516 CARNIVORES. 



for the signification of the teeth, by assuming that tooth to be 

 such which is implanted below the root of the zygomatic process 

 of the maxillary bone : ' en prenant pour telle' (la principale) ' celle 

 qui se trouve implantee sous la racine de I'arcade zygomatique, ou 

 mieux de I'apophyse zygomatique du maxillaire.' p. 43. Those teeth 

 which are in front of the ' principale,' so recognised, are premolars, 

 those behind it are true or post-molars. With regard to the lower 

 jaw it will suffice to bring the teeth in their natural apposition 

 with those above in order to learn their signification : that which 

 shall cross in front of the upper * principale' will be the lower 

 * principale' ; w^hence one may readily determine the premolars 

 and post-molars {I. c. p. 43). 



To test the value of these characters as determining the 

 natural species of molar teeth, and as guides to the representatives 

 of each through diflferent genera of Mammalia, let us take another 

 example of the Author's application of them, viz : the dentition of 

 the Lion. The molar formula of the genus Felisy according to 

 M. de Blainville, (Ost. des Carnassiers, p. 69.) is : 4- + i-+t • *-^- 

 there are one premolar, one principal, and two true molars in the 

 upper jaw ; one premolar, one principal, and one true molar in the 

 lower jaw. This view of the nature of the Feline molars differs 

 from that which is given by M. Fred, and Baron Cuvier, and 

 equal or greater discrepancies will be found between most of the 

 determinations of the molar series in the work of M. de Blain- 

 ville, and in those of the other distinguished French Professors. 

 The high reputation of these Authors, and the character and value 

 of the great Work in which M. de Blainville's views are promulgated, 

 call for the present statement of the considerations which have 

 compelled me to abandon them, much as I am impressed with the 

 advantage of uniformity in the classification and nomenclature of 

 natural objects. 



To return, then, to the two examples cited from the ' Ost^o- 

 graphie' of M. de Blainville ; the second of the molar series of 

 the Lion {p 3, PI. 127, fig. 1) is the representative of the third of 

 the molar series in Man, (first of the three marked m in PL 118) in 

 both jaws : that is to say, a tooth which displaces and succeeds 



