CHAP. in. Pharyngeal Teeth. 47 



individual thinks this " very like a whale," just let him slip a finger 

 down a live Mahseer's throat, and I promise him the luxury of a new 

 sensation. 



These pharyngeal or throat teeth are not set in sockets like human 

 teeth, but are continuations of the pharyngeal bones. Unlike other 

 teeth, in fish instead of dentine, they have a coating of enamel, which is 

 continued to their base. There seems to be no provision for renew- 

 ing them in case of loss, no adjoining row of teeth as in the shark, 

 no second tooth below as in the human being; and in an instance 

 in which I noticed that two were wanting on one side, the place where 

 they should be was quite smooth. They are not used for capturing 

 food at all, but for crushing it in its passage down the throat. The fine 

 perforations through which they are supplied with nerves and nutriment 

 are easily seen. The attachment of the muscles to the pharyngeal 

 bones is also very apparent and in -keeping with what we know of the 

 power with which they are used. 



Professor Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries in 

 the United States, says in his report for 1875-76, that the pharyngeal 

 teeth of the common carp, Cyprinus Carpio, are shed annually a little 

 before spawning time. Whether or not our large Indian carp, the 

 Mahseer, does the same is a point that it may interest some to observe. 

 I do not think it does. I certainly have not examined carefully for this 

 specific purpose, but I have caught Mahseer before their spawning time 

 and have never noticed any indications of such shedding, and I think I 

 should have noticed them if they had been there. For instance, I have 

 seen broken teeth unreplaced, and I have never seen loose teeth, or 

 incomplete young teeth. If the tteth are shed one can readily imagine 

 that it would influence the feeding of the fish at that season of the year. 

 I certainly have found times even with clear water, when the Mahseer 

 could not be induced to look at a fly or fish, and I was at one time 

 puzzled for a reason. Still it does not follow that want of a new set of 

 teeth was the reason, and it may quite as well have been the east wind, 

 and I have now no doubt that it was the cold wind, for I have noticed 

 times without number what a marked effect a cold wind has on the 

 feeding, not of Mahseer only, but of many other Indian fish. But of 

 this more in another place. Let it suffice here to say that a cold wind is 

 quite enough to account for Mahseer being put off their feed, without 

 taking their abstinence to be in any way connected with dental troubles, 



