Page 112 - My FlipBook

HUNTER ON THE TEETH.
first and second are placed directly under the Maxillary Sinus.
I once saw the second Grinder naturally wanting on one side of
the Lower-Jaw.

able for the strong basal ridges they present, which serve to protect
the gums in the rough work of splitting and crushing bones. The
first upper premolar is very small and conical, the second is much
larger, and the third still larger, and of great strength. The strong cones
of the second and third are each belted by a posterior and internal basal
ridge, and the posterior part of the cone is also traversed by a longitu-
dinal ridge. The fourth is the carnassiere, and presents a blade divided
into three lobes, and a strong internal trihedral tubercle. In the lower
jaw, the first premolar (p. 2) fits into the interspace letween the first
and second premolars above. It presents a ridge anteriorly, and abroad
basal talon behind. The second (p. 3) is the largest ; it has an anterior
and a posterior basal ridge, and its strong, rounded cone presents also an
anterior and posterior vertical ridge. In the third (p. 4), the posterior
basal ridge is developed into a small cone. The lower carnassiere of the
Hyaena resembles that of the Felidce, except that the points of the two lobes
are less produced, and from a small posterior talon a ridge is continued
along the inner side of the base. In the family of the Viverridce (Civets,
Genets, Ichneumons, &c), the molar series is p. £ £ \ , to. fi fi This
.
increase in the number of these teeth forms a link between the genus
Canis and the genera already referred to. The sectorial teeth are more
tubercular than trenchant. In some aquatic species, however, as in the
sub-genus Cynogale, the premolars have compressed, triangular, trenchant,
sharp-pointed crowns, the edges of which are minutely serrated, like
the teeth of certain sharks. In the Indian Musangs (Paradoxuri), which
are but little carnivorous in their habits, subsisting principally on the
fruit of the palm-tree, these teeth manifest the opposite or tuberculate
character. The lower sectorial (to. 1) has a pointed lobe developed on
the inner side of its two anterior lobes
; its posterior lobe is tritubercu-
late, as in the dog. The crown of the last lower molar (m. 2) is oval,
with four small tubercles, resembling m. 2 in the Dog. The molar
formula in the genus Canis is p. ' *[ , m. § ' § ; . The premolars have,
\
strong, sub-compressed conical crowns ; they increase in size from before
backwards, the larger ones presenting one or two small posterior
tubercles. The upper sectorial (p. 4) is of much larger size than the
other teeth of the series. It is divided by a wide notch into two lobes,
of which the anterior is much the larger and more produced ; from the
inner side of its base the tubercle is developed. The upper true molars
are tubercidate ; the second is very small. The lower sectorial (m. 1)
has the blade formed by twu conical lobes, of which the posterior is the
larger ; behind this the base of the crown extends into a broad quadrate
tri tuberculate talon. The second molar presents two anterior opposite