234 



DESCRIPTION OF THE 



as in the caninee. Jaws rather shorter than in the spaniel — decidedly so 

 than in the jackal : and herein we must, perhaps, look for the explanation 

 of that remarkable anomaly in the dental system of the Bumm, viz. the 

 absence of the last molar in the lower jaw. 



Upon this point I expect to meet with abundance of scepticism in my 

 scientific readers, which I shall only increase by telling them that the 

 teeth have in every other material* respect the well known characters. It 

 is the second tubercular behind the great carnivorous tooth that is want- 

 ing, all the rest having precisely the ordinary forms and positions. To 

 remove as far as I can the doubts I anticipate, I beg to state that I speak 

 upon the authority of no less than five skulls — three of old— two of mature 

 — and one of a young but fully grown animal ; that the deficiency of the 

 lower molar corresponds with the diminished size of the last upper one ; 

 that this anomaly is in harmony with the somewhat less than usual 

 elongation of the jaws, and with the consequent closer than ordinary 

 arrangement of the false molars, which stand anteriorly to the carnivorous 

 teeth, both with respect to one another, and to the canines. 



The more we see of nature the more are we convinced that in her 

 scheme all generic and other distinctions, established by us, are by her 

 insensibly blended into one harmonious whole. The Budnsu by his teeth, 

 his jaws, and the form of his skull along the vertical line, tends to con- 

 nect, although with a long interval, the Dogs, through the Hyaena Dogs 

 and the Hysenas, with the Cats. But, it will be asked, if the Budnsu s 



* The reserve implied by tlie use of the word material, refers solely to the slight difference 

 immediately noticed in the text, viz. the closer set of the molars standing anteriorly to the great 

 carnivorous tooth. Tliese molars are, clearly though trivially, nearer to each other; and the fore- 

 most of thorn is nearer to the canine, than in any of the numerous skulls of tame dogs belonging 

 to all three of Cuvier's Sections which now lie before me. A minute examination, tooth by tooth, 

 has not enabled me to discover the least distinction between the ordinary canine dentition and that of 

 the Budnsu, with the above exception ; and, of course, that important one which is dwelt on as such. 



