MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT. 39 



In man, the canine teeth are perfectly efficient instruments for 

 mastication. But their true canine character, as Owen'- remarks, 

 "is indicated by the conical form of the crown, Jsrhich terminates 

 "in an obtuse point, is convex outward and flat or sub-concave 

 "within, at the base of which surface there is a feeble prominence. 

 "The conical form is best expressed in the Melanian races, espe- 

 "cially the Australian. The canine is more deeply implanted, 

 "and by a stronger fang than the incisors." Nevertheless, this 

 tooth no longer serves man as a special weapon for tearing his 

 enemies or prey; it may, therefore, as far as its proper function 

 is concerned, be considered as rudimentary. In every large col- 

 lection of human skulls some may be found, as Hackel" observes, 

 with the canine teeth projecting considerably beyond the others 

 in the same manner as in the anthropomorphous apes, but in a 

 less degree. In these cases, open spaces between the teeth in 

 the one jaw are left for the reception of the canines of the opposite 

 jaw. An interspace of this kind in a Kaffir skull, figured by Wag- 

 ner, is surprisingly wide." Considering how few are the ancient 

 skulls which have been examined, compared to recent skulls, it 

 is an interesting fact that in at least three cases the canines pro- 

 ject largely; and in the Naulette jaw they are spoken of as enor- 

 mous." 



Of the anthropomorphous apes the males alone have their 

 canines fully developed; but in the female gorilla, and in a less 

 degree in the female orang, these teeth project considerably beyond 

 the others; therefore the fact, of which I have been assured, 

 that women sometimes have considerably projecting canines, is 

 no serious objection to the belief that their occasional great de- 

 velopment in man is a case of reversion to an ape-like progenitor. 

 He who rejects with scorn the belief that the shape of his own 

 canines, and their occasional great development in other men, 

 are due to our early forefathers having been provided with these 

 formidable weapons, will probably reveal, by sneering, the line of 

 his descent. For though he no longer intends, nor has the power, 

 to use these teeth as weapons, he will unconsciously retract his 

 "snarling muscles" (thus named by Sir C. Bell),*' so as to expose 

 them ready for action, like a dog prepared to fight. 



velopment? And again, why should not injurious abnormalities, such 

 as atrophied or hypertrophied parts, which have no relation to a for- 

 mer state of existence, occur at an early period, as well as during 

 maturity? 



*^ 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. 1868, p. 323. 



« 'Generelle Morphologie,' 1866, B. ii. s. civ. 



" Carl Vogt's 'Lectures on Man,' Bng. translat. 1864, p. 151. 



<= C. Carter Blake, on a jaw from La Naulette, 'Anthropolog. Review,' 

 1867, p. 295. Schaaffhausen, ibid. 1868, p. 426. 



«> 'The Anatomy of Expression,' 1844, pp. 110, 131. 



