257 



both jaws are smaller, more simple ; the two outer larger in the 

 crown, more complicated ; in number they agree with those of 

 the Cat. Then come the formidable canines, cuspidati, chisels of 

 Dr. Lund. These canine teeth, compared with those of the Cat 

 and the different members of its family, may be said to be of 

 immense size in the upper jaw ; they extend from above down- 

 ward, and from behind forward in an arched form, their con- 

 vexity being forwards and crowned with a fine serrated edge, 

 their concavity backwards and also having a serrated edge. The 

 anterior edge is thicker than the posterior, which gives to the 

 prehensile and cutting part a much greater power of division 

 than that of the anterior edge. The same formation exists in the 

 Cat, for example in the Tiger, Hyena, &c. The sides of these 

 canine teeth are flattened, whence the name of Stenodon, or 

 narrow tooth, applied as a specific name by some describers. 

 The entire length of this tooth is twelve and a half inches, of 

 which the root occupies more than a third, and has been sus- 

 pected to be anchylosed with the jaw, as in the Saurians, but 

 such is not the fact. The extremity is sharp pointed, so as to 

 penetrate readily the flesh of its victim. 



Now, if we consider the length of this tooth, its curved form, 

 its narrowness, (like that of a sword,) its pointed extremity, its 

 serrated edges, its deep implantation in the socket, we shall see 

 in it one of the most formidable weapons of attack, which nature 

 has invented. If its bodily strength harmonized with this organi- 

 zation, we may believe that the lion, tiger, and even the great 

 bear, might fall easy sacrifices to the Smilodon. 



The premolars of the upper jaw are two on each side, one 

 less on each side than in the Cat. The first premolar is small ; 

 the second is the sectorial, laniary, or carnassial tooth. There 

 is a small tuberculous molar behind the premolars. 



The Lower Jaw is remarkable in two points : 1st, the small- 

 ness of the coronoid process and of the angle which it makes 

 with the horizontal branch ; an arrangement which would dimi- 

 nish the power of the temporal muscle, and thus weaken the 

 operation of the lower jaw in the act of incising the food. The 

 loss of this power is compensated by the movement of the head 

 and upper jaw, which enables it to transfix its prey by the great 

 canines, and then cut or tear it by a movement of the head 



PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. 17 MARCH, 1853. 



