''^'''' I Hill mil mil mil nil nil HX00020389 A MANUAL DENTAL ANATOMY HUMAN AND COMPARATIVE CHARLES S. TOMES, M.A., F.Pv.S. WITH 191 ILLUSTRATIONS SECOND EDITION PHILADELPHIA PRESLEY BLAKISTON 1882 LONDON : BRADBURY. AGXEW, & CO. PRTNTERS, WHITEFRIARS PREFACE. In introtlucing a Second Eilition of tins Manual but few "words are necessary. It has been entirely revised, some portions, notably the chapter on the dental tissues, have been in great part rewritten, and many new illus- trations have been added here and elsewhere in the book. My indebtedness to Professor Owen's " Odonto- graphy," to my fiithcr's "Dental Surgery,"' and to his " Lectures on Dental Physiology and Surgery," to Professor Flower's " licctures on the Teeth " (published in the B)-itis]i Medical Journal, 1871^, to Kolliker's and to Strieker's Histologies, I will again acknow- ledge, since it is both impossible and undesirable to encumber a student's book with references to au- thorities for every statement. And if I have any- where failed to give due acknowledgment to another whose writings I may have made use of, I crave forgive- ness for my omission. I gladly embrace this opportimity PREFACE of expressing my thanks to Professor Hollaender for the lionoro" he has done to my book in rendering it into German, and to Dr. Cruet for translating it into French ; and at the same time I gratefully acknow- ledge the kindness of many of my friends who have sent me corrections which they have noted as being required in the text of the first edition. CHARLES S. TOMES. r, Cavendish SyuARH December, 1881. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Columbia University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/manualofdentalaOOtome A MANUAL DENTAL ANATOMY TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PACE The Nature of Teeth — Description oi'' thr Teeth of Man . 1 CHAPTER II. The Maxillary Boxes, axd Associated Parts . . . . 23 CHAPTER III. The Dental Tissues : Ei^amel, Dentine, Cemextum, Tooth Pulp, &c 40 CHAPTER IV. The Development of the Teeth — in Fish — in Reptiles — m Mammals — Calcification op the Dental Tissues . . . 113 CHAPTER V. The Development op the Jaws and the Eruption and Attach- ment op the Teeth 17( CHAPTER VI. The Teeth of Fishes 214 CONTENTS. CnAPTER VII. PACK Thk Tkkth of Batkaciua and Kki'Tilia 23!> CHAPTER YIII. TiiK Tketh op Mam>ials — Introductory Kkmaiiks — Homologies o? THIS Teeth — Milk Dentition . . ... . . 264 CHAPTER IX. TuK Tketh of Monoire.mata, Edentata, and Cetacea . . 304 CHAPTER X. TuE Tkktii of Ungclata 314 CHAPTER XL TuK Tekth of Sirenia, Hvracoidea, Proboscidea, and Kodeniia 344 CHAPTER XII. TuK Teeth of Caknivora 374 CHAPTER XIII. ToK Tekth of Insectivora, Ohikoi'tera, and Primates . . 394 CHAPTER XIV. The Teeth of Marsuitalia . . . , MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY HUMAN AND COMPAKATIYE. CHAPTER I. THE TEETH OF MAX. The range of the subject of Dental Anatomy tui'ns upon the meaning -which is attached to the word " Tooth ; " but, although this chapter might most appropriately open with a definition of this word, it is very much easier to explain what is ordinarily undei-stood by it, than to frame any single sentence which shall fulfil the requirements of logical definition. Most vertebrate and a great many invertebrate animals have certain hard masses in or near to the orifice of the alimentary canal, i.e., the mouth ; by these hard masses, sometimes of bony and sometimes of horny nature, various offices in connection with the prehension or com- minution of food are performed, and to them the term '' teeth " is applied. In many animals teeth have come to be used for other purposes, such as for sexual wai-fare ; but it can hardly be doubted that teeth have primarily to do with the nourishment of their possessor. The subject of the homologies of the teeth cannot be fully entered upon until the details of their development have 2 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. been mastered ; still a few words may even at the outset be devoted to the elucidation of their real nature. The mucous membrane which lines the alimentary canal is continuous with — is, indeed, a part of — the external skin, with which it blends at the lips. Now if a young dog-fish, just about to be hatched, be examined, it will be found that it has no distinct under lip, but that its skin turns in over its rounded jaw without interruption. The skin outside carries spines (placoid scales), (') and these spines are con- tinued over that part of it which enters the mouth and bends over the jaws ; only they are a little larger in this latter position. If the growth of the dog-fish be followed, these spines of the skin which cover the jaws become deve- loped to a far greater size than those outside, and the identity and continuity of the two become to some extent masked. No one can doubt, whether from the comparison of adult forms or from a study of the development of the parts, that the teeth of the shark correspond to the teeth of other fish, and these again to those of reptiles and mammals ; it may be clearly demonstrated that the teeth of the shark are nothing more than highly developed spines of the skin, and thei-efore we infer that all teeth bear a similar relation to the skin. This is what is meant when teeth are called " dermal appendages," and are said to be perfectly distinct from the internal bony skeleton of the animal ; the teeth of the shark (and of many other creatures) remain imbedded in tough mucous membrane, and never acquire any connection with the bone. Indeed, all teeth alike are developed from a part of the mucous membrane, and any connection which they may ultimately get with the bone is a secondary matter. As it has been well expressed by Dr. Harrison Allen (^) "The placoid scale lias tlie structure of dentine ; is covered by €namel, and is continued at its base into a plate formed of osseous tissue." Oegenbaur's Comparative Anatomy, translated by F. Jeifery Bell, p. 424. THE TEETH OF MAN. ('Anatomy of the Facial Region'), "if the hairs of the scalp were to be inserted into the skull, or of the moustache into the upper jaw, we should express great astonishment, yet such an extreme proposition is no more remarkable than what is seen to take place in the jaws," again " the feathers of certain birds making impressions on the radius, the whalebone pendent from the roof of the mouth, are examples of this same association of tegumentary appendages with the bones." In their simpler forms, then, teeth are met with as ver}' numerovis spines, differing but little from the spines of the skin except in size, and still less from one another. In many fish the teeth, though more specialised, are scattered over almost every one of the numerous bones which form part of the walls of the mouth and pharynx ; in reptiles they are much more limited in position, and in mammals are absolutely confined to the intermaxillaiy, maxillaiy, and mandibular (lower maxillary) bones. In fish and rep- tiles it is the exception for the teeth in different parts of the mouth to differ markedly from each other; in mam- mals it is the rule. Teeth owe their hardness to an impregnation with salts of lime ; the organic matrix may be of albuminoid charac- ter, in which case the tooth is of horny consistence, and is spoken of as " cornified ; " or the matrix may be, like that of bone, gelatigenous, in which case the tooth is more richly impregnated with salts, and is spoken of as " calcified." The great mass of a calcified tooth is usually made up of "dentine," which gives to it its characteristic form, and often practically constitutes the whole tooth : to this may or may not be added enamel and cementum. Without further prelude we may pass to a description of the human teeth, this comrse appearing to me, after some little consideration, to afford to the student the most ad- B 2 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. vantageous introduction to the subject, as he must sarily ah-eady possess some knowledge of their forms, while to the matters alluded to in the preceding pages more full reference will be made hereafter. In the human subject no tooth rises above the level of its fellows, and the teeth are arranged in close contact, with no interspaces between them. The teeth are ranged around the margins of the jaws in a parabolic cui*ve, or something approximating to one ; in the lower races of mankind the curve tends to a squarish, oblong form, owing to the prominence of the canines (compare the figure of the denti- tion of Simia Satyrus), whilst a deviation in the opposite direction is daily becoming more common in the most highly civilised races, resulting in a contour to which in extreme cases the name of V-shaped maxilla is applied. It may be stated, as generally true, that the teeth are somewhat larger on their labial than on their lingual aspect, a result which necessarily follows from their standing with- out interspaces along a curved line. And as great variations in size and shape, as well as in colour, are found to exist between different individuals, it is only possible to give such a description as shall apply to the generality of teeth. The teeth of the upper jaw are ranged along a curve of larger dimensions than those of the lower, the incisors pass- ing in front of the corresponding lower teeth, and the ex- ternal cusps of the bicuspids and molars closing outside those of the lower teeth. There are, however, some points of detail to be noted in the relation borne by the upper to the lower teeth, besides that comprised in the general statement that the former lie outside the latter, by which it is brought about that each tooth is antagonised by portions of two teeth in the other jaw, and has not only a single opponent. The upper incisors and canines, when the mouth is closed, from the larger size of the arch in which they are arranged, THE TEETH OF MAN. shut over and in front of the lower teeth, concealing the upper thirds of their crowns ; while the external tubercles of the bicuspids and molars of the lower jaw are received into the depressions between the external and internal tubercles of the similar teeth in the upper jaw, thus alloM'- ing the external tubercles of the upper teeth to close ex- ternally to the outer tubercles of the lower row. From this aiTangement of the tubercles, we are enabled in mastication to use the wdiole surface of the crowns of the opposing teeth ; the act of mastication being performed by bringing the external tubercles of the under molars opposite to those of the upper row ; whence, by the lateral motion of the under jaw^ inwards, their external tubercles pass down the inclined surfaces of the external, and up those of the intei-nal tubercles of the upper teeth, crushing in this action any interposed substance. It will also l)e observed that, from the difference of width in the incisors of the two jaws, the centi-al incisors of the upper extend over the centrals and half of the laterals of the under row, and that the superior laterals lie over the remaining half of the inferior laterals and the anterior half of the canines of the lower jaw. The canines close over the halves of the canines and first bicuspids, while the first bi- cuspids impinge on the half of the first and half of the second bicuspids of the lower row. The second upper bicuspids close upon the anterior third of the opposing first molars and the posterior half of the second bicuspids. The first molars oppose the posterior two thirds of the first, and one third of the second molars of the lower jaw, while the second upper molars close upon the unoccupied posterior third of the second and the anterior third of the wisdom teeth. The wisdom tooth of the upper being smaller in size than that of the lower jaw is perfectly opposed by that portion of the latter left unoccupied by the second upper molar tooth. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. By this admirable arraugement no two teeth oppose each other only, but each tooth in closure of the jaw impinges upon two, so that should a tooth be lost, or even two alter- nate teeth, still the corresponding teeth of the opposite jaw are to some extent opposed, and thus remain useful. For when a tooth is wholly unopposed, a process is apt to be set up in the jaw by which the useless organ is gradually ejected. The direction of the teeth in the upper is verti- cally downwards and slightly forwards, while those of the lower jaw are placed vertically, the molars tending slightly inwards. It is usual to represent the dentition of any animal by what is termed a dental formula, which enables the reader at a glance to see the number of teeth of each variety pos- sessed by the creature. Thus, instead of writing out at length that man has two incisors on each side in both upper and lower jaws, one canine, two bicuspids or premolars, &c., it is written thus : — T 2 1 2 3 „.^ I. — c. — prm. — m. — = 61 ; 2 12 3 or in the deciduous set : — I. ^ c. 1 dm. Ji = 20. 2 1 2 For the purpose of description three parts of the tooth are distinguished by name, viz., the crown, neck, and root. This distinction of parts which we make in describing human teeth, when we speak of crown, neck, and root, is applicable to the great majority of mammalian teeth, though there are some few simple forms of teeth in which no such differentiation of parts can be seen. The crown is that portion which is exposed above the borders of the gum, and is in human teeth coated with enamel ; the neck is that portion which corresponds to the THE TEETH OF MAN. edge of the gum, and intervenes between the edges of the bony sockets and the edge of the enamel ; the root is that part -which is enclosed within the bony socket, and is covered by cementum. Of these it is to be remarked that the " neck," although a convenient and necessary term for descriptive purposes, marks an arbitrary division of less importance than that expressed by crown and root ; also that although this divi- sion into thi-ee parts can be made in the case of socketed teeth of limited growth, no such distinction of parts can be made in teeth of perpetual growth. Special names have been applied to the various surfaces of the crow^ns, as, owing to the curvature of the alveolar border, terms which had reference to front, back, or sides would, in different parts of the mouth, indicate difterent surfaces, and so lead to confusion. The lips and tongue and the median line of the mouth, however, are not open to this objection, so the sm-faces which are directed outwards towards the lips are called " labial ; " and those inwards towai-ds the tongue " lingual ; " the interstitial sm-faces are called " median " and " distal," the word median being applied to the surface which would look towaixls the middle line of the mouth had the alveolar border been straightened out. In other words behind the canine, the " median " is equivalent to anterior, and " distal '' to posterior surface. Forms of the several Teeth. — It is usual to speak of the teeth as being modified cones, and to attribute their variations to deviations from this typical shape. In a broad sense this may be true of the simplest teeth, such as are met with in some fish and reptiles and monophyodont mammals, which are little more than simple cones ; but there are in- dications which would point to something more complex than this ' as the fundamental form of a mammalian tooth, for even among the monophyodonts, as I have elsewhere 8 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. pointed out, the armadillo has a bilobed tooth germ, the one cusp predominating over the other. But I do not think that we have at present the data upon which to cer- tainly determine the fundamental form of the mammalian tooth. There is evidence that all the teeth in the jaw of a mammal may have been derived from a single form ; in other words, marked though the distinction between in- cisors, canines, bicuspids, and molars seems to be at first sight, a closer inspection reveals various gradational or transitional characters linking them together, though there are gaps in the chain not bridged over by forms known to us. This may be seen by a careful study of the human teeth, as I shall endeavour to show; but it is much more conspi- cuously seen in an extinct animal (Homalodontotherium, an extinct ungulate from Patagonia, described by Professor Flower, Philos. Trans. 