144 THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



immediately following the incisors, are called 

 cuspidate, or canine teeth, from their being par- 

 ticularly conspicuous in dogs ; as they are, in- 

 deed, in all the purely carnivorous tribes. In the 

 larger beasts of prey, as the lion and the tiger, 

 they become most powerful weapons of destruc- 

 tion : in the boar they are likewise of great 

 size, and constitute the tusks of the animal. All 

 the teeth that are placed farther back in the 

 faw are designated by the general name of molar, 

 teeth, or grinders, but it is a class which includes 

 several different forms of teeth. Those teeth 

 which are situated next to the canine teeth, 

 partake of the conical form, having pointed emi- 

 nences ; these are called the false molar teeth, 

 and also, from their having generally two points, 

 or cusps, the hicuspidate teeth. The posterior 

 molar teeth are differently shaped in carnivorous 

 animals, for they are raised into sharp and often 

 serrated ridges, having many of the properties 

 of cutting teeth. In insectivorous and fru- 

 givorous animals their surface presents pro- 

 minent tubercles, either pointed or rounded, for 

 pounding the food ; while in quadrupeds that 

 feed on grass or grain they are flat and rough, 

 for the purpose simply of grinding. 



The apparatus for giving motion to the jaws 



semble him, the sutures which divide the intermaxillary from the 

 maxillary bones are obliterated before birth, and leave in the 

 iidult no trace of their former existence. 



