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Mr. Burnett on the 



they are undoubtedly, in some respects, allied; but their 

 habits of life and food, certainly, associate them much more 

 closely with the subterranean insectivorous Ferae ; and they 

 are, like them, beasts of prey, as far as their strength and cir- 

 cumstances permit. In tracing the dental degradation alluded 

 to, it must be borne in mind, that the front teeth, which, in 

 the Ferae, and many other beasts, from their conical shape, 

 little fitting them for cutting, have been called dentes primores, 

 instead of dentes incisores, and which are usually shorter than 

 the canines or laniar teeth ; in the majority of cases are set 

 side by side, forming a line in front of the mouth ; in the 

 hedgehog have their position reversed : two in each jaw being 

 advanced in front, and greatly elongated, while four others 

 follow ; two, at least, on each side the mouth in either jaw, 

 and almost recumbent. The Canines are certainly ambiguous 

 both in shape and number, being shorter than the long incisors, 

 and having, in the under jaw, somewhat the form of bicuspidor 

 false molar teeth ; and, by Frederick Cuvier, they have so been 

 named. From their position, however, and their single fangs, 

 together with the predaceous habits of the animal, they are 

 more properly considered as transitional canines; indeed, two 

 in the upper jaw decidedly retain the laniar form, while, in the 

 lower jaw, there are, as certainly, no true canines at all. 



1 . The Rodent Incisor of Upper Jaw. 

 2. 3. Degenerate Incisors. 

 4. True Canine. 



1. 2.3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 



5. Transitional, or 



6. Degenerate ditto. 



7. 8. 9. 10. Molars. 



10. 



1. 2.3.4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 



1 . Rodent Incisor of Lower Jaw. 



2. 3. Transitional Recumbent do. 



4. Ambiguous Tooth in the place of the Canine, accom- 



panying the incisors, and having a Molar form. 



5. 6. 7. 8. True Molars. 



Thus it becomes manifest, that the teeth described by Lin- 

 naeus as canines, two on each side recumbent, are, in truth, 



