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Physiological Observations. 29
The teeth of the omnivora are fitted for cutting, tearing and
grinding.
The teeth of all animals differ much in their shape and
structure, and those teeth, for which an animal has the greatest
use, are found to be more fully developed. The lion and
tiger among the carnivora have long and terrible canine teeth.
In the graminivora, especially the ruminantia, as the cow, these
teeth are wanting, and the molares are the most conspicuous.
In the rodtntia, or gnawing animals, as the beaver, squirrel,
&c. the incisores are remarkably developed.
In man* every part of the teeth appear equally developed,
and exhibit a perfection of structure which may be considered
* " The teeth of men are distinguished by being all of one length, and
by the circumstance of their being arranged in an uniform unbroken
series. The cuspidati are a little longer than the others at first ; but
their sharp points are soon worn down to a level with the rest. In all
animals the teeth of different classes differ in size and length, often very
considerably ; and they are separated by more or less wide intervals :
this is particularly the case with the teeth called canine, or cuspidati,
which are long, prominent, and distinct from the neighbouring teeth
their not projecting beyond the rest, nor being separated from them by
any interval, is, therefore, a very characteristic circumstance in the hu-
man structure. Even in the Simiaa, whose masticatory apparatus most
nearly resembles that of man, the cuspidati are longer, often very consid-
erably longer, than the other teeth, and there are intervals in the series
of each jaw to receive the cuspidati of the other.
" The infei ior incisors are perpendicular : the teeth, indeed, and the front
of the jaw, are placed in the same vertical line. In animals, these teeth
slant backwards, and the jaw slopes backwards directly from the
alveoli ; so that the full prominent chin, so remarkable a feature in. the
face of our species, is found in no' animal, not even in the Ourang-outang
it appears as if the part were cut off.
" The obtuse tubercles of the grinders are again very peculiar and cha-
racteristic ; they are worthy of particular remark, because, being the
great instruments of dividing the food, they correspond to the kind of
nourishment which the animal naturally takes. Their surface does not
resemble the fiat crowns with rising ridges of intermixed enamel, belong-
ing to our common herbivorous animals ; nor are they like the cutting
tearing grinders of the carnivora, but they are well adapted to that mix-
ed diet prepared by the arts of cookery, which man has always resorted
to when he could get it, and when his natural inclinations have not been
thwarted by the interference of religious scruples or prohibitions, nor
opposed by his own whims and fancies.
" The lower jaw of man is distinguished by the prominence of the chin,
a necessary consequence of the inferior incisores being perpendicular, by
its shortness, and by the oblong convexity and pbliquity of the condyles.
Physiological Observations. 29
The teeth of the omnivora are fitted for cutting, tearing and
grinding.
The teeth of all animals differ much in their shape and
structure, and those teeth, for which an animal has the greatest
use, are found to be more fully developed. The lion and
tiger among the carnivora have long and terrible canine teeth.
In the graminivora, especially the ruminantia, as the cow, these
teeth are wanting, and the molares are the most conspicuous.
In the rodtntia, or gnawing animals, as the beaver, squirrel,
&c. the incisores are remarkably developed.
In man* every part of the teeth appear equally developed,
and exhibit a perfection of structure which may be considered
* " The teeth of men are distinguished by being all of one length, and
by the circumstance of their being arranged in an uniform unbroken
series. The cuspidati are a little longer than the others at first ; but
their sharp points are soon worn down to a level with the rest. In all
animals the teeth of different classes differ in size and length, often very
considerably ; and they are separated by more or less wide intervals :
this is particularly the case with the teeth called canine, or cuspidati,
which are long, prominent, and distinct from the neighbouring teeth
their not projecting beyond the rest, nor being separated from them by
any interval, is, therefore, a very characteristic circumstance in the hu-
man structure. Even in the Simiaa, whose masticatory apparatus most
nearly resembles that of man, the cuspidati are longer, often very consid-
erably longer, than the other teeth, and there are intervals in the series
of each jaw to receive the cuspidati of the other.
" The infei ior incisors are perpendicular : the teeth, indeed, and the front
of the jaw, are placed in the same vertical line. In animals, these teeth
slant backwards, and the jaw slopes backwards directly from the
alveoli ; so that the full prominent chin, so remarkable a feature in. the
face of our species, is found in no' animal, not even in the Ourang-outang
it appears as if the part were cut off.
" The obtuse tubercles of the grinders are again very peculiar and cha-
racteristic ; they are worthy of particular remark, because, being the
great instruments of dividing the food, they correspond to the kind of
nourishment which the animal naturally takes. Their surface does not
resemble the fiat crowns with rising ridges of intermixed enamel, belong-
ing to our common herbivorous animals ; nor are they like the cutting
tearing grinders of the carnivora, but they are well adapted to that mix-
ed diet prepared by the arts of cookery, which man has always resorted
to when he could get it, and when his natural inclinations have not been
thwarted by the interference of religious scruples or prohibitions, nor
opposed by his own whims and fancies.
" The lower jaw of man is distinguished by the prominence of the chin,
a necessary consequence of the inferior incisores being perpendicular, by
its shortness, and by the oblong convexity and pbliquity of the condyles.
