78 THE CANINE TEETH. 



wlien they are short and turned downward, he en- 

 deavors suddenly to pin the tiger to the ground, and 

 in consequence is dangerous to the rider, who is liable 

 to be dismounted. 



^•' Very few male quadrupeds possess weapons of two 

 distinct kinds specially adapted for fighting with rival 

 males. The male muntjac-deer {Cer cuius), however, 

 offers an exception, as he is provided with horns and 

 exserted canine teeth. But one form of weapon has 

 often been replaced in the course of ages by another 

 form, as we may infer from wliat follows. With rumi- 

 nants the development of horns generally stands in an 

 inverse relation with that of even moderately well- 

 developed canine teeth. Thus camels, guanacoes, 

 chevro tains, and musk-deer are hornless, and they 

 have efficient canines, these teeth being 'always of 

 smaller size in the females than in the males.' Male 

 deer and antelopes, on the other hand, possess horns, 

 and they rarely have canine teeth, and these when 

 present are always of smaller size, so that it is doubt- 

 ful whether they are of any service in their battles. 

 With Antelope wontana they exist only as rudiments 

 in the young male, disappearing as he grows old. 

 Stallions have small canine teeth, but they do not 

 appear to be used in fighting, for stallions bite with 

 their incisors, and do not open their mouths widely 

 like camels and guanacoes. Whenever the adult male 

 possesses canines now in an inefficient state, while the 

 female has either none or mere rudiments, we may 

 conclude that the early male progenitor of the species 

 was provided with efficient canines, which had been 

 partially transferred to the females. The reduction of 

 these teeth in the males seems to have followed from 

 some change in their manner of fighting, often caused 



