Memoir upon living and fossil lElephants, 259 



culiar to cer'ain herbivorous animals. In these two last 

 respects Mr. Blake seems to have approathed nearest the 

 truth; at the same time we are not of opinion^ with him, 

 that there are any vessels in the osseous substance. 



In fact, each grinder of the elephant, like any other tooth 

 whatever, is produced, and as it were conceived, in the in- 

 terior of a membranous sac, which we shall call, in common 

 with seveial anatomists, its capsule. 



This sac, whvn viewed exiernaily, is in the elephant of a 

 rhomboidal form, not so high behind as before j it is close 

 on all sides, if we except the iiiuall openings for the passage 

 of the nerves and vessels. 



It is lodged in an osseous cavity, of the same form with 

 itself, in the maxillary bone, and which js to form one day 

 the alveolus of the tooth. 



It is only the external lamina of the capsule which has the 

 simphcity of form we have mentioned. Its internal lamina 

 forms, on the contrarv, as in herbivorous animals in gene- 

 ral , several fold^; but m order to understand them v.e must 

 describe another part. 



I here mean the pulpy nucleus of the tooth ; in each ani- 

 mal it has a peculiar figure : in order to conct;ive that of the 

 elephant, let us imagine to ourselves, that from the bottom 

 of the capsule, taken as a base, there issue kinds of small 

 walls, all of them parallel, all of them transverse, and pro- 

 ceeding towards that part of the sac which is ready to leave 

 the alveolus. 



These small walls only adhere to the bottom of the cap- 

 sule ; their opposite extremity, or, if we please, their sum- 

 mit, is free from all adherence whatever. 



This free sunimil is much thinner than the base; we may 

 call it their edge ; it is moreover deeply f iirrowed on its sur- 

 face with several very sharp points or notches. 



The substance of these small walls is soft, transparent, 

 very vascular, and seems much to resemble gelatitie in its 

 nature; it becouifts hard, while, and opake, in spirit of 

 wine. 



We may also easily figure to ourselves the folds of the in- 

 ternal membrane of the capsule ; let us suppose tliat it forms 

 K i' productions 



