350 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. 



Elephant ; the enormous length of the incisor tusks, and 

 the peculiar displacement from behind forwards of the molar 

 teeth, by which it results that not more than one whole 

 molar, or portions of two, are in place at any one time. 



The upper tusks are preceded by small deciduous teeth ; 

 this is well established, though it has been recently denied by 

 Sanderson ("Wild Beasts of India" ). When first cut they 

 are tipped with enamel, but the enamel cap is soon worn off, 

 and the remainder of the tusk consists of that modification 

 of dentine known as " ivory," and of a thin external layer of 

 cement. 



In the Indian elephant the tusks are not so large as in the 

 African species : and the tusks of the female are very much 

 shorter than those of the male. In the African elephant, no 

 such difference in size has been established ; and amongst In- 

 dian elephants males are sometimes met with which have tusks 

 no larger than the females of corresponding size ; they go 

 by the name of " Mucknas." This peculiarity is not always 

 transmitted, and it is known that in Ceylon tuskless sires 

 sometimes beget " tuskers." Amongst the Ceylon elephants 

 the possession of large tusks by the male is an exceptional 

 thing, Sanderson stating that only one in three hundred has 

 them, while amongst 51 Indian elephants only five were 

 tuskless. The tusks are formidable weapons, and great 

 dread of a " tusker," is shown by elephants less well armed. 



A male makes use of his tusks for all sorts of purposes ; 

 thus when a tamed one is given a rope to pull, he will, by 

 way of getting a good purchase upon it, pass it over one 

 tusk and grasp it between his molar teeth. 



The largest tusks were possessed by the Mammoth, the 

 remains of which are so abundant in Siberia ; these, which 

 were strongly curved, and formed a considerable segment 

 of a circle with an outward inclination, so as to well clear the 

 sides of the head, attained the length of 13 feet, and a weight 

 of 200 Ibs. each. 



