90 DR. A. SMITH WOODWARD : THE PILTDOW^ SKTJLL [April I914, 



The canine tooth thus described is distinctly larger than any 

 hitherto found in the genus Homo, and differs fundamentally in 

 having completely interlocked with its opposing tooth, which 

 worked downwards on its inner face as far as the edge of the 

 gum. Its exact position in the jaw remains uncertain, but its 

 crown must have risen well above the level of the other teeth, and 

 its state of wear implies its separation from the anterior premolar 

 by a slight diastema, as in the Apes. If the root was originally 

 inclined in a plane almost parallel with that of the anterior end of 

 the jaw, as in the Apes, the crown must have been more nearly 

 upright than that shown in the hypothetical restoration which 

 I made a year ago. 1 If, also as in the Apes, the flattened face of 

 the root was almost parallel with the plane of the mandibular 

 symphysis, the concave worn face of the crown would be turned 

 completely backwards and inwards (that is, towards the tongue). 

 In this case (PI. XV, fig. 4, and figs. 2-3, pp. 88 & 89) the opposing 

 upper canine tooth must have been shorter and wider than the per- 

 manent upper canine in the Recent Apes, for in them the worn 

 surface of the lower canine is continued at least slightly over the 

 outer (labial) side of the crown behind, so that it is visible 

 in lateral-external vieAv. There is no evidence of wear by the 

 outer upper incisor, such as sometimes occurs in the Apes ; for 

 this wear leaves a small facette in a plane distinct from that made 

 by the canine, and never extends more than about half-way down 

 the crown. 



The degree of wear of this newly-discovered canine tooth is of 

 especial interest, when considered in connexion with the worn 

 condition of the first and second molars in the mandible to which 

 it apparently belongs. As already described, both these molars 

 are flattened by mastication down to the level of the middle area of 

 their croAvn, while the third molar (known only by its socket) 

 must have been fully in place (see PI. XV, figs. 5a & 5b). The 

 permanent canine should therefore be completely extruded and 

 in use, whether the order of appearance of the teeth corresponded 

 with that in Man or with that in the Apes. As, however, the 

 enamel of its inner face is not merely worn, but entirely removed 

 by mastication, the tooth must have been well used for a con- 

 siderable period. It probably, therefore, came into place before 

 the second and third molars, as in Man — not after one or both of 

 these teeth, as in the Apes. 



This appearance of a human order of tooth-succession in the 

 mandible of EoantJirojpus suggests the desirability of making a 

 very careful comparison between the shape of the tooth now 

 described, and that of the lower canine in Man as well as in the 

 Apes. As is already known, the permanent canine in some of 

 the Australian and Tasmanian aborigines is comparatively large, 

 with its blunt apex slightly projecting above the level of the 

 dental series ; but in this tooth, as in the more normal human 



1 Q. J. G. S. vol. lxix (1913) p. 133, fig. 4 b. 



