Memoir vpon living and fossil Elephants. 36* 



leton beads which I examined, viz, a small grind.r more or 

 less ready to fall ; a tooth hi its place, and fu'! ^rown ; and 

 a germ more or less large, more or less consolidated, and 

 occupying the whole bottom of" the back jaw. 



We may easily judge, from the depth of the. detrition, 

 whether a tooth which has been found isolated, was situated 

 before or behmd in the jaw ; those which were situated iu 

 front never have any of their laminae entire. 



The number of the laminae which compose each tooth go 

 on angmentins: in such a manner, that each tooth has more 

 laininre than that which imuiediately preceded it. 



Mr. Corse, who first made ibis remark, gives these num- 

 bers from his own observations * : the first have four lami- 

 nas only ; the second, eight or nine ; the third, twelve or 

 thirteen ; and so on to the seventh or eightli, which have 

 23 or 23 laminae. Mr. Corac never saw any teeth which 

 had more. 



We have reason to believe that theSe numbers are not very 

 constant; for we have a lower jaw, the first tooth of which 

 has 14 laminse, and the subsequent one has fourteen germs 

 of laminae. M. Camper has one completely similar (De- 

 scrip. Anat. d\m Eleph. , Plate XIX. fig. 2.) ; bat in the 

 upper jaw, which corresponds to ours, there are in the full 

 grown tooth thirteen laminae, and in the germ of the subse- 

 quent one there are eighteen. 



Independently of the number, there are deficiences with 

 respect to the thickness of the lamina;; they are thinner in 

 the first teeth than in the last : and as the jaws are shorter 

 when thev bear the first teeth, it happens that the number 

 of the laminae in activity is nearly the same at all times ; i. e. 

 from 10 to 12. 



When the elephant is full grown the space occupied by 

 the laminje in activity, is larger, it is true ; but these laminae 

 are themselves larger, and always fill the space whatever it 

 may be. 



As it requires nearly the same lime to wear down the same 

 number of laminaj, the last teeth, which have much more 



• Phil. Tr;ins. ut supra. 



of 