1874), which ajDparently possessed the full typical number of mammalian teeth, viz., forty-four. The point in which its dentition is chiefly instructive is that the teeth, in close juxtaposition one with another, present an exceedingly perfect gradation of form from the front to the back of the mouth, no tooth differing mai'kedly from its neighbour, though the difference between, say, the first incisor and first molar, is exceedingly great. In Professor Flower's words, " it is only by the analogy of other forms that they can be separated into the groups convenient for descriptive purposes, designated as incisors, canines, premo- lars, and molars." In viewing the gradational characters which do exist be- tween the various human teeth, it must not be forgotten that some links in the chain have dropped out and are absent. Mention has already been made of the full typical number of mammalian teeth being 44, i.e. T 3 1 4 3,, I. _ c. - pnn. _ m. - := 44. 3 1 4 3 THE TEETH OF MAN. The human subject does not possess the third incisor, nor the first two premohirs, so that a somewhat abrupt change of form in passing from the incisors to the canines, and from the latter to the bicuspids, is no more than might be anticipated. Incisors. — Of these there are four in each jaw ; two cen- tral, two lateral incisors. Their working surfaces form wedges, or obtuse and blunt-edged chisels, calculated to divide food of moderate consistency. Upper Incisors. — The centrals are very much larger than the laterals, and viewed either from the back or front taper with some regularity from the cutting edge to the point of the I'oot, the neck not being marked by strong con- striction. The crown of the tooth, as seen from the front, is squarish, or more strictly, oblong, its length being greater than its breadth. The median side, by which it is in contact with its fellow, Fig. 1 {') is a little longer than the distal, so that the median angle of the crown is a little lower, and, as a necessary consequence, a little more acute than the distal angle of the cutting edge. Near to its base the crow^ns narrov/ rather abruptly, so that near to the neck a space is left between the contiguous teeth. (') Front and side view of a left upper central incisor. a Distal surface. 6 Neck. c Koot. 10 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The labial sufface is slightly convex in each direction, and often presents slight longitudinal depressions, which end at the cutting edge in slight notches. In recently-cut teeth the thin cutting edge is elevated into three slight cusps, which soon wear down and disappear after the tooth has been in use. The edge of an incisor may be regarded as formed by the bevelling off of the dentine of the lingual surface, which is nearly flat from side to side, with a slight tendency to con- cavity, while from above downwards it is distinctly concave, and often presents longitudinal depressions similar to those on the labial surface. The lingual surface towards the gum terminates in a distinct prominence, oftentimes amounting to a bounding I'ing of enamel, termed the basal ridge, or, in the language of comparative anatomy, the cingulum. It is variable in the extent of its development ; it rarely rises into a central prominence at the back, but in the angle where the ridges of the two sides meet a deep pit is often left in the enamel, Avhich is a favourite site for caries. The crown, or what amounts to the same thing, the enamel, ter- minates on the lingual and labial aspect of the tooth in a curved line, the convexity of the curve being directed upwards towards the ginn ; on the insterstitial surfaces, both median and distal, the curve is less regular, and its contour would be more correctly described as V-shaped, the apex of the V being towards the crown of the tooth and away from the gum. The dentist wiU do well to remember the disposition of the enamel in this situation, as it is a point of some importance in shaping the cervical edge of a cavity preparatory to filling it. The transverse indentations of the enamel met with both on lingual and labial surfaces, though more especially in the lattei", are marks of an-est of development, and, common as they are, are to be regarded as abnormalities. The centi-al incisors are larger than the laterals, though THE TEETH OF MAN. not in so great degree as is the case in the anthropoid apes. The pulp cavity bears a general resemblance to the ex- ternal contour of the tooth ; towards the cutting edge it is very thin, and is prolonged at its two comers to a slight extent into " cornua ;" at the neck it is cylindrical, and is also cylindrical in the root, tapering gradually till it ap- proaches close to the apex, when it becomes suddenly con- stricted. Upper lateral incisors are in every dimension some- what smaller than the centrals. 'They widen somewhat abruptly near to the cutting edge, but below this they taper pretty regularly to the end of the root ; the labial surface Fig. 2 ('). f I is convex in each direction, while the lingual surface is perhaps rather flatter than that of a central incisor. The outer (distal) angle of the crown is far more rounded or sloped away than in the centrals, and the distal siuface, looking towards the canine, is in a slight degree convex; the median sui-fiice may be slightly concave. The enamel terminates towai'ds the gum in contours pre- cisely similar to those which obtain in the centrals : but the basal ridge, or cingulum, is often more strongly pro- nounced, and the presence of a central tubercle upon it is less infrequent. From this greater prominence of the cin- (^) Front and side view of a left uiii^er latei'al incisor. 12 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. gulum and consequent more marked depression in front of it, caries is more frequent ujion the lingual surfaces of upper lateral than upon those of upper central incisors. The pulp cavity is, relatively to the whole tooth, perhaps a little larger than in the central incisors ; in other respects the same description will suffice. Iiower central incisors are very much narrower than those of the upper jaw ; not more than half the width at their cutting edges, which again ai-e much wider than the necks of the teeth. From before backwards they are deep at the neck ; hence the fangs are very much flattened from side to side, and rotation is inadmissible in the attempt to extract them. The enamel contour at the neck is similar to that of the upper incisors, but there is no well-marked cingulum. Fig. 3 ('). Iiower lateral incisors are, unhke the upper teeth, dis- tinctly larger than the centrals in each one of their dimen- sions, but more especially in the length of their fangs, which are much flattened, and often present on their sides a median longitudinal depression, sometimes amounting to an actual groove. The distal angle of the crown is rounded off like that of the upper lateral incisors, though not so markedly. Canines, Cuspidati, Eye Teeth, are, in all respects, (') Front aud side view of lower central incisor. THE TEETH OF MAN. 13 stouter teeth than the incisors ; not only are the crowns thicker and stronger, but the roots are veiy much longer. The crown terminates in a blunt point, which lies in a straight line with the long axis of the root ; a feebly pro- nounced line or ridge runs down the outer surface of the tooth from this point to the neck. The crown slopes away both before and behind the point or cusp, but as that side of the tooth which lies next to the bicuspid is convex, and as it were produced towards that tooth, the slope is longer on the distal than on the mesial half of the crowai. The croAvn thus not being perfectly symmetrical renders it easy to determine at a glance to which side of the mouth the canine belongs. The internal or lingual surface is not concave like that of the incisors, but is in a slight degree convex, and a median ridge runs down it from the apex of the cusp ; this ridge Fui. 4 ('). where it meets with the ridge which borders the lingual surface and corresponds with the cingulum of the incisor teeth, is often developed into a well-marked prominence or cusp. In transverse section the neck is nearly triangular, the outer or labial being much wider than the lingual aspect. (^) Lingual; labial, and distal surfaces of an upper canine, showing the basal cusp and the three ridges which converge towards it. 14 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Lower canines are less pi'onounced in form than the cor- responding upper teeth : the point is more blunted, the fang shorter, the perpendicular labial ridge not being traceable, and the want of symmetry between the mesial and distal halves of the crown less marked. The lingual surface has perhaps a greater tendency to concavity. Premolars, Bicuspids, are eight in number, two on each side of both upper and lower jaws, and they correspond to the third and fourth premolars of the typical mammalian dentition, the first and second premolars not being re- presented in man. Upper Premolars. — The crown, as seen looking upon its grinding surface, is roughly quadrilateral, its outer or lingual border being, however, larger and thicker than its inner, and the teeth are carried round the curve of the Fig. 5 (i). alveolar border mainly by means of this difference in size in the external and internal portions of the canines and the two bicuspids. As is implied by its name, the crown has two cusps, of which the outer is the larger and stouter, and broader. The outer and inner surfaces (labial and lingual) are convex and smooth, with no basal ridges at the edge of the gums. The inner and outer cusps arc not joined by a transverse ridge ; instead of this there is a deep transverse fissure ; in point of fact the cingulum has been elevated to form the inner cusp, and forms slight elevations bordering the anterior (^) Grinding surface of an upper bicuspid. THE TEETH OF MAN. 15 and posterior (mesial aud distal) edges of the grinding siu-face. The root is single, and much compressed from side to side : very often, however, it is double for the greater part of its length, and if not so divided is often marked by a groove upon each side indicating a tendency towards such division. The outer border of the root is also often marked by a longitudinal fuiTow, which may amount to complete division. In fact a bicuspid may have three perfectly dis- tinct roots, like a molar, or it may have any form of root intermediate between this and its typical single laterally- flattened root. The first bicuspid is more variable in respect of its roots than the second. The second upper bicuspid differs from the first in that the diflference in size between its outer and inner cusps is less, the inner cusp being relatively considerably larger, and, indeed, often preponderating over the labial cusp in length. The pulp cavity in the crown is furnished with distinct cornua ; at the neck it is very much flattened from side to side, being often reduced to a mere fissure, which is how- ever considerably larger at its two extremities than in its middle. Hence the pulp cavity of an upper bicuspid is difficult to fill ; a difl&cult^'^ again increased by the impos- sibility of always discovering what number of fangs it has, as their division sometimes takes place rather high up. lower premolars are smaller teeth than those of the upper jaw, and are quite distinct in shape. The outer or labial cusp is bent inwards, and the labial surface of the crown is very convex. The inner cusp is but feebly deve- loped, and is connected with the outer by a low ridge ; it is also narrow. The root is rounded, a little larger on its outer side than on its inner, and tapers regularly towards its point ; the pulp cavity is cylindi'ical at the neck, and also tapers regi>- 16 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. larly in the root. The coruu of the pulp which corresponds to the inner cusp is but feebly developed. The second lower bicuspid differs a good deal from the first ; its crown is much squarer and larger in all its dimen- sions. The inner cusp reaches to a higher level and is stouter, and the greater development of the ridge which bounds the posterior (distal) border of the grinding surface makes it attain to such a large size as to make the tendency towards a transition from the bicuspid type to the quadri- cuspid type of a true molai- very evident. Having completed the brief description of the forms of these several teeth, it is worth while to note one or two- general characters of the series. The differences between a well-marked incisor, canine, or premolar are so strongly pronounced that the resemblances which underlie them are apt to be overlooked, and it might be supposed that in shape they had little in common. Nevertheless a very distinct gradation may be traced, and Fig. 6 ('). it is far from uncommon to meet with teeth which possess in a marked degree transitional characters. If the external or distal angle of a lateral incisor be sloped off more than usual, while at the same time its cingulum and basal pro- minence be well marked, it makes no bad imitation of a (1) Lower first bicuspid, seen from the iuner side, and sliowiiig the pre- ponderance of its outer over its inner cusp. THE TEETH OF MAN. 17 diminutive canine ; and such laterals ai'e often to be met with by any who search for such deviations from the normal form. Thus the form chai'acteristic of a lateral incisor, if it be a little exaggerated, very nearly gives vis the form of a canine, and if we look at the teeth of an Orang the lateral incisor is to all intents a diminutive canine ; and in the present dis- cussion the great comparative size of the canine, which is traceable to readily intelligible causes, may be put aside, as it tends to obscure the point to be here insisted on. Between the canines and the bicuspids a similar relation- ship in form exists, and it is more apparent in the lower than in the upper jaw. The fact that at the base of the inner or lingual aspect of the canine is to be found an elevation of the cingulum, in many instances amounting to Fia. 7 ('). a low cusp, has been already noted ; and it has already been pointed out that the inner cusp of the first lower bicuspid is both smaller and lower than the outer, A longitudinal section through the crowns of the two teeth will demon- strate without the necessity of further description that the (') Section of a lower canine and first bicuspid, showing the characteiB common to the two. C 18 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. basal cusp of the canine and the mner cusp of the bicuspid are the same thing, differing only in degree, while it is interesting to note that the pulp chamber in the bicuspid has hardly any prolongation towards the small inner cusp, so that the resemblance between the two teeth is thus made more complete. This close relationship of canines and bicuspids will be again considered in the chapter on the Homologies of the Teeth ; for our present purpose it will suffice to merely point out its existence. The transition from the bicuspids to the molars is more abrupt ; at least it is not so easy to point out exactly how a modification of the one would arrive at the form of the other. But it merely needs an exaggera- tion of the differences existing between a canine and a first bicuspid to make a good imitation of a second bicuspid. If any one will take the trouble to make mental note of the deviation in form wdiich he meets with in teeth, he will find that they almost invariably consist of approaches to- wards the form of the teeth on either side of them ; and will infallibly be led to the conclusion that incisors, canines, and bicuspids are not three patterns of teeth perfectly distinct, and each sid generis, but that they are modifications of one and the same pattern. I may add, that comparative odontology teaches us the same thing, and demonstrates clearly the substantial identity of the three forms, as also of the true molars. Upper molar teeth have crowns of squarish form, the angles being much rounded off It may be premised that the first molar is more constant in shape than the second, and this latter than the third ; with this proviso the first and second may be described together. The masticating surface carries four subeqiial cusps, two labial or external and two lingual or internal ; the anterior internal cusp is distinctly the largest, and it is connected with the posterior external cusp by a thick oblique ridge THE TEETH OF MAN. of enamel, the remaining two cus^^s having no such con- nection. This oblique ridge on the upper molars is met with in man, the anthropoid apes, and certain New World monkeys. The