256 



A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. 



chylosed to the bone which carries them, their secure 

 fixation being aided by the base of the tooth being fluted, as 

 well as by a sort of buttress work of new bone being thrown 

 out to secure each new poison fang as it comes into place. 



The poison is secreted by a salivary gland homologous 

 with the parotid ; by an especial arrangement of the muscles 

 and fascia about it the erection of the poison fang and the 

 infliction of the bite cause a copious stream of poison to be 



FIG. 109 1 . 



ejected. The duct terminates in a sort of papilla, close to 

 the superior orifice of the tube in the fang : the passage of 

 a considerable portion of the poison down the tube is secured 

 by the close apposition of a shield of mucous membrane, 

 which is strained over the erected tooth. 



In Crocodilia the teeth are confined to the margins of 



(*) Jaws of the Crocodile. The first, fourth, and eleventh teeth in the 

 lower jaw, and the third and ninth in the upper, are seen to attain to a 

 larger size than the others. 



