could 

 not reappear through reversion, without at the same time other parts of 

 the skeleton being simultaneously and similarly modified ; for single 

 chaiacters often reappear through reversion. 



39 ' Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. 18G8, p. 323. 



40 ' Generelle Morphologic,' 1866, B. ii. s. civ. 



41 Carl Vogt's 'Lectures on Man,' Eng. translat. 1864, p. 151. 



42 C. Carter Blake, on a jaw from La Nanlette, ' Anthiopolog. 

 Review,' 1867, p. 295. Schaaffhausen, ibid. 18C8, p. 426. 



