GREAT ELEPHANT. 225 



teeth are merely joined to each other by an interme- 

 diate softer substance, acting as a cement. This 

 structure, even at first glance, must appear very 

 curious, being composed of a number of perpen- 

 dicular laminae, which may be considered as so 

 many teeth; each covered with a strong enamel, 

 and joined to one another by the common osseous 

 matter : this, being much softer than the enamel, 

 wears away faster by the mastication of the food ; 

 and in a few months after these teeth cut the gum, 

 the enamel rises considerably higher, so that the 

 surface of each grinder soon acquires a ribbed ap- 

 pearance, as if originally formed with ridges. The 

 number of these teeth, or portions, of which an 

 Elephant's grinder is composed, varies from four 

 to twenty-three, according as the animal advances 

 in age; so that a grinder or case of teeth in 

 a full-grown Elephant is more than sufficient to 

 fill one side of the mouth. The shape of the 

 grinders of the lower jaw differs from those of the 

 upper, which are very convex on the back part, 

 whereas the lower has a bent or curved direction, 

 adapting itself to the shape of the jaw; and is 

 concave on the surface. The grinders, like the 

 tusks, are already formed, even in the very young 

 animal. The first set of grinders, or milk-teeth, 

 begin to cut the gum eight or ten days after 

 birth : they are not shed, or cast, as the milk- 

 tusks are, but are gradually worn away during 

 the time the second set are coming forward. Mr. 

 Corse could not ascertain the exact time at which 

 the second set of grinders make their appearance, 

 v. i. 15 



