474 CARNIVORES. 



in the Orders which are more strictly limited to one kind of ali- 

 ment, and to which such modifications are more immediately and 

 decidedly related. 



In this point of view it has seemed to me that the teeth of 

 the Carnivora present a higher grade of development than those 

 of any of the mixed or insect feeders, and, in their more essen- 

 tial relationship to the digestive system, their preparatory opera- 

 tions are much more extensive and important than in Man : the 

 teeth of the Carnivora being adapted not only to comminute 

 but obtain the food, to seize and kill the victim, to divide it 

 when killed, and to separate the nutritious from the inedible parts 

 of the prey. 



Had I been guided in this ascensive survey of the dental 

 system by the general perfection of the species, I must have ended 

 with that of Man ; but viewing its modifications and complexities 

 irrespective of the rest of his organization, it must be admitted 

 that, notwithstanding the admirable adaptation of the human teeth 

 to the nature and faculties of Man, they are far from manifest- 

 ing the most complex structure of those organs. This must be 

 sought for in the herbivorous Mammalia — the Pachyderms, the 

 Ruminants and especially the gigantic Proboscidian quadrupeds, 

 — with which, therefore, the present Treatise on the Comparative 

 Anatomy of the Dental System will conclude. 



The predaceous Mammalia offer various kinds and degrees 

 of deviation from the typical carnivorous dentition, as exemplified 

 in the genus Felis. Throughout the Order the incisors are six 

 above and below ; few are the exceptions in which they fall short 

 of that number, in none of the Carnivora do they exceed it : the 

 canines are always present and largely developed, with long co- 

 nical sharp-pointed and often trenchant crowns : the variations 

 from the type are played upon the molar teeth ; and herein the 

 Carnivora ofi'er a marked contrast with the Insectivora, in which 

 we found much constancy in the bristled molars but extreme di- 

 versity in the incisors and canines. In most Carnivora one molar 

 tooth on each side of both jaws has its crown modified, either 

 wholly or in part, for reacting upon the opposite tooth, like the 

 blades of scissors, in express relation to the division of flesh ; 



