126 
THE DESCENT OE MAN. 
Part L 
In man the canine teeth are perfectly efficient instru- 
ments for mastication. But their true canine character, 
as Owen 39 remarks, “is indicated by the conical form 
“ of the crown, which 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, especially 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 iveapon for tearing his enemies or prey ; 
it may, therefore, as far as its proper function is con- 
cerned, be considered as rudimentary. In every large 
collection of human skulls some may be found, as 
Hackel 40 observes, with the canine teeth projecting con- 
siderably beyond the others in the same manner, but 
in a less degree, as in the anthropomorphous apes. In 
these cases, open spaces between the teeth in the one 
jaw are left for the reception of the canines belonging 
to the opposite jaw. An interspace of this kind in a 
Kaffir skull, figured by Wagner, is surprisingly wide . 41 
Considering how few ancient skulls have been examined 
in comparison with recent skulls, it is an interesting 
fact that in at least three cases the canines project 
largely ; and in the Naulette jaw they are spoken of as 
enormous . 42 
brata, that chiefly led me to the above conclusion. This extraordinary 
fact of their regrowth remains inexplicable, if the belief in reversion to 
some extremely remote progenitor must be rejected. I cannot, how- 
ever, follow Prof. Gegenbanr in supposing that additional digits could 
not reappear through reversion, without at the same time other parts of 
the skeleton being simultaneously and similarly modified ; for single 
characters often reappear through reversion. 
39 1 Anatomy of Vertebrates,’ vol. iii. 1868, p. 323. 
40 1 Generelle Morphologie, ’ 1866, B. ii. s. civ. 
41 Carl Vogt’s ‘Lectures on Man,’ Eng. translat. 1864, p. 151. 
42 C. Carter Blake, on a jaw from La Naulette, ‘ Anthropolog. 
Beview,’ 1867, p. 295. Schaatf hausen, ibid. 1868, p. 426. 
