414 
GIRARD ON THE TEETH 
As long as the teeth of the full-grown dog are whole, and not 
injured by use, they have a beautiful appearance ; their colour is 
perfectly white. Their surface presents, as in the incisors of the 
ruminants, an anterior or cutting edge, and a hollow or depres¬ 
sion within. This edge or border is toothed ; it is divided into 
three lobes, the central one—the largest and the most projecting— 
forming the summit or point of the tooth. The two lateral lobes 
have the appearance of little notches cut on either side of the 
principal lobe ; the internal notch is the least distinct, particu¬ 
larly in the teeth of small dogs. This form of the dental edge 
constitutes what is commonly called the fleur-de-lis, and which 
is gradually effaced by the wearing down of the teeth. The de¬ 
pression, or hollow, like that in the incisor teeth of the ox, faces 
the cavity of the mouth ; it occupies the whole of the internal 
surface of the tooth, and is as regular and complete as if it had 
been formed by a gouge. Laterally, and by the side of the neck 
of the tooth, it has a projecting edge, from which the lateral 
lobes are formed and cut. 
The root of the incisor teeth is flatted on its sides, and bent 
somewhat backward. While the tooth is young, its root pre¬ 
sents a large and deep cavity, which encloses a pulpy substance; 
but this is gradually contracted as the age of the dog increases; 
and at length is diminished to a little round canal, which is 
prolonged into the interior of the tooth. 
The temporary and permanent teeth differ little except in size. 
The milk teeth are the smallest, the whitest, and the sharpest; 
but they continue only a little while after the birth : they fall 
before the appearance of their successors, and several days inter¬ 
vene between the fall of the first and the protrusion of the 
second set. 
The tushes or true canine teeth are four in number—two in 
each jaw. They are the instruments by means of which the 
animal most readily bites, seizes his prey, tears it, and draws it 
into the mouth. They are larger in the upper than in the lower jaw. 
They sometimes acquire a great size, and they are subject to 
the same alterations, and take on nearly the same form as those 
in the horse. They are of a pyramidal shape, curving inwards 
and backwards, terminating in a point of considerable sharpness; 
presenting, on their internal face, a depression little different 
from that in the incisors, and surrounded, like them, by a pro¬ 
jecting edge. The upper tush is nearer to the molars than 
the incisors, and, as it grows, it passes behind the lower one 
This last, fixed nearly at the corner of the lower jaw, rubs 
against the posterior face of the corner tooth, or little tush 
