Characters as Adaptive and Specific. 267 



a reductio ad absurdum with regard to the generic 

 character than the one just presented with regard to 

 its variants as specific characters. And, of course, 

 this twofold absurdity is presented in all cases where 

 a generic character is unequally distributed among 

 the constituent species of a genus. 



But here is an illustration of another class of cases. 

 Mr. Tomes has shown that the molar teeth of the 

 Orang present an extraordinary and altogether super- 

 fluous amount of attachment in their sockets — the fangs 



Fig. 4. — I^ower Teeth of Orang (after Tomes). 



being not only exceedingly long, and therefore deeply 

 buried in the jaw-bone, but also curving round one 

 another, so as still further to strengthen the wholes 

 In the allied genera of anthropoid apes there is no 

 such abnormal amount of attachment. Now, the 

 question is, of what conceivable use can it ever 

 have been, either to the existing genus, or to its 

 parent species, that such an abnormal amount of 

 attachment should obtain? It certainly is not re- 

 quired to prevent dislocation of the teeth, seeing that 

 in all allied genera, and even in man himself, the 



• A Manual of Dental Anatomy, p. 455. 