grooves which separate the cusps pass down on to the labial and lingual surfaces of the crown, but are lost before reaching the gum ; where they terminate, however, there is often a pit, which is a very favourite situation for Fig. 8 (i). caries, especially on the labial aspect of the teeth. It ia very rare to see the grooves passing down upon the mesial or distal surfaces of the crown, a raised border of enamel generally cutting them short in this direction. The roots are three in number, two external or labial, and one internal or palatal. The latter is the largest, and runs in a direction more strongly divergent from the axis of the crown than the other roots. It is directed obliquely in- wards towards the roof of the palate, is subcylindrical, and often curved. The external roots are less cylindrical, being mutually compressed, so that their largest diameter is transverse to the dental arch ; the anterior is rather the larger of the two, and is more strongly pronounced on the side of the neck of the tooth. The anterior labial root is occasionally confluent (^) Masticating surface of a first upper molar of the left side ; the oblique ridge connects the anterior internal with the posterior external cusp. 20 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. with the palatine root, but still more freqiiently the pos- terior labial and palatine roots are confluent : occasionally, also, four distinct roots may be met with. Lower molars. — The first loAver molar is the most con- stant in form, and is somewhat the largest ; its grinding surface presents five cusps. Four cusps are placed regularly at the four corners of a square, these being divided from one another by a crucial fissure ; the posterior arm of the crucial fissure bifurcates, and between its diverging arms is the fifth cusp, which is thus to be described as median and posterior. Fig. (1), The transverse fissure passes over the limits of the grind- ing surface, and on the outside or labial siu-face of the tooth ends in a pit, which is a common site for caries ; although it occasionally passes over the lingual siirface, it is here less pronounced. Tliey are implanted by two fangs, jilaced anteriorly and posteriorly ; the roots are much flattened from before backwards, and they are very usually curved slightly backwards. In the median line of each root there is usually a groove, by the deepening of which four fangs may be produced ; or this may happen with the one root only, so that a three rooted tooth is the result. Q) Masticating surface of a first lower molar, riglit side, the five cusps of which are indicated by figures. THE TEETH OF MAN. The second Biolar does not greatly differ from the first save that the roots are more often confluent, and the fifth cusp less marked, even if it exists at all. Fig. 10 (1). Third molars, denies sapientia^, wisdom teeth, of the upper jaw, resemble in a general way the first and second molars ; that is, when they are well developed and placed in a roomy dental arch. But amongst more civilised races it may almost be said to be exceptional for the wisdom teeth to be vegidar either in form or position, so that extreme varial)ility prevails among these teeth. The two inner tubercles are often l)lended together and the roots confluent, forming an abruptly tapering cone, the apex of which is often bent and crooked, so that but little vestige of the three roots can be traced, the pulp cavity even being quite single. Third lower molar. — This tooth is seldom so small as the corresponding upper tooth, and its crown is often large even w^hen its roots are very stunted. It has five cusps as a rule, and bears a more or less close resemblance to the molars which precede it. It is either two-rooted, or if the roots be confluent, a groove usually marks a tendency to division into two fangs. It is stated by Prof. Owen (" Odontography," page 454) that although the wisdom tooth is the smallest of the three molars, the difference is less marked in the Melanian than in (1) Second lower molar of right side, the four cusps being indicated by figures. 22 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the Caucasian races, adding also that the trii)le implantation of the upper and the double implantation of the lower is constant in the former races. More extended observations have overthrown this statement as a positive dictum to bo accepted without excejjtions, but it may nevertheless bo taken as expressing a general truth. Fig. 11 (1). The milk teeth differ from the permanent teeth by being smaller, and having the enamel terminating at the neck with a thick edge, so that the neck is more distinctly con- stricted. The incisors and canines are somewhat similar to their successors, the canines, however, being relatively shorter and broader than their successors. The first upper molars have three cusps, two external and one internal : the second more nearly resemble the permanent molars. The second lower deciduous molar has four cusps and resembles a second lower permanent molar. The roots of the deciduous teeth diverge from the neck at greater angles than those of permanent teeth, in consequence of their mor6 or less completely enclosing between them the crypts in which the latter are developing. (^) Third lowei' molar of the left side. CHAPTER II. THE M.VXILLARY BONES. The teeth are implanted iu a part of the jaw bones specially developed for the piu'pose, the bone being moulded around the roots of the teeth subsequently to their being formed and moved into position. The manner of attachment of the human teeth is that termed "gomphosis," i.e., an attachment comparable to the fitting of a peg into a hole ; the bony sockets, however, allow of a considerable degree of motion, as may be seen by examining the teeth in a dried skull, the fitting being iu the fresh state completed by the interposition of the dense periosteum of the socket. This latter, by its elasticity, allows of a small degree of motion in the tooth, and so doubtless diminishes the shock which would be occasioned by mastication were the teeth perfectly immovable and without a yielding lining within their bony sockets. When this becomes inflamed and swollen by exudation the tooth is pushed to a certain extent out of the socket, and so being to a less extent limited in its range by the bony socket, acquires an increased mobility. The teeth are in all mammalia confined to the bones which carry them in man, namely, the intermaxillary and maxillary bones and the lower maxillaiy bone or mandible. 24 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. . While full description of these bones (>) will be found in any general anatomical work, there are so many points in their anatomy which directly concern the dental studeiit that a brief enumeration of some of their relations can hardly be dispensed with, Superior maxillary bone. — To facihtate description of its parts, anatomists divide it into a "body" and "pro- cesses," of which latter there are four, the nasal, malar, alveolar, and palatine. As the body of the bone is hollowed out by an air cavity, the antrum, its shape is similar to that of that cavity, namely, roughly pyramidal, the base of the pyramid being inwards towards the nasal chamber. The nasal process springs directly upwards from the body in a vertical line with the canine tooth : it is a strong plate of bone, roughly triangular when viewed from the side. The malar process forms the apical portion of the pyramid already alluded to ; it starts out nearly horizontally from the body just behind and below the nasal process, and is characterized by its great strength and stoutness. Never- theless it has been known to be fractared by a blow, and separated from the body of the bone. The antrum may be prolonged into it. The palatine process foi'ms a horizontal table projecting inwards from the body; as the floor of the nose is nearly flat, and the palate is arched from before backwards, the front of the palatine process is necessarily much thicker than the back, where it is quite a thin plate. The alveolar process is a strong wide ridge of bone, curved so as to form with that of the other maxillary bone the elliptical figure characteristic of the dental arch in the higher races. It may be described as consisting of two j^lates, an outer and an inner, which arc connected by numerous trans- (*) Much that is of great interest, and that is not to be found in text books, is embodied in a series of papers on " The Facial Region," by Dr. HaiTison Allen (American Dental Cosmos, 1873-7-1). THE MAXILLARY BONES. 25 verse septa, the sockets of the teeth being formed by the interspaces between these septa. The internal alveolar plate is the stronger, the external the thinner and weaker, a fact of which we take advantage when we extract a tooth by- bending it slightly outwards. On the outer surface of the alveolar process are eminences corresponding to the roots of the teeth, and depressions in their interspaces, apt to bo especially marked over the canine teeth ; while between the teeth the alveolar processes attain to a lower level, so that the margins of the bone are festooned. Looking down into an empty socket, the bone is seen to be every- where very porous, and to be perforated by foramina of considerable size, while at the bottom there is the larger foramen admitting the vessels and nerves of the tooth. The alveolus of each individual tooth consists of a shell of comparatively dense bone of small thickness, which is im- bedded in a mass of loose spongy bone; this dense shell comes into relation with the dense cortical bone of the jaw (') Superior maxillary boue of riglit side. 1. Boily. 2. Tuberosity. 7. JIalar process. 8. Nasal process. 12. Alveolar process. 26 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. mainly at its free margin, near to the neck of the tooth. Over very prominent roots a portion of alveolus is at times "wanting, so that in a macerated skull the root is exposed to view. The upper maxilla serves to give form and support to the soft parts of the face, and also to carry the upper teeth. These have to be rigidly fixed, while the teeth of the lower jaw are brought forcibly against them with more or less of shock. And whilst these blows have to be received, and resisted, and ultimately borne by the cranium, it is obviously desirable that they should be disti-ibuted over a sufficiently wide area, so as not to be felt unpleasantly. The ascending nasal process is very stout, and serves to connect the maxilla strongly with the frontal bone, which also in the region in question is powerfully developed ; the thick malar process gives rigidity and resistance to lateral movements of the jaws, and carries off the strains to the lateral walls of the cranium ; it is buttressed at the back by the pterygoid processes. Taking next the various surfaces of the bone, there are four, or, if we include the palatine aspect, five : the external, forming a large part of the face, the superior or orbital, the internal or nasal, and the posterior or zygomatic. Upon the external or facial surface we have to note the eminence caused by the socket of the canine tooth (" canine emi- nence"), and immediately behind this a depression, the canine fossa, through which the antrum is sometimes punc- tured. The alveolar border, from the situation of the third molar to that of the second bicuspid, gives attachment to the buccinator muscle ; while immediately beneath the margin of the orbit is the infra-orbital foramen, whence issues the infra-orbital nerve ; hence this is one of the situa- tions to which neuralgic pain really dependent on the teeth may be referred. The orbital and nasal surfaces concern us only through THE MAXILLARY BOXES. their relation to the autrura, to be presently described ; in the zygomatic sui'face, which is convex and forms part of the zygomatic fossa, are several orifices transmitting the posterior dental nerves and vessels ; a groove which, con- nected by the apposition of the palate bone into a canal, forms the posterior palatine canal ; and at the bottom, a rounded eminence, the maxillary tuberosity, -which lies behind the wisdom tooth, and has been occasionally broken off in extracting that tooth. The body of the bone is excavated by an air-chambei', the antrum, which is coated in life by a continuation of the nasal mucous membrane, and this frequently becomes secondarily involved in dental disease, so that its anatomical relations are of great importance to the dentist. Like the somewhat similar air cavities in the frontal bone the maxillary sinus does not attain to its full size, relatively to the rest of the bone, until after the age of puberty, although it makes its appearance earlier than the other nasal sinuses, its presence being demonstrable about the fifth month of foetal life. Hence it follows that its walls are thicker in the young subject than in the adult ; and, ac- cording to the observations of Mr. Cattlin {^), it is somewhat larger in the male than in the female. It is very variable in size, so that out of one hundred adult specimens the above-mentioned writer found one which would only contain one drachm of fluid, while in contrast with that was another which held eight drachms ; two and a half drachms being the average capacity. Al- though it is exceedingly variable in form as well as in size, it tends towards a roughly pyramidal shape, the apex of the pyramid being directed towards the malar bone, which it has been seen to encroach upon, and the base towards the nasal cavity; it is, however, useless to minutely describe (') "Transactions of tlie Odontological Society," vol. ii. 1857. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. its form, inasmuch as the two antra in the same individual are sometimes quite dissimilar. The floor of the cavity is rendered uneven in most specimens by prominences corre- sponding to the roots of the molar teeth, which ordinarily are but thinly covered by its bony walls, while it is not by any means rare to find some of them actually bare. The cavity is also more or less completely subdivided by loony partitions springing from its walls, as is well exempli- fied in the accompanying figure ; these partitions are for the most part thin, but they occasionally attain to consider- able thickness, and they are stated to occur most frequently at the anterior or posterior angles of the base of the pyramid. On the base of the pyramid is the orifice by which it opens into the middle meatus of the nose ; this orifice being partly closed in by the ethmoid, palate, and inferior turbinated bones, and also by soft parts, so that in a recent Fig. 13 ('). subject it will barely admit a goosequill ; and it should be noted that this orifice opens into the antrum near the top, so that it does not afibrd a ready means of egress to fluids accumulated in the cavity. Through this orifice the mucous membrane Hning the (1) Section of an antmm of the left side, divided into many iwuches, ijy bony septa, and extending into the malar bone. Drawn from a specimen in the collection of Dr. Maynard, in the possession of the Bal- timore Dental College. THE MAXILLARY BONES. antrum is contiuuous with that of the nasal fossa?, and, like that, it is ciliated; but it differs from the latter in being thinner and less vascular. The teeth which usually come into the closest relation with the antrum are the first and second molars, but any of the teeth situated in the maxillary bone may encroach upon its walls, and I have seen an abscess, originating at the apex of the fang of a lateral incisor, pass backwards and perforate the antrum. Its walls have four aspects, namely, toAvards the orbit, the nose, the zygomatic fossa, and the face, while its floor is formed by the alveolar border. With the exception only of the latter, its walls are very thin ; and this exception has an important practical bearing in the diagnosis of tumors in this region, as accumulations of fluid or morbid growths really situated in the antrum bulge any or all of its walls in preference to the alveolar l:)order, whereas tumors sjiring- ing from the base of the sphenoid or elsewhere and encroach- ing upon the antnim, push down and distort the alveolar border as easily as any of the other walls of the cavity, inasmuch as the pressure caused by them is not transmitted equally in all directions, as is the case when the medium transmitting the power is a fluid. The lower maxilla or mandible consists of a body and two rami, which ascend almost pei-peudicularly from its posterior extremity. The horizontal portion or body is curved somewhat in a parabolic form ; it has a convex ex- ternal and concave internal surface, and an ixpper (alveolar) and a lower border. On the convex facial surface we have to note the ridge marking the position of the symphysis, and below this the mental prominence. Externally to this, below the line of contact of the first and second bicuspids (or a little before or behind this point) is the mental fora- men, which constitutes the termination of the inferior dental canal. Running obliquely upwards, and first visible 30 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. at a point a little distance from the mental prominence is the external oblique line, which becomes merged in the base of the coronoid process. Where it rises as high as the alveolar border, i.e., opposite to the third and sometimes the Fig. 14 (ij. second molar, the outer alveolar plate is strengthened by it, so that it becomes less yielding than the inner plate. The student should bear this fact in mind when extracting a lower wisdom tooth. The buccinator is attached to the alveolar border oppo- site to the molar teeth ; the platysma myoides to the outer side of the lower border along a region somewhat further forward : the masseter over the whole outer face and border of the ascending ramus and the temporal to the apex and side of the coronoid process. The other muscles attached to it are facial muscles of expression. On the inner surface of the body are four tubercles, situated in pairs in the median line, about opposite to the ends of the roots of the incisors, but somewhat variable both (^) Lower Maxillary Bone. 2. Eamus, where masseter is attached. 