352 STRUCTURE AND ADAPTATION OF TEETH 



nature of their food, the comminution of which 

 tends to develop larger muscles, and these again 

 necessitate more powerful points of insertion and 

 attachment. 



Many important lessons may be deduced from 

 a comparison of the teeth of man with those of 

 the brute creation. Our incisors are not like 

 those of the rodents, in which progressive calcifi- 

 cation at the base keeps pace with the abrasion 

 of the apex ; and if the teeth are foolishly em- 

 ployed as pincers or chisels, their fracture or 

 luxation is often the result. The canines are not 

 formed for combat, and their diminished size 

 would seem to identify their possessor as a moral 

 agent, amenable to higher principles than the 

 brute instinct of ferocious strife. The molars are 

 endowed with feebler powers than those of the 

 ox or elephant, but are well fitted for the mode- 

 rate work which suitably-prepared food provides 

 for them. 



Wg have seen that the typical form receives a 

 special adaptation to meet the particular require- 

 ments of every animal ; and if Creative Wisdom 

 has thus endowed the meaner creatures, we may 

 rest assured that the teeth bestowed on us are 

 as exactly suited to the capabilities of our digestive 

 organs. 



The eminent Dr. William Hunter, when refer- 

 ring in his lectures to the various theories of 

 digestion, was accustomed to caution his pupils 



