CLASSIFICATION BV" TEETH. 51 



them. The teeth are named according to the bones upon 

 which they are placed ; and arc referred to^ as maxillary, 

 intermaxillary, palatine, vomerine, &c. — depending upon their 

 position.'' 



A reference to page 49 will show the situation of the teeth 

 in the Trout, with five rows on the upper surface of the mouth, 

 and four rows below ; the particular bones upon which these 

 rows are placed, are also referred to. 



Mr. Yarrel then proceeds to descant, somewhat too largely 

 for extraction in a work of this description, on the form, position, 

 and uses of the various teeth in different families of fishes ; 

 but the gist of his remarks I prefer combining under the heads 

 of the various fishes to which they belong ; and I shall only 

 add here, that in some species the teeth are arranged as in the 

 Salmonidcs, in duplicate or triplicate rows of single teeth; in 

 others in dense patches, occupying sometimes the greater part 

 of the palate, set like the bristles on a shoe-brush, as the 

 Esocidce or Pike family ; and again in others, as the species 

 Labrax, of the family Percidee, to which belongs our own noble 

 Striped Bass, they cover the whole tongue, besides being thickly 

 set on the palate. 



The position and shape of these teeth indicate as clearly the 

 habits, mode of feeding, and the food, of the various families 

 to which they belong, as do the teeth of the carnivorous, 

 ruminating, or gnawing quadrupeds inform the naturalist 

 whether the creature, of which the jaw-bone only lies before 

 him, fed on animal substances, on grass, on grain, or on the 

 liark and hard-shelled nuts of trees; or as the beaks and 

 bills of birds tell the experienced looker-on whether the 



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