3. Symphysis. 5. Mental foramen. 6. External oblique line. 8. Angle of jaw. 9. Internal oblique line. 10. Coronoid process. 11. Condyle. 12. Sigmoid notch. 13. Inferior dental foramen. THE MAXILLARY BOXES. in position and in size in different individuals. The upper pair of tubercles give attachment to the genio-hyo-glossus, the lower to the genio-hyoid muscles ; they are interesting to the dental student not only as giving attachment to muscles conceraed in deglutition, but as affording convenient fixed points for measurements of the relative growth of pai'ts of the jaw. Beneath these genioid tubercles lie the slight depressions which give attachment to the anterior belly of the digrastric muscle, while between the two points alluded to commences the interaal oblique line, which runs ob- liquely upwards and backwards, becoming more pronounced as it extends backwards, and terminating at the inferior dental foramen. This internal oblique ridge marks the line of gi'owth of the condyle (see Development of the Jaws), and gives attachment to the mylohyoid muscle, which forms the floor of the mouth, in all its length. Thus the bone above the ridge belongs strictly to the mouth, that below it has more relation with cervical structures. The depression for the sublingual gland is above this line, consequently this gland is visible from the mouth ; that for the submaxillary gland is beneath it and further back. The inner surface of the ascending ramus gives attach- ment to the following muscles : at the neck of the condyle to the external pterygoid ; on the inner face of the coro- noid process, as far down as the level of the top of the crown of the wisdom tooth, to the temporal ; on the inner side of the angle, over a large surface, to the internal pterygoid. The orifice of the inferior dental canal is rough and spinous, giving attachment to the internal lateral ligament of the jaw, while beneath and behind it is the groove for the mylohyoid vessels and nerves ; the canal runs forward in the bone a little distance beneath the ends of the roots of the teeth, and emerges at the mental foramen, turning out- wards at an angle to reach it, and sending onwards small 32 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. cauals to the incisors, not traceable far. It is nearer to the enter than to the inner surface of the jaw in the latter half of its course, and is apt to be very close to the ends of the roots of the wisdom teeth, and to those of the bicuspids. The alveolar processes of the lower jaw, at their posterior part, diverge more widely than those of the ixpper jaw, the relative antagonism between the upper and lower teeth being preserved in this region by the former having an in- clination outwards, the latter inwards. The ascending rami join the body at an angle which is very obtuse in the foetus, nearly a right angle in the adult, and once again obtuse in advanced old age ; the explanation of this change will be given \inder the head of the Development of the Jaw. The articulation of the human lower jaw is peculiar, and allows of a degree of play unusual in a joint. The ovoid condyles, when the jaw is at rest, are lodged in depressions, the glenoid fossce of the temporal bone, formed partly by the squamous and partly by the vaginal portions of the bone. The posterior half of the cavity is rough, and lodges a portion of the parotid gland : the anterior is smooth, and is bounded in front by the eminentia articularis, which is the middle root of the zygoma, enters into the formation of the joint, and is coated over by cartilage. Between the condyle of the lower jaw and the temporal bone lies a moveable inter- articular fihro-cartilage, which is an irregular bi-concave oval plate, the edges of which are united with the capsular liga- ment, so that the joint is divided into two cavities, furnished with separate synovial membranes (unless when, as some- times is the case, the fibro-cartilage is perforated in its centre). The joint is described as having foiu- ligaments : the capsular, stylo-maxillary, internal and external lateral ligaments. The capsular ligament is but feebly pronounced, and hai-dly deserves the name ; the stylo-maxillary reaches from THE MAXILLARY BONES. the apex of the styloid process to the angle of the jaw; the internal lateral from, the spine of the sphenoid to the mar- gins of the inferior dental foramen ; the external lateral, which alone is a ligament strictly proper to the articulation, reaches from the outer side and tubercle of the zygoma to the outer sm-face of the neck of the condyle. The form of the articulating surfaces and the compara- tive absence of retaining ligaments combine to allow of a variety of movement unusual in any other than a ball and socket joint. The articulation acts as a simple hinge when the jaw is simply depressed, and this is the only motion possible in many animals, as in typical carnivora. When, however, the mouth is opened to the fullest possible extent, the condyle leaves the glenoid cavity, slides forward, and rests on the articular eminence, the interarticular fibro- cartilage being carried forward with it. The passage of the condyle on to the articular eminence, although always taking place when the lower jaw is excessively depressed, takes place sometimes without any depression of the lower jaw, which then passes horizontally forward; or it may take place on the one side only, giving to the jaw the lateral movement so useful in mastication. In the mastication of food the various movements are combined, or succeed one another with great rapidity ; the lateral movements are not very extensive, the outer cusps of the lower teeth of one side being brought to antagonise the outer cusps of the upper teeth, and then being made to slide forcibly down the sloping surfaces of the latter till they return to their normal antagonism ; when one set of muscles is tired the same pro- cess is gone through on the other side of the mouth. The closure of the jaw, and the rotatory and oblique motions, are accomplished by four pairs of veiy powerful muscles; these are antagonised by muscles comparatively feeble ond indirect in their application. The closure of the jaws is effected by the masseters and 34 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the temporals, attached to the outer sides of the jaw ; and the external and internal pterygoids, attached to its inner sides. The massetor, temporal, and internal pterygoid muscles close the jaws and press the teeth against one another, and Fio. 15 (1). this is their principal action. They are antagonised by the digastric, the mylohyoid, and the geniohyoid muscles, which, aided perhaps hy the platysma, depress the lower jaw when the hyoid bone is fixed by its own depressor muscles. The external pterygoid draws the jaw forward, and so in some measure tends to open it ; as the two muscles do not always, or indeed generally, act together, they give a lateral movement to the jaw. The superficial portions of the masseter and the internal pterygoid are ordinarily supposed, as their direction is slightly backwards, to assist in drawing the jaw forwai-ds, but Langer, one of the most recent inves- tigators of their action, attaches very little importance to this, and indeed considers that, when the jaw has been pulled forwards by the external pterygoid, the combined action of the internal pterygoid, the temporal, and the mas- seter, may bring it back again, (^) Pterygoid muscles. 1. Upper, and 2. Lower heads of external pterygoid muscle. 3. Internal pterygoid muscle. THE MAXILLARY BOXES. 35 In ordinary mastication the various movements are com- bined in every possible manner. When the mouth is widely open the condyles play upon the articular eminence in front of the glenoid cavity, and the external pterygoid, which assists in widely opening the mouth, draws not only the condyle, but also the inter- articular fibro-cartilage forwards, so that the latter still intervenes between the condyle and the articular eminence. The interarticular cartilages do not, however, accompany the jaw in its extreme movement, but are believed only to pass forwards as far as that part of the eminence which is slightly hollowed out. As, however, in dislocation they accompany the condyles, this supposition may be incorrect. The position of repose is neither complete closure nor opening of the jaws : in persons with enlarged tonsils the habitual position is one with the mouth somewhat more widely open, owing to the difficulty of breathing through the nose; a fact which often causes an irregularity in the disposition of the teeth. The axis on which the jaw moves is, owing to the bend of the ramus, far behind the glenoid cavity ; it lies veiy nearly in a plane formed by prolonging the plane of the masticating sui-face of the teeth. The motions executed in mastication differ much according to the nature of the food ; hence it happens that in different animals the muscles of mastication are very variously developed. Thus, in the Herbivora, which move their jaws greatly from side to side, as any one may observe for himself, the pterygoids, and especially the external pterygoid, attain to a very large relative size. On the other hand, in the Rodents, which move their jaws backward and forwards in gnawing, the masseter is enormously developed, and has a very marked general backward direction. D 2 36 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Although it is not strictly true, the masseter and temporal may be said in mammals to be developed in an inverse ratio to one another : when one is large the other is not. The masseter is at a maximum in Caniivora, which have Fig. 1G ('). little lateral movement possible to their jaws ; the temporal is also highly developed in many of the class. In the great apes, the temporal becomes enormously developed only at the period of second dentition ; this fact, conjoined with its size, which in herbivora seems to have some relation to the presence or absence of canines, would incline one to suppose that it was useful in that rapid closure of the mouth appropriate to biting when animals fight or seize prey. The form of the glenoid cavity also bears an intimate relation to the dentition of the animal, and the nature and extent of the movement of its jaws. Thus, in a child it is nearly flat, with no well marked surrounding elevations ; its axis is transverse, and little rotary motion is made use of. In the adult it is deeply (*) Condyle of the lower jaw, and glenoid fossa of a tiger. THE MAXILLARY BONES. 37 sunk : the axis of the condyle is oblique, and rotary move- ments are largely made use of in triturating food. In the Felidie, it is strictly transverse ; their teeth, adapted for slicing but not grinding, would gain nothing by lateral motion, vs^hich is rendered quite impossible by the manner in which the long transverse condyles are locked into the glenoid cavity by strong processes in front and behind. Curiously enough the interarticular cartilage is present, but as the condyle never moves forward, the cartilage is not attached to the external pterygoid muscle. In Herbivora the condyle is roundish, the ascending ramus long, the pterygoid muscles large, and the glenoid cavity shallow ; in the whale, which of course does not masticate at all, there is no interarticular cartilage, and no synovial mem- brane ; the articulation is reduced to a mere ligamentous attachment. The harder a substance is, the farther back between the molars . it is placed ; and as the food escapes from between the teeth it is constantly being replaced by the lips, cheeks, and tongue, the buccinator muscle being largely concerned in this work of preventing morsels of food from escaping from the teeth during its mastication. Just as the muscles of mastication vary in their relative development in accordance with the food to be dealt with, so also do the salivary glands. As a rule herbivorous creatures have large parotid glands; that is to say, those creatures which deal with the driest food and masticate it the most have this gland largely developed. For instance it is very large in Ruminants ; in Herbivorous Marsupials it is larger, in the carnivorous section smaller, than the submaxillaries. When an espe- cially viscid fluid is required, as, for example, that which lubricates the tongue of an ant-eater, this is furnished 'by exceedingly large submaxillary glands. The nerves of the teeth are derived from branches of the 38 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY, fifth nerve, the nerve of sensation of the whole side of the face and head : the lower teeth through the inferior maxil- lary nerve, the upper through the anterior and posterior dental branches of the superior maxillary nerve. The nerves are given off from the nerve trunks in bundles corresponding in number to the roots of the teeth for which they are destined. For the details of the distribu- tion of the fifth nerve the student must refer to works treating of anatomy, as it would be out of place to enter upon the subject at length in these pages, in which merely one or two matters of special interest to the dental student will be touched upon. In the case of the inferior maxillary nerve the roots of the teeth come into very close proximity with the main trunk of the nerve ; this is especially the case with the lower wisdom teeth. Within a few days of writing these lines I extracted a lower wisdom tooth (with forceps) for a gentleman, who, immediately after the extraction, in- quired if he could have bitten his lip, as it felt swollen; on testing it I found slight but well marked numbness on that side of the lip and chin, which did not wholly subside before he left me. In this case a groove upon the under surface of the much curved roots appeared to indicate that the nerve trunk was in close contact with the tooth. No reason is at present known why the tooth pulp should be so richly supplied with nerves, as no obvious advantage results therefrom. Teeth with persistent pulps which go on growing throughout the life of the animal, have always large nerves : thus a very large trunk goes to the pulp of a rodent incisor. But although in this case the rich nervous supply doubtless has to do with nutrition, and presides over the great formative activity of the tissue, this does not fully account for the pulps of the teeth of limited growth being so amply supplied with nerves. As has been mentioned in the description of the lower Fic. 17 ('). (1) KiAi'^UAM nj. Tin: DisTKiBriios iij irii: }VnANrin> oi tiii; KifTii NiRvr. fFrnni Torac-,' '; Lectures on Dental Dijsiiili.gy iuid f^uigrry "— dian-n by Mr. C. De Mnrgan,) Orhthalinlc division :— 1. Frontal. 2. Nasal and long ciliary. 3. Branches to ciliary ganglion. Superior maxillary division :— 1. Orbital | Jnl,"^',"*'''^ } •"''. Sphenopalatine (WckrrsT) ganglion. IV rostrrlnr drufcil, iiasslnu down. 7, S. Anterior d.