MACROPODID^. 171 



canines although almost always wanting in the true 

 Kangaroos, are sometimes present, though in a rudi- 

 mentary state. Professor Owen observes, that he has 

 found canines in the M. rufiventer, hut of a very 

 small size and concealed in the gum, and he has 

 traced the germs of these teeth in a mammary foetus 

 of the M. major. 



Between the incisors and molars there is a vacant 

 space of considerable extent. The false molars are 

 compressed and furnished with a sharp cutting edge, 

 those of the upper jaw have a small posterior inner 

 lobe. The crowns of the true molars are nearly of a 

 square form, but rather longer than broad, and before 

 worn down by usage, they present two transverse 

 acute ridges, which are connected by a longitudinal 

 ridge in the middle of the tooth, this ridge is less 

 elevated than the transverse ridges. 



SIDE VIEW OF THE TEETH OF UPPER AND LOWER J4W 

 OF A bVECFES OF MACROPUS. 



that by slightly contracting the space between the posterior 

 portion of the rami of the lower jaw, the external cutting edges 

 of the incisors are thus brought in contact with the cutting 

 edges of the incisors on both sides of the upper jaw at the 

 same time, and that such a contact could not be produced 

 unless the lower incisors were thus separated. 



