154 



THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



of the grinding tooth of the elephant, in which 

 they are more completely and equally inter- 

 mixed than in that of any other animal. Fig. 

 281 presents a vertical section of the grinding 

 tooth of the Asiatic Elephant, in the early stage 



of its growth, and highly polished, so as to 

 exhibit more perfectly its three component 

 structures. The enamel, marked e, is formed of 

 transverse fibres; the osseous, or innermost struc- 

 ture is composed of longitudinal plates. The 

 general covering of crusta petrosa, c, is less 

 regularly deposited, p is the cavity which had 

 been occupied by the -pulp. In this tooth, which 

 is still in a growing state, the fangs are not yet 

 added, but they are, at one part, beginning to 

 be formed. The same tooth in its usual state, 

 as worn by mastication, gives us a natural and 