-ntal. -.i. Int'ra-orhital. Inferior niiixlllary divlsron :- 10. Aurieulo-tcmporHl. 11, Alasseteric. VJ. Deep tcMiporal. ix Pteiv. -Old. 14. Buccalto bucdnator, &c. 10. Gustatory, l(j. Jlylohyoid branch. 17. Inferior dent -il IS. Mental. [To/m-cp.dS. THE MAXILLARY NERVES. 39 maxillary bone, the inferior dental nerve emerges from the bone by the mental foramen, near to the end of the roots of the bicuspid teeth. Pain due to distant causes is often refei'red to the point of emergence of a nerve, as is so frequently exemplified in supraorbital neuralgia; in the same way pain due to diseased teeth far back in the lower jaw (especially to wisdom teeth), is frequently i-efen-ed to the bicuspid region. Curiously enough, though there is no apparent close parallel in the disposition of the nerves, a similar reference of pain to the bicuspid region is occasionally observed in the upper jaw. And it may be added that there is very probably some closer parallel in the minute disposi- tion of the nerve fibres going to the teeth in the uj)per and lower jaws than is recognisable by rough anatomical pro- cesses, for while, to all appearance, the nerve trunks are differently arranged, it is a matter of almost everyday ob- servation to find pain due to one tooth referred with pre- cision to its fellow in the other jaw. The lower teeth derive their vascular supply from the branches given off to each tooth by the inferior dental artery, itself a branch of the internal maxillary ; the upper teeth derive their ai'tex'ies from the superior dental, a part of the alveolar branch of the internal maxillary, which supplies the molar and bicuspid teeth ; and the front teeth from the descending branch of the infraorbital, the vessels thus having an arrangement somewhat analogous to that of the nerves. The distribution of the veins corresponds closely to that of the arteries. No lymphatics have been traced into the teeth. Tomes, J. Lectures on Dental Physiolog-y and Surgery. 1848. HA.ERIS0N Allek. Anatomy of the Facial Region, Dental Cosmos, 1874. Cattlin. Anatomy of Antram. Trans. Odontological Society, 1857. CHAPTER III. THE DENTAL TISSUES. It is usual to speak of there being two kinds of teeth, namely, horny or albuminous, and calcified teeth ; but of the development of the former nothing is accurately known, and it is hence impossible to determine in what relation they really stand to other, or calcified, teeth. These latter are composed of one or more structures, which are in great measure peculiar to the teeth (although, what is to all intents and purposes dentine, is to be found in the skeletons and in the dermal appendages of some fish, and other exceptions might be found to the absolute accu- racy of the statement), and hence are called " dental tissues." Notwithstanding the existence of certain transitional forms, it is not possible to doubt the propriety of a general division of dental tissues into three, viz., Dentine, Enamel, and Cementum. The first named of these constitutes the greater part of all teeth, and so far predominates in mass over the other constituents that, in very many cases, the tooth would retain its form and character after the removal of the enamel and cementum. This central body of dentine, enclosing the pulp, is very often covered by a cap of enamel, which forms the surface of the tooth ; this may be very partial, as in the eel or the newt, in which animal only this enamel-capped tip of the tooth projects far above the surface of the mucous membrane ; or it may cover a much larger proportion of the tooth, as THE DENTAL TISSUES. in man. Perhaps the most usual condition is that the enamel invests the whole crown of the tooth, stopping short at about the level to which the gum reaches, as in the human and most other mammalian teeth of limited growth. In teeth of persistent growth the enamel extends down into the socket as far as the base of the tooth ; in such cases it may embrace the whole cu'cumference of the dentine, as in the molar teeth of many rodents, or it may be confined to one side only, as in their incisor teeth, where by its greater hardness it serves to constantly preserve a sharp edge as the tooth is worn away. The enamel is believed to be quite absent from many teeth ; thus the subclass Edentata compris- ing sloths, armadillos, and ant-eaters have it not ; the narwal, certain cetaceans, some reptiles, and many fish have none. But although it might appear an exceedingly simple matter to determine whether a tooth is or is not coated with enamel, as a matter of fact in practice it is not always easy to be certain upon this point. When the enamel is tolerably thick there is no difiiculty in making sections which show it satisfactorily, but when it is very thin it is apt to break otf in grinding down the section. And even when it does not, it is in such cases usually quite transparent and structureless, and the outermost layer of the dentine being also clear and structureless, it is very hard to decide whether the appearance of a double boundary hne is a mere optical eflfect due to the thickness of the section, or is indicative of a thin layer of a distinct tissue which might be either enamel or cementum. My own investigations upon the development of the teeth of fish and reptiles have led me to suspect that rudimentary layers of enamel exist upon many teeth on which their presence has not been recognised, for I have found that the formative enamel organs occur universally. Upon the teeth of snakes, which were stated by Professor Owen to be com- posed only of dentine and cement, I have endeavoured to 42 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. show that a thin layer of enamel exists, and that there is no cementum. The frog has an enamel organ as distinct as that of the snake, but I am hardly positive that there is enamel upon its teeth, although there is an appearance of a thin coat of distinct tissue. I have also demonstrated that the armadillo has an enamel organ, but have failed to discover any enamel or anything like it upon its teeth, and Professor Turner has made a similar observation upon the narwal. At all events we may safely say that in these and many other creatures no functional development of enamel takes place : whether it does or does not exist in an extremely thin and rudimentary layer has become a question of much less significance, since I have shown the presence of an enamel organ to be universal at an early stage. Hence I feel some hesitation in endorsing Professor Owen's generalisation that the dentine is the most and enamel the least constant of dental tissues ; it is possible that it may be so, but recent researches into the development of teeth have very materially modified the conceptions formed as to the relations of the dental tissues to one another, and must lead us to examine carefully into such deductive statements before accepting them. The remaining dental tissue is cementum, which clothes, in a layer of appreciable thickness, the roots of the teeth, and reaches up as far as the enamel, the edge of which it overlaps to a slight extent ; when the cementum is present upon the crown, it occupies a position external to that of the enamel. Cementum occurs universally upon the teeth of mammalia, but it is not always confined to the root of the tooth ; in many teeth of persistent growth it originally invested the whole crown, and after it has been worn from the exposed grinding surface, continues to invest the sides of the tooth. (See the description of the complex teeth of the elephant, cow, horse, &c.) It is probably entirely absent from the teeth of snakes, and THE DENTAL TISSUES. 43 indeed of very many reptiles ; in the reptilian class, at all events, it appears to me to be confined to those in which the teeth are lodged either in sockets or in a deep bony groove, as I am unacquainted with any tooth anchylosed to the jaw in which it exists, imless we are inclined to include under the term cementum the tissue which I have designated " bone of attachment," (See " Implantation of Teeth.") Upon the outer surface of the dentine the enamel forms a cap of a very much harder and denser material. In its most perfect forms it is very far the hardest of all tissues met with in the animal body, and at the same time the poorest in organic matter. In the enamel of a human adult tooth there is as little as 3| to 5 per cent, of organic matter, and, judging from its brittleness and transparency, there is probably even less in the enamel of some lower animals ; the lime salts consist of a large quan- tity of phosphate, some carbonate, and a trace of fluoride of calcium ; in addition, there is a Httle phosphate of magnesium. Von Bibra gives two analyses of enamel : Calciiun Phosphate and Fluoride Calcium Carbonate . Magnesium Phosphate Other Salts .... Cartilage .... Fat Organic .... Inorganic .... The cap of enamel is of varying thickness, being thicker in the neighbourhood of cusps than elsewhere ; in teeth ADULT ADULT MAN. WOMAN. 89-82 81-63 4-37 8-88 1-34 2-55 •88 •97 3-39 5-97 •20 a trace 3-59 5-97 9G-41 94-03 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of limited growth it terminates by a thin edge at the neck of the tooth, where it is overlapped to some slight extent by the cementum. When a thick coating of cemeu- tum exists over the whole crown, this lies outside the enamel, the proper jjlace of Avhich is therefore between the cementum and the dentine. The external surface of the enamel is finely striated, the course of the strife being transverse to the long axis of the crown ; in addition to this very fine striation, there may be a few deeper and more pronounced grooves or pits, which are pathological, and are marks of checks in development more or less complete. The enamel of some animals is, to all appearance, structureless ; such is the nature of the little caps which, like spear points, surmount the teeth of fishes of the eel tribe, cod tribe, or of the newt, and which from their extreme brittleness are often lost in preparing sections, so that their very existence has long been over- looked. But the absence of structure, if such it really be, is after all a mere question of degree ; in the commonest form of enamel, such as that of the human teeth, there is a finely fibrous structure, very apparent in imperfect teeth, but far less so in well-formed ones, and the enamel of the eel is, in the manner of its development, fibrous ; so that even though we cannot distinguish its constituent fibres when it is com- pleted, this is merely an indication that calcification has progressed a little farther than in human teeth : if calcifica- tion only goes far enough, all structure, if not destroyed, will at all events be masked from sight. The structure of hviman enamel has been stated to be fibrous ; that is to say, it has a cleavage in a definite direc- tion, and is capable of being broken up into fibres or prisms, which seem in transverse section to approximate more or less closely to hexagonal forms brought about by their mutual apposition. The general direction pursued by the prisms is one from the dentine towards the surface ; this is. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 45 however, subject to many minor modifications. The curved and decussating course of the human enamel prisms renders them difficult to trace throughout their length, but the structure of the enamel of many lower animals (especially the rodents) is more easily intelligible. Enamel such as that of the ^Manatee, in which all the prisms pursue a perfectly straight course, is of comparatively rare occurrence, but among the rodents the com-ses pursued by the enamel prisms are simple, and produce very regular patterns, which are constant for particular families (J. Tomes). Thus, in the Sciuridce, a section of the enamel, whether longitudinal Fig. is (i). or transverse, appears divided into an outer and inner portion, in which the prisms, although contimious from the dentine to the free surface, piu'sue a different direction. As seen in the longitudinal section, the enamel prisms start from the dentine at right angles to its surface, and after passing through about two-thirds of the thickness of the enamel in this direction, abruptly bend upwards at an angle of 45 degi'ees with their original course. In transverse section the enamel prisms are found to be arranged in hori- (') Section of dentine and enamel of a Beaver : in the inner half the prismfi of contiguous layei's cross each other at right angles, iu the outer they are parallel. 46 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. zontal layers, each layer being a single fibre in thickness ; in alternate layers the prisms pass to the right and to the left, crossing those of the next layer at right angles, and thus making a pattern of squares in the inner two-thirds of the enamel. But in the outer third of the enamel, ■where the prisms bend abruptly upwards, those of superimposed layers no longer pass in opposite directions, but are all parallel ; in fact no longer admit of distinction into laminee. Thus each enamel prism passes in a veiy definite direction and, seen with those of other layers, forms a very charac- teristic pattern ; but the enamel prisms are not in any part of their course curved. In the beaver, from which the foregoing figure is taken, the an-angement of the enamel prisms is dissimilar in the upper and lower teeth, the lamination taking place in difierent directions, so that a longitudinal section of the one might, so far as this is concerned, be mistaken for a trans- verse section of the other. As regards the decussation of the prisms of alternate layers, it is similar to that of the Sciuridce, but it difi^ers in the laminae being slightly flexuous instead of pursuing perfectly straight lines. Among the porcupine family very much more complex patterns are met with, the enamel prisms being individually flexuous, and their curves not being confined to one plane ; the individual prisms pursue a serpentine coiurse, and cannot be followed far in any one section. Near to the surface, however, they all become parallel, the enamel thus conform- ing with that of other rodents in being divided into two portions (at least so far as the course pursued by, and the pattern traced by, its fibres in its inner and outer parts can be said to so divide it). The Leporidce, or hares, form an exception to this ; their enamel has no such lamelliform arrangement, but is built up merely of slightly flexuous prisms. By tracing the coiirses of enamel prisms from the simple THE DENTAL TISSUES. 47 pattern found in tlie Manatee through that of the squirrel and dormouse, and the porcupine, we see how a very definite arrangement, at first simple, becomes modified into some- thing a little more complex, till at last it reaches a degree of complexity that looks like mere disorder. No one un- familiar with the enamel of other rodents, looking at the enamel of the porcupine, Avould be able to unravel the very indefinite looking chaos of prisms before him ; but had he studied forms in some degree transitional he could not doubt that the tortuous, curving course which he saw the prism to be pursuing was nevertheless perfectly definite and precise, and formed part of a regular pattern. In perfectly healthy human enamel the fibrillar arrange- ment is not so very strongly marked ; the prisms ai'e solid, Fig. 19 (i). are apparently in absolute contact with one another, without visible intervening substance. But Bodecker, basing his conclusions upon the examination of thin sections, stained with chloride of gold, holds that enamel is built up of columns of calcified substance, between which minute spaces exist. These are filled by a material (') Human enamel, from the masticating surface of a molar. The figure is merely intended to show the general direction of the fibres. 