RIDGES ON ELEPHANT'S TEETH 



tooth. As many as twenty-seven of these 

 ridges are seen on the biggest molar tooth when 

 it is in place, and the whole surface is worn by 

 grinding. In Fig. 76 the ridges on the teeth 

 are shown, but not to the full number, as the 

 front tooth is reduced in size by wear, and the 

 hinder one has not yet got all its crown into 



Fig. 76a. — The last molar of the lower jaw of a Mammoth, in 

 order to show the great number of transverse ridges or 

 segments of the tooth (as many as twenty-two in this 

 specimen), a featirre in which the Indian elephant and the 

 mammoth are closely similar. 



play. In Fig. 77 is shown a photograph of the 

 lower jaw of an African elephant. Only one big 

 molar tooth on each side is in position, and it 

 has eleven transverse ridges. This is the most 

 the African elephant ever has. It will be seen, 

 by comparing the figures, that the ridges of the 

 African elephant are much wider than those 

 of the Indian. The corresponding tooth of the 



III 



