52 TPioo. B.N.F.C: 



Gossip Half -hour " occupied the members' attention, various 

 objects of interest being exhibited and discussed. At eight 

 o'clock the chair was taken by Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A., 

 who opened the proceedings by referring in feeling terms to the 

 loss the community had sustained by the death of the Mar- 

 quis of Dufferin and Ava. His Lordship was one of the three 

 Honorary Members of the Club, and Mr. Gray proposed that 

 the respectful sympathy of the members should be conveyed to 

 the Marchioness of Dufferin and her family. The resolution 

 was seconded by Mr. John M. Dickson, supported by Mr. 

 John Vinycomb, M.R.I. A., and passed by all present standing 

 in solemn silence. 



Mr. Cunningham then proceeded with his lecture on 

 " The Teeth of Vertebrates." He began by pointing out 

 the impirtant part which teeth had played in the identi- 

 fication of extinct animals, their extreme hardness render- 

 ing them more indestructible than other tissues. Primi- 

 tive forms of teeth were then described, and the lecturer 

 explained the difference between horny teeth and true teeth, 

 emphasising the necessity of regarding dentine as the essential 

 element in the latter. By the aid of appropriate illustrations 

 thrown on the screen, he showed the dermal origin of teeth, 

 and how horns, hoofs, hair, and teeth have come to be classed 

 as parts of the dermo-skeleton of animals. Then followed an 

 interesting series of illustrations showing peculiar features in 

 the teeth of fishes ; the serried rows of teeth in the sharks, the 

 hinged teeth of the hake, the palatine, vomer, and throat 

 teeth of other fishes, and the remarkable teeth on the '' saw " 

 of the sawfish. An account was then given of the teeth of 

 reptiles, proving their primitive type, and the working of the 

 wonderful poison-apparatus of the rattlesnake was described 

 in all its important details, showing it to be a highly- 

 specialised weapon. After pointing out the difference between 

 the homodont dentition of reptiles, and the heterodont 

 dentition of mammals, the lecturer described the teeth of 

 herbivores at some length, and laid special stress upon the 

 correlation of growth shown in the ruminants by the curious 