48 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Avhich takes the stain deeply, and is probably analogous to the cement substance of epithelial foi-mations. As seen in sections, it gives off exceeding fine thorns, which apparently pierce the prisms at right angles to their length, so that it forms a close network very intimately mixed up with the calcified portion of the enamel. It is not of uniform thickness, but is beaded, and BiJdecker attributes to it a role of far greater importance than that of a mere cementing substance, for he regards it as being an active, protoplasmic network, which renders the enamel much more " alive " than it has hitherto been considered to be. He believes it to become continuous with the soft contents of the dentinal tubes through the medium of large masses of protoplasmic matter found at the margins of the enamel and dentine. But although there are various reasons for suspecting that enamel is not completely out of the pale of nutrition from the moment that a tooth is cut, yet further observations are needed before the activity and importance of the cement substance demonstrated by Bodecker can be held to be fully established. Klein remarks that " the enamel cells, like all epithelial cells, being separated from one another by a homo- geneous interstitial substance, it is clear that the remains of this substance must occur also between the enamel prisms ; in the enamel of a developing tooth the interstitial substance is larger in amount than in the fully formed organ. It is improbable that nucleated protoplasmic masses are con- tained in the interstitial substance of the enamel of a fully- formed tooth, as is maintained quite recently by Bodecker." The study of the development of marsupial enamel, to be alluded to at a future page, by showing that the enamel is penetrated by soft tissue differently placed, also tends to throw doubt upon Bodecker's interpretation. W. J. Barkas {3Ionthhj Review of Dental Surgery, 1874) has also perhaps had imder observation this cementing substance ; he also THE DENTAL TISSUES. believes that the enamel prisms are tubular, minute canals running along their axes. On the whole the prisms are parallel, and run from the sur- face of the dentine continuously to that of the enamel. Their paths are not, however, either perfectly straight or perfectly parallel, for alternate layei's appear to be inclined in opposite directions, while they are also wavy, forming several curves in their length. The curvature of the enamel prisms is most marked upon the masticating surface ; while the layers, alternating in the direction of their inclination as just described, are in planes transverse to the long axis of the cro^\^l, and correspond to the fine striee on the surface of the enamel, which appear to be caused by their outcrop. The curvatures take place in more than one plane ; in other words, the course of the individual prism is more or less of a spiral. Although most prisms run through the whole thickness of the enamel, yet inasmuch as the area of the outer is much larger than that of the inner surface of the enamel, and the individual prisms do not u.ndergo any alteration in size as they pass outwards, many supplemental fibres are present in the outer portions of the enamel which do not penetrate far inwards. The individual fibres are to all appeai*ance structureless in perfectly formed human enamel, but a faint transveree striation, fainter, but otherwise not unlike that of voluntary muscle, is so general that it cannot be regarded as patho- logical, although it is most strongly developed in imperfect brownish enamel. The striation in question may be seen even in a single isolated fibre, and is not necessarily con- tinuous over adjacent fibres, though it often is so ; it is rendered more apparent by the slight action of diluted acids upon the fibre. Very various interpretations of this appear- ance have been given. It has been attributed to " an inter- mittent calcification" of the enamel fibi-e (Hertz), but is 50 A 3fANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. with more probability referred to varicosities in the indi- vidual fibres (Kulliker, Waldeyer) ('). It is very marked in the enamel of the common rat, which shares with that of other mnridte the peculiarity of having the individual fibres almost serrated, those of adjacent crossing layers being fitted to one another Avith great exactness. In human enamel the adjacent fibres if united without any intermediate cement- ing medium, and pursuing courses slightly different, must of necessity be of slightly irregular form, or else interspaces would be left, which is not found to bo the case. Thus the "decussation of the fibres" is a plausible explanation of this appearance of striation ; indeed isolated filires do present an appearance of slight varicosities, repeated at regular in- tervals. The penetration, at regular inten^als, of the prisms by the " thorns " of cement substance (sec page 48), affords another explanation. Although the perfect enamel fibre appenrs to be entirely Fig. 20 (-). a -.. homogeneous, it is not really so, for acids act with far greater rapidity upon the central or axial portion of the fibi-e than upon its periphery. The accompanying figujre, taken from (^) The striation of voluntary muscle has been very recently proved to he due to this same cause (Dr. Haycraft, " Proceedings of Royal Society," Feb. 1881). (") From human enamel, softened in chromic acid, until it coi^ld be j'eadily cut with a knife. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 51 enamel softened by prolonged maceration in a 1 per cent, solution of chromic acid shows this well ; the central por- tions of the fibre are dark, and are stained green by the rednced chromium sesquioxide, while the clear interspaces are colourless. Again, if dilute hydrochloric acid be applied to a section of enamel, the axial parts of the fibres are first attacked and are dissolved away, so that, if the section be transverse, a fenestrated mass remains. During the forma- tion of enamel the hardening salts are deposited first in the periphery of the enamel cells, so that the youngest layer of enamel is full of holes, each one of which corresponds to the Fig. 21 ('). centre of a fibre. Although calcification goes on to obliterate the visible difference between the centre and the periphery of the enamel fibre, yet the action of an acid reverses the order of its formation and once more makes it fenestrated, indicating that there is not absolute identity of substance in the inner part of the fibre. In imperfect enamel, indeed, a central narrow canal has sometimes been observed in the interior of an enamel fibre. In fractured enamel, the line of fracture is said to run through the centre of the fibres, and not, as might have been expected, through their interspaces. There is also an appearance of striation upon a far larger scale, consisting of brownish lines, which are never, or almost never, quite parallel with the outer surface of the enamel, but which nevertheless preserve some sort of parallelism with it and the surface of the dentine. These are known (1) Transverse section of enamel, the axial portion of the jirisms ha\dng been removed by dilute hj'droohloric acid. E 2 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. as the " brown strife of Retzius," and as they coincide with what was at one time the outer surface of the enamel cusp, Fig. 22 ('). are in some sense marks of its stratification, in its original deposition. Pigment is seen in the enamel of many rodents ; it is in (') Cavities in human enamel, whicli communicate with the dentinal tubes. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 53 the outer layers of the enamel, but has no sharply defined boundaiy, fading away gi-adually into the colourless tissue lying within it. Some authors have supposed that the pig- ment lay in a thin coating of cementum, or in a very dis- tinct layer of enamel, but as has above been stated, such is not the case. Cavities of irregular form sometimes exist in the enamel near to the surface of the dentine, and when such spaces exist the dentinal tiibes sometimes communicate with them, but these are perhaps to be regarded as pathological ; Bodecker regards them as filled up l)y protoplasm. Irregular fissures and cavities also occur upon the outer surface of the enamel, which also have no special significance save as pre- disposing causes of dental caries. In man, however, dentinal tubes may occasionally be seen to enter the enamel, passing across the boundary between the two tissues, and pursuing their course without being lost in irregular cavities ; though this appearance is seldom to be found. As was pointed out by my father, the passage of the dentinal tubes into and through a great part of the thickness of the enamel takes place in marsupials with such constancy as to be almost a class characteristic. The only exception to the rule amongst recent marsupials occiu-s in the wombat, in which no dentinal tubes enter the enamel ; those extinct marsupials which have been examined present, as might have been expected, a structure in this respect similar to that of their nearest allies amongst the recent genera. The enamel of the wombat is peculiar also in another respect, being covered by a strong and remarkably uniform layer of cementum. The penetration of the enamel l)y dentinal tubes is not, however, a peculiarity quite confined to the marsupials, for it is to be found in some rodents (e.ff. the jerboa), and in some insectivoia (e.r/., the soricida)). 5i A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Fia. 23 (•). ^1 "ill (1) Enamel and dentine of a Kangaroo {Macropiis major). The dentinal tubes in the dentine (A) are furnished with numerous short branches at the line of juncture with the enamel ; they are dilated, and a little bent out of their course, while beyond the dilatation they pass on through about two-thirds of the thickness of the enamel in a straight course and without branches. Only a part of the whole thickness of the namel is shown in the figure. THE DEXTAL TISSUES. Waldeyer and. Hertz doubt the passage of the tubes of the dentiue into the enamel ; as KiJlliker ubsen^es, it is difficult to see how they can doubt it, even after mere observation of a single specimen ; moreover, it is also capable of experi- mental demonstration, for if an acid capable of removing the enamel be applied to one of these sections of marsupial teeth so as to dissolve away the enamel, the fi*eed tubes are left hanging out from the edge of the dentine, thus putting the matter beyond aU possibility of doubt, while the develop- ment of the marsupial enamel makes the nature of the con- tents of the tubes quite clear. The most marked variation in the structui-e of enamel, which is on the whole a tissue differing but little in various animals, is met with in the class of fish. In the Sargus, or sheep's-head fish, for example, the enamel is penetrated by a system of tubes which are not continued Fis. 2-1 ('). K MWMMm Dut of or derived from the dentine, but belong to the enamel itself. The tubes, as seen in the figure, run at right angles to the external surface of the enamel, px-oceed inwards without branch or bend for some little distance, and then, at about (') Enamel and dentine of the Sheep's-head fish (Sargus oris). The enamel is penetrated by a system of channels which enter from its free exposed surface, pass in for a certain distance in straight lines, and then abruptly Lending at an angle cross one another, and produce a com- plicated pattern in the inner third of the enamel. 56 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the same point, bend abruptly at an angle, and give oft numerous branches. The meshwork produced by the cross- ing of the tubes at all sorts of angles in the inner part of the enamel is so complicated as to render it impracticable to reproduce it in a drawing. That portion of enamel next to the dentine is without canals. Von Boas (Zeits, f. wissen. Zoolog. Bd. xxxii.), describing the similarly constructed enamel of scaroid fishes, says that I was in error in sup- posing that the canals open upon the outer siu'face of the enamel. But I do not understand his reasons for dissenting from my opinion, which re-examination of many specimens has tended to confirm. I have not been able to satisfy myself whether the tubes occupy the interspaces of the enamel prisms, or their axes. It would appear also as if these tubes were empty during life, as in sections they appear to be more or less blocked up with dirt. The existence of the prisms at all is not certain, and this led Kolliker to say that true enamel does not appear to exist in fishes (Mik. Anat. p. 114); the enamel of fish is, however, developed from an enamel organ homologous with, and exactly like, that of amphibia and reptiles, so that these anomalous tissues must 1)e regarded as l)eing un- questionably enamel. The greater part of every tooth is made up of dentine, which thus, even after the removal of the other tissues would preserve somewhat its characteristic form. Several varieties of dentine exist in which those peculiarities of structure which differentiate it from bone become less marked, so that a point is sometimes reached at which it is hard to say whether a particular structure should more rightly be regarded as dentine, or as bone. It will be most convenient to commence with the description of that variety THE DENTAL TISSUES. 57 of dentine which differs most markedly from bone ; in other words, which has the most typical " dentinal " structure ; and for that purpose the tissue met with in the teeth of man and the majority of mammalia, (though it is by no means confined to that class,) and known under the name "hard" or "unvascular" dentine may be selected. Dentine is a hard, highly elastic substance, in colour white with a slight tinge of yellow, and to some extent translucent, its transparency being often made more striking- by contrast with the opacity which marks the first advent of dental caries, ^yheu broken a silky lustre is seen upon the fractured surfaces, which being in the main due to the presence of air in its tubes, is more apparent in dry than in fresh dentine ; its fracture is sometimes described as finely fibrous. The mass of the dentine consists of an organic matrix richly impregnated with calcareous salts ; this matrix is everywhere permeated by parallel tubes, which run, with some deviations, in a direction at right angles to the siu'face of the tooth. The Matrix. — The exact chemical composition of the matrix is not known ; in man the proportion borne by the organic to the inorganic constituents varies in diffei'ent individuals, and very probably in the same individual at different ages, so that analyses can only give approximate results. In a fresh human tooth 62 per cent, of its weight was found to be inorganic salts, the tooth cartilage being 28 per cent., leaving a residue of 10 per cent, of water. Von Bibra gives the following analysis of perfectly dried dentine : — Organic matter (tooth cartilage) . 27"61 Fat 0-40 Calcium phosphate, and fluoride . 06" 72 Calcium carbonate . . . . 3 "36 Magnesium phosphate . . . . 1"18 Other salts 0-83 58 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Von Bibra gives another analysis : — Cartilage 20-42 Fat •58 Salts 1-00 Magnesium phosphate . 2-49 Calcium phosphate, and fluoride G7-54 Calcium carbonate . . 7-97 And Berzelius gives Gelatine and water . Sodium salts Magnesium phosphate Calcium phosphate Calcium fluoride Calcium carbonate 28-00 1-50 1-00 62-00 2-00 5-50 The dentine of many mammals is very much more rich in magnesium phosphate than human dentine is; even the latter, it would seem, from the discrepancies existing between the various analyses, is variable in composition, but, on the whole, it may be said that, amongst inorganic constituents of dentine, calcium phosphate largely prepon- derates ; from 3| to 8 per cent, consists of calcium carbo- nate ; a much smaller proportion consists of magnesium phosphate, while calcium fluoride exists in traces only. The organic basis of the matrix is closely related to that of bone, with which however it is not identical ; it is of firmer consistence, and does not really yield gelatine on boiling, but, according to Kolliker (who quotes Hoppe), the dentine of the pig yields a substance resembling glutin, the dentinal globules remaining undissolved. The animal basis of the dentine is called " dentine cartilage," and is readily obtainable by submitting a tooth for several days to the action of diluted acids. The form and most of the THE DENTAL TISSUES. 