Page:Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man.djvu/80

74 from all other animals, excepting the fossil genus Anoplotherium, which is allied to the Tapir tribe.

58. The incisors in man are large, broad, and compressed, with a flat edge. In carnivorous animals there are six in each jaw: they are small and pointed, bearing no resemblance to those of man; standing, also, farther apart, and being comparatively unimportant. In herbivorous animals they are broad, as in man; but generally much stronger, with the cutting ends considerably thicker, but varying extremely, both in form and number. In the Ruminantia, there are no incisors in the upper jaw; and those of the lower one are flat, broad, and oblique, so as to oppose their upper surface to the callous gum above. In the horse they are large and strong; in the hog they are also strong, those of the lower jaw projecting obliquely. In the elephant there are no incisors in the lower jaw, and the two in the upper assume the form of huge cylindrical tusks. The Rodentia (such as the rat, beaver, &c.) have long curved incisors.

59. The cuspids, or canine teeth, assume their normal development in the Carnivora; and the term "canine" (from the Latin word "canis") indicates them to be especially developed in the dog. They are (when normal) longer than the other teeth, conical, acute, and strong; often compressed, and with a cutting edge behind: their number never exceeds one on each side in each jaw. In many animals, they are developed into huge tusks; as in the boar, &c. The cuspids being generally much longer than the other teeth, a considerable space usually exists between the teeth, on each side of the jaw, to receive the canines of the opposite jaw; and, in all animals, the lower cuspids are anterior to the upper ones. In the hedgehogs, shrews, phælangers, and the tarsier, the canine are shorter than the other teeth; and, consequently, there is a vacancy between their points on each side. There is not the slightest resemblance between the cuspids of man and those of carnivorous animals; though the possession of these canines is the principal evidence urged by those who contend that man is partly carnivorous. Throughout nature, there are no sudden departures from the general type; and an organ which is strikingly characteristic in one class or order, disappears by successive gradations through several other orders, till it finally vanishes, or becomes merely rudimental. Such is the case with the canine teeth. In the Carnivora, they are strong and powerful weapons of offence and defence; in some of the Herbivora, as the horse, camel, and stag, they are still pointed and large; in man they