134 ON THE. TEETH OF MAMMALIA. 



purpose for which it is intended better than teeth would have done. The Camel 

 is an exception to this rule ; for though it ruminates it obtains its food in a 

 very different way from the others of the same order, as it feeds chiefly on the 

 tops of shrubs, and the young shoots of trees, which require greater force in 

 breaking off than the blades of grass, to which the pad is beautifully adapted in 

 the other Ruminants. The Camel may also be considered as the link between 

 the Solidungula (Horse) and the genuine Ruminants, and therefore some little 

 difference might be expected in some of its organs, if the former explanation were 

 not sufficient. In the Solidungula the incisors have processes of enamel running 

 into their substance. The Sloth and Cape Ant-eater are destitute of front teeth. 

 The true Ant-eaters and the Manis have no teeth of any kind, but the food they 

 take requires little if any mastication, and therefore teeth would be of very little 

 use to them. The front teeth of the Walrus have broad flat crowns. The true 

 Balsense (Black Whale, and White-nosed Whale) have no teeth, but instead of 

 them they have a broad fringe or curtain supported by elastic rods, which com- 

 monly go by the name of Whale-bones, and which is most admirably fitted for 

 separating the small animals on which they feed, from the water which is taken 

 into the mouth along with them. The tusks of the Narwhale (Monodon mono- 

 ceros) are of this class. Its genericname Monodon (/xovos single, and o^ovs a tooth) 

 is certainly wrongly applied, as well as its specific monoceros (//.ovos- and xs^a* a 

 horn) ; for although only one, generally the left, is seen, yet the other may be 

 found within its alveolus. 



I shall now proceed to notice the tusks of the Elephant, which, though not 

 partaking much of the nature of incisor teeth, yet, being inserted into the inter- 

 maxillary bone, must be considered under this head. These tusks are only 

 found in the upper jaw, and sometimes grow to an immense size, occasionally 

 reaching seven or eight feet in length. They are produced in the same manner 

 as the incisor teeth of the Rodentia, being formed on pulps contained in their 

 posterior extremities, which continue secreting during the life of the animal. 

 They are found in both sexes, and begin to appear in the fourth year. There is 

 no appearance of incisors in the lower law. 



II. Canini, Corner or Canine Teeth. — These teeth are very well marked in 

 the Carnivorous and many other animals. Their situation is next behind the 

 incisors, from which in some animals they differ little in appearance, while in 

 others they assume a variety of forms. In Man they are not out of the line of 

 the other teeth, but lie uniformly with them. The tusks of the Walrus are of 

 this class, and are used for detaching its food, which consists of shell-fish and 

 marine plants, from the rocks. Many of the Baboons have these teeth of 

 enormous size. In the Lion, Tiger, &c, these teeth present a very formidable 

 appearance, though not projecting 80 as to constitute tusks. In one species of 



