THE TEETH OF PRIMATES. 



A ' 



411 



.stress upon an observation made upon a, female gorilla skull, 

 in which, as has just been mentioned, the order of succession 

 is not quite the same as in the male. 



The dentition of the orang approaches tolerably closely to 

 that of man, and the points of resemblance and of difference 

 may be fairly well seen in the accompanying figure. 



The central upper incisors are similar to those of man, 

 but are larger ; the laterals are, relatively to the centrals, 

 much smaller, and are very caniniform in shape, both inner 

 and outer angles of their cutting edge being sloped off to 

 such an extent that a central pointed cusp remains, in 

 place of a thin cutting edge. The canines are strong, 

 pointed teeth, the cingulum and the ridge joining it with 

 the apex of the cusp being well marked upon their inner 

 sides. In the female the upper canine is about half as 

 long again as any of the other teeth; in the male it is 

 longer. 



The first bicuspid is a little more caniniform than that 

 of man ; its outer cusp is long and pointed, and a ridge 

 unites it with the anterior part of the inner cusp, which is 

 feebly pronounced; the second is a blunter and broader 

 tooth. The premolars are implanted by three roots. The 

 molars are not unlike the human teeth in pattern. 



In the lower jaw the incisors are large and stout ; the 

 canines sharply pointed, with a well marked cingulum, 

 and a well marked median ridge on the inner side of the 

 crown. The first premolar is a shorter, stouter, and 

 blunter copy of the canine, and can hardly be said to 

 have an inner cusp. In the second premolar the inner 

 cusp is as high as the outer, and the cingulum is elevated 

 both before and behind till it almost forms two additional 

 cusps. 



Indeed, I am not acquainted with any dentition which 

 exemplifies the transition from incisors to canines, from 



