ODONTOGRAPHY. 61 



into numerous small mammillary processes, in number four, five, or six ; 

 presenting an appearance, when worn, like that in the Asiatic Elephant, 

 and in their integrity representing distinctly the eminences of the true 

 Mastodon. A fine mineralized specimen of part of a jaw, with an immense 

 tooth of this description, exists in the Natural History collection in this 

 place. Other links in the chain have been discovered by Dr. Falconer, who 

 thinks he has established a connected series from the Elephas Primigenius 

 through the Elephas Asiaticus and Africanus, Mastodon Latidens, Giganteus, 

 and others, extended even to the Dinotherium. 



The magnitude and beauty of the teeth of the Mastodon, while they Mastodon 



Teeth. 



excited the admiration of early observers, served for the construction of General 



Remarks. 



hypotheses on the character and habits of this animal ; and the knowledge 

 of their development has to modern naturalists been a source of pleasure 

 and instruction. Dr. W. Hunter, misled by a partial view of their organiza- 

 tion, and their apparent similarity to the teeth of the carnivora, was of 

 opinion that the points of these massive organs were destined to crush 

 the bones of smaller animals. A better knowledge of their structure, and 

 their analogy to those of the vegetable feeders, has entirely overthrown this 

 theory. 



While the teeth of the elephant are, as already said, composed of structure. 

 three kinds of hard matter, dentine, enamel, and cement ; those of the 

 Mastodon Giganteus are constituted principally of two of these substances, 

 dentine and enamel. Professor Owen has shown that a layer of cement 

 invests the fangs, and is spread over the crown, but the basis of the crown 

 and of the fangs is formed by the dentine ; while in the teeth of the elephant, 



