THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 477 
the molar teeth of cud-chewing animals — a form which 
we may call " taurodont." Now when we examine the 
molar teeth of Heidelberg man there can be no doubt 
that a considerable degree of " taurodontism " is present. 
The pulp cavity of the third molar is large and sinks 
deeply in the substance of the mandible. The other 
characters of that mandible show us that in the Heidelberg 
jaw we are dealing with a rather early and massive form 
of Neanderthal man. The pulp cavities of the Piltdown 
molars are also large, but there is no indication of a 
downward extension of the pulp cavity below the alveolar 
margin. We do not know what the condition may have 
been in the missing third molar tooth. We do know, 
however, that with the appearance of taurodontism the 
body of the tooth enlarges so that the constriction or 
neck at the junction of body with the crown of the tooth 
tends to disappear. That constriction is well marked in 
the Piltdown molar teeth. Although the pulp cavities 
are large in the molar teeth of both those species of 
early men — Heidelberg and Piltdown — yet only in the 
former do we see distinct evidence of taurodontism. 
If we sum up the evidence relating to the mandible 
and teeth of Piltdown man we must, in the first place, 
emphasise the remarkable mixture of human and ape-like 
characters which they exhibit. The mandible, as we have 
seen in a previous chapter, was marked by many simian 
traits, particularly in the region of the chin or symphysis. 
The articulation for the mandible, on the temporal bone 
of the skull, does not differ from that seen in skulls of 
living races of a primitive type. The molar teeth are 
essentially human. On the other hand, the canine tooth, 
in its form and size, is more ape-like than any canine ever 
before attributed to a human being. In shape and size it 
is in keeping with the mandible, but even when these 
admissions are made, certain difficult problems remain to 
be solved. One of these relates to the upper canine 
teeth, which must have been equally simian and pointed. 
The method of articulation between the upper and lower 
canine teeth cannot have been as in apes, because the 
