134 
©N THE TEETH OF MAMMALIA. 
purpose for which it is intended better than teeth would have done. The Camel 
is an exception to this rule; for though it ruminates it obtains its food in a 
very different way from the others of the same order, as it feeds chiefly on the 
tops of shrubs, and the young shoots of trees, which require greater force in 
breaking off than the blades of grass, to which the pad is beautifully adapted in 
the other Ruminants. The Camel may also be considered as the link between 
the Solidungula (Horse) and the genuine Ruminants, and therefore some little 
difference might be expected in some of its organs, if the former explanation were 
not sufficient. In the Solidungula the incisors have processes of enamel running 
into their substance. The Sloth and Cape Ant-eater are destitute of front teeth. 
The true Ant-eaters and the Manis have no teeth of any kind, but the food they 
take requires little if any mastication, and therefore teeth would be of very little 
use to them. The front teeth of the Walrus have broad flat crowns. The true 
Balosnse (Black Whale, and White-nosed Whale) have no teeth, but instead of 
them they have a broad fringe or curtain supported by elastic rods, which com¬ 
monly go by the name of Whale-bones, and which is most admirably fitted for 
separating the small animals on which they feed, from the water which is taken 
into the mouth along with them. The tusks of the Narwhale ( Monodon mono- 
ceros) are of this class. Its genericname Monodon ([xovos single, and o<W a tooth) 
is certainly wrongly applied, as well as its specific monoceros (povos and xsgas a 
horn); for although only one, generally the left, is seen, yet the other may be 
found within its alveolus. 
I shall now proceed to notice the tusks of the Elephant, which, though not 
partaking much of the nature of incisor teeth, yet, being inserted into the inter¬ 
maxillary bone, must be considered under this head. These tusks are only 
found in the upper jaw, and sometimes grow to an immense size, occasionally 
reaching seven or eight feet in length. They ar© produced in the same manner 
as the incisor teeth of the Rodentia , being formed on pulps contained in their 
posterior extremities, which continue secreting during the life of the animal. 
They are found in both sexes, and begin to appear in the fourth year. There is 
no appearance of incisors in the lower law. 
II. Canini , Corner or Canine Teeth.—These teeth are very well marked in 
the Carnivorous and many other animals. Their situation is next behind the 
incisors, from which in some animals they differ little in appearance, while in 
others they assume a variety of forms. In Man they are not out of the line of 
the other teeth, but lie uniformly with them. The tusks of the Walrus are of 
this class, and are used for detaching its food, which consists of shell-fish and 
marine plants, from the rocks. Many of the Baboons have these teeth of 
enormous size. In the Lion, Tiger, &c., these teeth present a very formidable 
appearance, though not projecting so as to constitute tusks. In one species of 
