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Teething , 31
class of animals he belongs or did belong when first created.
Deprive man of the endowments of reason and make him'fru-
givorous, e>.s some would have him to be, he must be confined
as are the monkey species, to the tropical regions ; but reason,
and his propensity to all kinds of food have enabled him to set
climate at defiance, and to become the inhabitant of every
region
TEETHING.
The time occupied in the first dentition, is a critical period
in the life of a child. The mortality* caused b}' the local irri-
dom of lateral motion, however, the human inferior maxilla more nearly
resembles that of the herbivora.
" The teeth and jaws of man are in all respects much more similar to
those of monkeys, than of any other animal?. A skull, apparently of the*
ourang-outang, in the Museum of the College, has the fii'st set of teeth;
the number is the same as in man, and the form so closely similar, that
they might easily be mistaken for human. In most other Simis the
canine teeth are much longer and stronger than in us; and so far these
animals have a more carnivorous character. The points and ridges of
the molares in Simise, are distinguished by their sharpness, from the per
culiar obtuse tubercles of the human molares.
" We find, that whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the imme?
diate instruments of digestion, the human structure closely resembles that
of the Simiss ; all of which, in their natural state, are completely her-
bivorous.
"I do not infer from these circumstances that man is designed by mature
to feed on vegetables, or that it would be moreadvantageous to him to adopt
that diet. The hands and the arts of man proeure for him the food which
carnivorous animals earn by their teeth. The processes of cookery bring
what he eats into a very different state from that in which it is employed,
either by carnivorous or herbivorous animals. Hence the analogy in the
modes of procuring and preparing food is too loose for us to place much
confidence in the results of these comparative views. We must trust to
experience alone for elucidating the great problem of diet; its decision
has been long ago pronounced, and will hardly now be reversed." Law-
rence's Lectures.
* OPERATION OF THE FIRST DENTITION.
" 1 have just said above, that the operation of the first dentition was so
much the more difficult and attended with more danger, on account of
the child being weaker and more nervous. It therefore will not be im-
proper to begin with a statement of. the situation, more or less favorable,
of children, to enable them to endure the pain which'is inseparable from
that operation of nature, and to mark out a proper diet and regimen that
will procure them a strong constitutisn. The first rule to be observed is
that which is conducive to the enjoyment of a good state of health, which
Teething , 31
class of animals he belongs or did belong when first created.
Deprive man of the endowments of reason and make him'fru-
givorous, e>.s some would have him to be, he must be confined
as are the monkey species, to the tropical regions ; but reason,
and his propensity to all kinds of food have enabled him to set
climate at defiance, and to become the inhabitant of every
region
TEETHING.
The time occupied in the first dentition, is a critical period
in the life of a child. The mortality* caused b}' the local irri-
dom of lateral motion, however, the human inferior maxilla more nearly
resembles that of the herbivora.
" The teeth and jaws of man are in all respects much more similar to
those of monkeys, than of any other animal?. A skull, apparently of the*
ourang-outang, in the Museum of the College, has the fii'st set of teeth;
the number is the same as in man, and the form so closely similar, that
they might easily be mistaken for human. In most other Simis the
canine teeth are much longer and stronger than in us; and so far these
animals have a more carnivorous character. The points and ridges of
the molares in Simise, are distinguished by their sharpness, from the per
culiar obtuse tubercles of the human molares.
" We find, that whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the imme?
diate instruments of digestion, the human structure closely resembles that
of the Simiss ; all of which, in their natural state, are completely her-
bivorous.
"I do not infer from these circumstances that man is designed by mature
to feed on vegetables, or that it would be moreadvantageous to him to adopt
that diet. The hands and the arts of man proeure for him the food which
carnivorous animals earn by their teeth. The processes of cookery bring
what he eats into a very different state from that in which it is employed,
either by carnivorous or herbivorous animals. Hence the analogy in the
modes of procuring and preparing food is too loose for us to place much
confidence in the results of these comparative views. We must trust to
experience alone for elucidating the great problem of diet; its decision
has been long ago pronounced, and will hardly now be reversed." Law-
rence's Lectures.
* OPERATION OF THE FIRST DENTITION.
" 1 have just said above, that the operation of the first dentition was so
much the more difficult and attended with more danger, on account of
the child being weaker and more nervous. It therefore will not be im-
proper to begin with a statement of. the situation, more or less favorable,
of children, to enable them to endure the pain which'is inseparable from
that operation of nature, and to mark out a proper diet and regimen that
will procure them a strong constitutisn. The first rule to be observed is
that which is conducive to the enjoyment of a good state of health, which
