14 STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



our teeth." In other words, the mere gesture, once probably pursu- 

 ing a very definite use in the battle of attack, has, like the tooth 

 concerned in its exhibition, become a mere shadow of former reali- 

 ties. Other teeth, besides the canines in man, appear to afford 

 means of tracing his kinship with lower forms. That the last molar, 

 or "wisdom" teeth, are probably smaller in the men of to-day than 

 in the races of the past, appears to be a credible assertion. That 

 the last molars are becoming rudimentary, and are tending to dis- 

 appear in civilised races of men, is a well ascertained fact. Con- 

 trariwise, it is in savage races that these teeth are found in perfect 

 development, just as, in lower men, the intermaxillary bone of 

 animals is found occasionally to be represented. The wisdom teeth 

 appear to be of larger size in those races of men whom we justly 

 esteem of lower nature than ourselves ; and if this observation be 

 correct, it would appear to show that our dental belongings, like 

 our muscles, are not beyond the reach of those modifications to 

 which we owe, in part at least, our ascent from lower ancestry to the 

 crown and acme of life's development. 



The race of jokers who, once upon a time, were fond of levelling 

 caustic remarks at the evolutionists' beliefs were accustomed to find 

 great comfort and consolation, amidst possible troubles engendered 

 by the thought of a low human ancestry, in the consideration that 

 man at least wanted one characteristic trait of lower life in the shape 

 of a tail. The hopes of the perturbed were somewhat shaken by the 

 discovery that, firstly, as man certainly possesses four rudimentary 

 tail- vertebrae tacked on to the extremity of his spine, Lord Mon- 

 boddo's supposition concerning the disappearance of the caudal ap- 

 pendage of humanity, might, after all, be more tenable than was 

 generally supposed. It was something, at least, to have discovered 

 that humanity still possesses the rudiment of a tail, and that the ques- 

 tion was not one of " tail or no tail," but the more important question 

 of the why and how of the tail's disappearance. The magot, or 

 Barbary ape, has fewer bones in his " tail " than man ; and of course 

 the highest apes gorilla, chimpanzee, orang, and gibbon possess 

 a tail no longer than is found in humanity, whilst the " tail-muscles," 

 as in man, are rudimentary or altogether wanting. 



The disappearance of a tail is not, however, limited to quadruped 

 life. A crab's tail, well developed in the young state, grows " small 

 by degrees and beautifully less," until it becomes tucked up under the 

 head and chest, and forms the well-known "purse" of that familiar 

 crustacean. On this ground alone, the crab might claim to rank as 

 a higher and more modified animal than its tailed neighbour the 

 lobster. Similarly, the tailed tadpole develops into the tailless frog, 

 which is undoubtedly a more specialised animal than its near neigh- 

 bour the tailed newt. 