59 structural characteristics of a tooth so treated are main- tained, the dental cartilage forming a tough, flexible, and elastic semi-transparent mass. In the matrix of a perfect tooth no trace of cellular structure can be detected ; it is uniform and perfectly transparent. The Dentinal Tubes. — As has been already mentioned, the matrix is everywhere permeated by tubes, the precise direction of which varies in different parts of the tooth, so that the following description of their com-se must be taken as merely in a general way descriptive, and not as of universal or precise application. Each tube starts by an open circular mouth upon the surface of the pulp cavity ; thence it runs outwards, in a direction generally per- pendicular to the surface, towards the periphery of the dentine, which, however, it does not reach, as it becomes smaller, and breaks up into branches at a little distance beneath the surface of the dentine. Near to the pulp they are so closely packed that there is little room between them for tlie matrix, while near to the outside of the tooth they are more widely separated : their diameter is also greater near to the pulp cavity. The dentinal tubes do not pursue a perfectly straight course, but describe curves both on a larger and a smaller scale. The longer curves are less abrupt than the others, and are termed the " primary curvatures ; " they are often compared to the letter /, to which they bear a certain amount of resemblance ; the primary curves are more pronounced in the crown than in the root. The secondary curvatures are very much more numerous and are smaller ; the actual course of the dentinal tube is, in many places at all events, an elongated spiral, as may be very w^ell seen in thick sections transverse to the tubes ; by alterations in the focus of the microscope the appearance of the tube making a spiral turn is made veiy striking. 60 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The effect of an elongated spiral viewed on its side will of course be only slight undulations, such as are the secondary- curvatures of the tubes. The spiral course of the dentinal tubes is most strongly marked in the roots of teeth. When a transverse section of dentine is viewed, bands or rings, concentric with the pulp cavity are seen, and the same bands may be seen in longitudinal section. Such a striated or laminated appearance in the dentine may be due to two causes ; and some little confusion has arisen in the nomen- clature, owing to its double origin not having always been kept in view. Such striae may be due to the presence of rows of' interglobular spaces, or to the coincidence of the primary curvatures of neighbouring dentinal tubes : that Fig. 25 (')• is to say, each tube bends at the same distance from the surface, and the bend makes a difference in the optical pro- perties of the dentine at that point. Schreger described these latter: the lines of Schreger, (') Dentine and cementum of a Ntirwal, showing contour lines due to TOWS of interglobular spaces. THE DENTAL TISSUES'. 61 therefore, are markings, ranged parallel with the exterior of the dentine, which are due to the curvatures of the dentinal tubes. The " contour lines " of Owen, even in his own works, include markings of both classes : i. e., those due to the curvature of the dentinal tubes, and those due to laminrc of interglobular spaces, such as are met with in the teeth of Cetacea. Retzius had seen and described contour markings due to interglobular spaces, though his name is not usually associated with them, the " brown strise of Retzius " being- markings in the enamel. The tubes as they pass outwards often divide into two equally large branches ; they also give off fine branches, which anastomose with those of neighbouring tubes. In the Fig. 26 C). cro^vn of a human tooth these fine branches are compara- tively few, until the tube has reached nearly to the enamel, but in the root they are so numerous as to afford a ready means of distinguishing whence the section has been taken. The small branches above alluded to are given off at right angles to the course of the main tube, which, however, itself frequently divides and subdivides, its divisions pursuing a nearly para,llel course. The tubes are subject to slight varicosities, and their (') Temiinatioii of a dentiual tube in tlie midst of the dentine — human. 62 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. coui'so is sometimes apparently interrupted by a small inter- globular space, as is to be seen in an extreme degree in the dentine of Cetacea. Owing to their breaking up into minute branches, some of the tiibes become lost as they approach the surface of the dentine, and apparently end in fine pointed extremities. Some terminate by anastomosing with terminal branches of others, forming loops near to the surface of the dentine ; others terminate far beneath the surface in a similar way. Some tubes pass into the small interglobular spaces which constitute the "granular layer" described by my father, while others again pass out altogether beyond the boundary of the dentine and anastomose with the canaliculi of the lacunoQ in the cementum. The enamel also may be penetrated by the dentinal tubes, thovigh this Avhen occurring hi the human subject must be regarded as exceptional and almost pathological in its nature (see Fig. 22). As has, however, been men- tioned in speaking of the enamel, in most of the Marsupials and in certain other animals it is a perfectly nomial and indeed characteristic occurrence, difficult though it be to see how such a relation of parts is brought about in the course of development of the two tissues. Bentinal Sheaths. — If dentine be^exposed to the action of strong acid for some days, a sort of fibrous felt, or if the action of the acid has gone further, a transparent slime alone remains. Examined with the microscope this proves to be a collection of tubes ; it is, in fact, made up of the immediate walls of the dentinal tubes, the intervening matrix having been wholly destroyed. Two facts are thus demonstrated : the one that the tubes Lave definite walls, and are not simple channels in the matrix ; the other, that these walls are composed of some- thing singularly indestructible. Indeed, the walls of the dentinal tubes are so indestructible that they may be THE DENTAL TISSUES. demonstrated in fossil teeth, in teeth boiled in caustic alkalis, or in teeth which have been allowed to putrefy. Although KolHker was, I believe, the first to describe and figure these isolated tubes, they are generally known as the " dentinal sheaths of Neumann," the latter writer having- more fully investigated and described them. The precise chemical nature of these sheaths will be more conveniently considered under the head of calcification : similarly inde- structible tissues are, however, to be met with surrounding the Haversian canals and the lacunse of bone. It is the opinion of Neumann, as it was also of Henle, that the dentinal sheaths are calcified ; but the proof of this is. very difficult, as they cannot be demonstrated, or I should rather say, isolated, to any extent in dentine, unless it has been decalcified. Their existence has been recently denied in toto by Magitot. Transverse sections of dentine present fallacious appear- ances, owing to the thickness of the section giving to the tube a double contour which may be easily mistaken for a Fig. '27 {^). special wall. Immediately I'ound the opening of the canal,. or "lumen," as it is called, there is however generally a thin yellowish border, which is the sheath of Neumann. In the earlier stages of caries, before the dentine is much softened, the walls of the canals become strikingly appa- (1) Transvei-se section of dentine. The appearance of a double contour is so much exaggerated as to make the figure almost diagrammatic. 64 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. rent. The canals which everywhere permeate the dentine are not empty, a fact which might be inferred from the difference in translucency and general aspect of dry and fresh dentine, whether seen in mass or in thin section ; neither are they, as was at one time supposed, tenanted merely by fluid. Dentinal Fibrils. — Each canal is occupied by a soft fibril, which is continuous with an odontoblast cell upon the Fir,. 28 (1). surface of the pulp ; the existence of these soft fibrils was first demonstrated by my father, Avho thus, to use the words of Waldeyer, "oj)ened the way to a correct interpretation of the nature of the dentine." Henle, in his "AUgemeine Anatomic," (1841), a transla- tion of a portion of which is to be found in the "Archives of Dentistr}^," (1865), figured and described projections from the edges of fragments of dentine in continuity with the dentinal tubes. These he distinctly describes as calcified and rigid, adding that by the use of acids they may be made flexible ; he speaks of the tube as empty, save when blocked by granular calcareous matter, and alludes to fluids entering it by capillarity ; and lastly, he says nothing whatever of the connections of the pulp Avith the tubes. Miiller, (as translated in Nasmyth on the " Structure of (^) A fragment of dentine [a), through which run the softer fibrils (c), which are seen to be continuous with tlie odontoblast cells [h). (After Dr. Lionel Beale.) THE DENTAL TISSUES. 65 the Teeth," 1839), says, "m breaking fine sections of the teeth perpendicularly to the fibres, he has frequently seen the latter projecting a little at the fractured edge. In such cases they are quite straight and not curved, and seem to be not at all flexible. Hence it follows that the tubes have an organised basis, a membrane, and that this is stiff and brittle, and probably saturated with calcareous salts, but weak and soft in a decalcified tooth." The whole importance of my father's discovery la}'- in the fact that dentine is permeated by soft, uncalcified structures ; and what is yet more significant, that these soft fibrils, per- meating the hard dentine, proceed from the pulp. In no sense, therefore, did Henle anticipate this discovery. In 1854 Lent figui-ed processes from the dentinal cells (odontoblasts) which he rightly conceived to be concerned in the formation of dentine ; but in the earlier editions of the "Histology" of his friend and teacher, Prof Kolliker, although Lent's discoveries are described and adopted with- out reservation, no mention of the real structure of dentine occurs. But in the last edition, Prof KiJlliker says — " after Tomes had described a soft fibre in each tube, I fell into the mistake of supposing that these fibres and the tubes were one and the same." The circumstances under which the dentinal fibrils can or cannot be discovered ai-e as follows, and may be taken as proofs of the distinction between the dentinal fibrils and the dentinal sheaths. If a tooth section be submitted to the action of a caustic alkali and boiled in it, or be allowed to completely putrefy, so that the soft parts are entirely destroyed, the dentinal sheaths can still be demonstrated, but the fibres can in no way be brought into view (Kolliker). The dentinal sheaths may be demonstrated also in fossil teeth, as has been shown by Hoppe (Wurzburg Nat. Zeitschrift, Bd. VI. p. xi.) and. others. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY In fresh dentine every formative cell sends a process into the dentinal tubes (Tomes, Kiilliker, Lent, Waldeyer, Neu- mann), and it has been fovmd possible to demonstrate both the sheaths and the fibres in the same sections (Neumann, Boll). In transverse and even in longitudinal sections of decalci- fied dentine the fibrils may be recognised in situ (Kcilliker). The contrast between the dentinal sheaths and the fibrils is this : — the sheaths are very indestructible, and can be demonstrated in teeth which have undergone all sorts of Fig. 29 (i). change ; the soft fibril is no longer demonstrable when the tooth has been placed in circumstances which would lead to its soft parts perishing. In dentine, then, we have (i.) a matrix permeated by tubes ; (ii.) special walls to these tubes or "dentinal sheaths;" and (iii.) soft fibrils contained in these tubes, or " dentinal fibres ; " and it now remains to consider these in farther detail. In fortunate sections of small fragments of dentine taken from the edges of the pulp cavity and including the surface of the pulp, the dentinal fibrils may be seen stretching from the cells of the superficial layer of the pulp (odontoblasts) into the dentinal tubes, as owing to these being extensile they may be stretched or drawn out from the tubes for some little distance without being broken across. In the same (') Section of dentine from tlie edge of which hang out the dentinal sheaths, and beyond these again tlie fibrils (after Boll). THE DENTAL TISSUES. 67 way they may be seen stretching across like harp strings between two pieces of dentine, when this is torn by needles, and they can be thus shown in fresh fragments just as well as in those of decalcified dentine. When stretched to a considerable extent their diameter becomes diminished and they finally break, a sort of bead sometimes appearing at the broken end (Tomes). This would seem to indicate that the substance of the fibril is of colloid consistency, and that its external portions are in some degree firmer than its axial portion. The dentinal fibrils are well seen in the accompanying figui'e, in which some hang out from the edge of the dentine, PflllPf while others have been pulled out from the dentine and are seen attached to the odontoblast cells. The dentinal fibril is capable of being stained with car- mine, though with some difl&culty; in young dentine it is more easily stained, especially near the pulp cavity, and the accompanying drawing is taken from such a section of (^) Surface of the pulp, with the odontoblast layer in situ. The dentine fibrils pulled out of the dentinal tube hang like a fringe from the odonto- blast layer : dentine fibrils are also seen hanging out from the edge of the dentine, to which, to the right of the figure, a few odontoblasts remain, attached. P 2 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. dentine from a half-formed human incisor. The matrix is slightly stained with the carmine, indicating that it has not yet become fidly impregnated with salts, and in the centres of the clear areas dark spots deeply stained with carmine are to be seen, the latter being transverse sections of the dentinal fibrils in situ. I have observed precisely similar appearances in the thin young dentine of calves' and pigs' teeth ; Kblliker also mentions that the dentinal fibril may be recognised in situ in transverse sections of fresh dentine. Fig. 31 (1). Bodecker finds that the dentinal fibrils stain darkly with chloride of gold ; when viewed in transverse sections under a magnifying power of 2,000 diameters they do not appear round but somewhat angular, and give oflF tiny lateral offshoots which seem to penetrate the dentine. In the matrix itself there is an appearance of a faint network when it has been stained with gold, and from this Bodecker infers that the dentine is penetrated everywhere by a network of living plasm, derived from, though far finer than, the dentinal fibrils. Probably the angularity of the fibril, wdiich, as figured by him, is much smaller than the canal, is due to its having shrunk under the action of chromic acid or some such reagent. (') Transverse section of dentine : in four of the dentinal tubes, the dentinal fibrils deeply stained with carmine, in the preparation from which this figure was drawn, are seen. The fibrils are somewhat shrunken, owing to the action of the glycerine in which the section is mounted. THE DENTAL TISSUES. According to Neumanu, in old age the fibrils atrophy or become calcified ; some observers have failed to detect them near to the periphery of the dentine, far away from the pulp cavity. But here they would naturally be more minvite, and it is more probable that the manipulations had failed to demonstrate them than that they were absent ; for Bodecker has traced them to the very outside of the dentine. Dr. Beale has seen prolongations of the nucleus of the cell toAvards the base of the fibril, though in the example which he figures it does not enter it. Dentinal fibrils have been demonstrated in the Reptilia and Amphibia by Santi Sirena and myself; and by myself in the few fish that I have examined with that purpose. Of their real nature some doubts are entertained : they are certainly processes of the formative cells of the dentine, and their substance seems identical with that of the proto- plasm of the cell. Nerves, in the ordinary sense of the word, they are not, and have never been supposed to be ; but there are many examples of cellular structures which are comiected with the termination of sensory nerve fibres, such as the goblet cells in the olfactory membrane of the frog, and it is quite possible that the odontoblast cells may stand in some such relations to the nerve of the pulp, the termination of which have never been satisfactorily traced. Mr. Coleman once suggested that it was possible that the odontoblasts might have some tactile function ; but M. Magitot has recently claimed for them a very definite connection with the nerves of the pulp. According to his observations and figures the nerves of the pulp become continuous with a layer of reticulate cells which lie beneath the odontoblasts ; and these freely communicate with the processes of the odontoblasts, so that there is a very direct chain of communication between the dentinal fibril and the nerves of the pulp. M. Magitot speaks very 70 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. positively as to the accuracy of his views, which as yet, however, have not been confirmed by other investigators. Fig. 3-2 f»). U4-L^:;ii}A Yet another view of the nature of the dentinal fibril is advocated by Klein ("Atlas of Histology," p. 183), who holds that the odontoblasts are concerned only in the forma- tion of the dentine matrix, and that the dentinal fibrils are long processes of the deeper cells, in the above figure, which run up between the odontoblasts and enter the dental canals. In a recent paper (Comptes Rendus, 1880,) Magitot also impugns the accuracy of the views ordinarily accepted as to the structure of dentine, denying the existence of any special walls to the tubes, and further arguing that it is undesirable to think or speak of the channels in dried dentine as tubes at all. For, he argues, they are not tubes in the fresh state, seeing that the fibrils are adherent to the matrix and form a part of it, and that they were originally (^) After Magitot. «. Dentinal fibrils. h. Amori^lious matrix. c. OdontoljJasts. cl. Nuclei of odontoblasts, e. Stellate cells. /. Nerve extremities which are continuous with the branched cells. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 71 precisely the same tissue. He would prefer to speak of dentine as being a fibrillar tissue included in a hard and homogeneous matrix. These views, however, do not differ substantially from those in the text, save that M. Magitot does not recognise the existence of that transitional tissue which others believe to be there, and call the sheaths of Neumann. No true nerve fibril has ever been seen to enter the den- tine ; nothing but the dentinal fibril has ever been proved to pass from the pulp into the hard substance of the tooth ; nevertheless, the observation of Boll is very sug- gestive. He found that by treating a perfectly fresh pulp with ^ per cent, solution of chromic acid an immense number of fine fibres could be demonstrated, a great many of which projected from above the surface, as though they had been pulled out of the dentinal tubes ; but although they pass up fi'om a plexus of dark-bordered nerve fibres beneath the membrana eboris, between the cells of that layer, their passage into the dentine remains a mere matter of inference. Boll's observations likewise are awaiting confirmation or disproof, and so far stand alone. Be that as it may, there can be no question that the sensitiveness of the dentine is due to the presence of soft organized tissue in the tubes, and is not a mere transmission of vibrations to the pulp through a fluid or other inert conductor. The peripheral sensitiveness of a tooth can be allayed by local applications which it would be absurd to suppose were themselves conducted to the pulp ; moreover, it is within the experience of every operator that after the removal of a very sensitive layer of caries, you often come down upon dentine, which, though nearer to the pulp, is far less sensitive, a condition quite inexplicable, except upon the supposition of a different local condition of the contents of the tubes. Irritation applied to the dentinal 72 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. fibrils may be propagated to the pulp, and irritation of the pulp set up without any real exposure of the latter. With reference to the probabilities of actual uei've fibres entering the dentinal tubes, it must be remembered that, in those tissues which are naturally so thin as to present great facilities for examination, nerves of a degree of fine- ness unknown elsewhere have been demonstrated ; in other words, the easier the tissue is to investigate, the finer the nerves which have been seen in it, while dentine is among the most difiicult substances conceivable for the demonstra- tion of fine nerve fibrils, if svich exist in it. Interglobular Spaces. — In the layer of dentine which underlies the cement an immense number of these spaces exist, giving to the tissue as seen under a low power an appearance of granularity. On this account my father gave to this the name of the " granular layer " of dentine ; on account of the far 'greater abundance of the spaces in that situation it is far more marked beneath the cement than beneath the enamel, and many of the dentinal tubes end in these spaces. Although the name " interglobular spaces " is strictly ap- plicable to the structm-es constituting the granular layer of dentine, it was not to these that it was first applied. When a dried section of dentine is examined, dark irregular (^) Dentinal tubes terminating in the spaces of the granular layer. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 73 spaces, clustered together and usually most abundant at a little distance below the surface, ai-e often to be seen, parti- cularly if the section has been made from a brownish, im- perfectly developed tooth. These spaces have a ragged outline, furnished with short pointed processes, and in favoxn-ably-prepared sections it may be seen that their outlines are formed by portions of the surfaces of closely opposed spheres, and globular con- tom'S may often be detected iii the solid dentine near to them, as is seen in the accompanying figure, taken from a section boiled in wax in order to render it very transparent. Although these large spaces are very common, they are perhaps not to be regarded as perfectly normal, but are ^ rather indications of an arrested development at that spot. The occurrence of globular forms during the early stages of calcificfition, will again be alluded to in connection with the development of teeth ; but although the term " inter- ('; Interglobular spaces in dentine. 74 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. globular " is thus strictly applicable, the use of the word " spaces " is not so correct. lu dry dentine it is true that they are, as Czerinak described them, spaces filled with air ; but that they are so is only due to the fact that their contents are soft, and shrivel up in drying. In the fresh condition the interglobular " space " is perfectly full, its contents often having the structural arrangement of the rest of the matrix, or else consisting of soft plasm ; in the former case, the dentinal tubes pass across and through it without any interruption or alteration in their course. This fact, as well as the soft nature of tlie contents as com- pared with the rest of the dentine, is well illustrated by a section in my possession which was taken from a carious Fia. 35 (1). tooth, near to the alfected surface. In this the fungus, leptothrix, had effected an entrance into some of the tubes, giving to them a varicose beaded appearance, and causing their enlargement. But when it reached the interglobular space, the less amount of resistance, or possibly the more favourable pabulum accessible, led to its more rapid deve- lopment, so that the tubes within the confines of the space lire many times more enlarged than those outside ; never- theless the continuity of the tubes across the space is well C) Section of carious dentine, in which some of the tubes are beaded by the ingress of the leptothrix, which has develoioed with greater freedom in one or two of the tubes where they cross the interglobular spaces. THE DEXTAL TISSUES. 75 demonstrated by the gro^vth of leptothrix having followed them -with exactitude. It sometimes happens that indications of spherical forms and faintly discernible contours resembling those of the interglobular spaces may be seen in chied sections, in which no actual spaces occur. The appearances are perhaps pro- duced by the formation of an interglobular space, the con- tents of which have subsequently become more or less perfectly calcified ; and the appearance described as " areolar dentine" is probably to be explained in this manner. The exact nature of the contents of the interglobular spaces is not very certain : they may, with some difficulty, be tinted by cai-mine, and it is said that they may, like the dentinal sheaths, be isolated by the destruction of the rest of the matrix in acids ; that this may be done I do not doubt, although I have never succeeded in so isolating them myself. Bodecker finds that there is soft living plasm abundantly distributed in the smaller interglobular spaces which con- stitute the granular layer, and that this is in very free com- munication with the soft fibrils in the tubes on the one side, and with the soft contents of the lacunee and canaliculi of the cementum on the other. In the dentine so far described, which is that variety known as hard or uuvascular dentine, some degree of nutrition is perhaps provided for by the penetration of the whole thick- ness of the tissue by protoplasmic fibres, the dentinal fibrils, but this nutrition may be eff'ected in a different way, and there are other varieties of dentine known in which dentinal fibrils have never been shown to exist. For descriptive purposes I would classify dentines as (i.) Hard or uuvascular dentine. (ii.) Plici-dentine. (iii.) Vaso-dentine. (iv.) Osteo-dentine. 76 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Ordinary hard dentine has been sufficiently described ; of it plici-dentine is a variety not very distinct in its essential nature, though at first sight widely dissimilar. Flici-deutine. — In ordinary dentine the dentinal tubes radiate out from a pulp and pulp chamber of simple form ; render complex that form by foldings of its walls, the den- tinal tubes still running off at right angles to that portion of pulp to which they immediately belong, and we have a " plici-dentine." It is merely an ordinary dentine and its Fio. 36 (1). pulp folded up and wrinkled into a greater or less degi'ee of complexity. In the teeth of the Varanus (monitor lizard) the process of calcification of the pulp takes place in such manner that in the upper half of the tooth a cap of ordinary unvascular dentine, in which the tubes radiate from a single central i}) Section of Plici-ilentine with the pulj) in situ (Lepidosteus). Odontoblasts, p. Connective tissue framework of jjulp. d. Dentine. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 77 pulp cavity, is formed. But in the lower part of the tooth slight longitudinal furrows appear on the surface, which, on transverse section, are seen to correspond to dippings in of the dentine ; and the dentine is, as it were, in folds. The Fig. .37 {'). pulp on section might be compared to a paddle-wheel, the floats of which correspond to the thin flat radiating pro- cesses of pulp ; but as yet the central pulp chamber is unaltered. A little lower down, as represented in the accompanying figure, there is no longer a central simple pulp chamber; the inflections round the periphery have become relatively much deeper, and the centre of the tooth is occupied by a tissue irregular, but not otherwise unlike the dentine of Myliobates ; that is to say, there are a number of columns of pulp, each of which forms the axis whence a system of dental tubes radiate. The outrunning plates of dental pulp, which on section radiate out like the spokes of a wheel, do not always remain single ; they may divide simply into two branches, as may be seen in the section across the base of the tooth of (>) Transverse section across the cro^^•n of tlie tootli of Yaranus, near to its base. The central pulp cavity is produced out into processes, and it might be said the dentine is arranged in plates with some little regularity round its periphery. 78 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY of Lepidosteus (j^orth American bony pike) ; or sometimes there are several branches. Fig. 38 (>). In Lepidosteus oxyurus there are simple inflections, and a central pulp cavity; in L. spatula the inflections are branched, and the central pulp cavity all filled vip. In the foregoing figure of the base of a tooth of Lepi- dosteus some few of the outrunning pulp chambei's are (^) Transverse section across the tooth of Lepidosteus spatula. At the exterior are regularly disposed radiating plates of dentine, each with its own pulp cavity, while the central area is composed of more or less cylin- drical pulp chambers, each of which forms the stai-ting point for its own system of dentinal tubes. The pulp chambers are made dark in the figure for the sake of greater distinctness. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 79 seen to be bifurcated, Avhile the central mass of the tooth is composed of dentine permeated by pulp canals which pursue a longitudinal coiu'se ; a slight further modification brings us to the structure of the dentine of the Labyrin- thodon, in which a maximum of complexity is attained, although a clue to its intimate structure is afforded by the teeth of Varanus or of Lepidosteus. The laminae of pulp, w^ith their several systems of den- Fig. 39 (i). tinal tubes, instead of passing out in straight lines like the spokes of a wheel, pursue a tortuous course as they run from the central small pulp chamber towards the surfiice. Not only do they undulate, but they also give off lateral (^) Transverse section of a tootli of Labyrinthodon. (After Owen.) fl -^The letter a> is placed in the centre jjulp chamber ; the letter b marks the lines of separation between the system of dentinal tubes which belong to each lamina of pulp ; these lines of demarcation were formerly sup- posed to be occupied by cemeutum. 80 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. processes ; and at their terminations near to the surface of the tooth, the thin laminae of pulp (so thin that the radi- ating pulp chambers are mere fissures) become dilated ; so that on section circular canals are seen at these points, as is also the case at the points where subsidiary processes branch off. The wavy course pursued by the radiating plates of den- "//^ -"- ' "^^^smf'i ~ ■^^- A\ ■t iiitffi£f~z=z^ --■>///|!' tine, and the disposition of the tubes round the dilated portions of pulp chamber, render the general aspect of the dentine structure very complicated ; the several "systems" (-) (^) From tooth of Lalija-iiitliodon, showing the nature of the connection between the contiguous dentinal systems. (After a di-awing of my father's. ) (2) The term " dentinal system " is applied to the portion of dentine in which all the tubes radiate from a single section of pulp chamber ; thus the tooth of Labyrinthodon is made up of many dentinal system.? ; the same thing may be said of the tooth of Myliobates. THE DENTAL TISSUES. are united to one another by an inosculation of the ter- minal branches of the tubes in some few places, but more generally by a clear layer containing radiate spaces, some- thing like the lacunae of cementum. Hence Professor Owen has described the tooth as consisting of radiating plates of dentine, between which pass in equally convoluted plates of cementum. But, as was pointed out by my father (Phil. Trans. 1850), the mere presence of lacuna-like spaces is not sufficient to prove the presence of cementum, inasmuch as they occur on a small scale in the granular layer of dentine ; moreover, when cementum and enamel are both present, the cementum is always outside the enamel, whereas at the upper part of the tooth of the Labyrinthodon the cha- racteristic inflections take place within a common investment of enamel w^hich does not dip in. Thus the whole of the tissue constituting the very complex pattern of the Laby- rinthodon tooth is dentine, and the cementum does not, as was usually supposed, enter into its composition at all. Another form in which plici-dentine may exist is exempli- fied in the teeth of Myliobates, a lai*ge Ray ; or in the teeth of the rostrum of the saw-fish (Pristis). In the Myliobates (Fig. 41) the flat pavement-like tooth is permeated by a series of equidistant parallel straight canals, running up at right angles to the surface ; from the upper end and sides of these channels systems of dentinal tubes radiate, just as the tubes radiate from the single pulp chamber of a human tooth, save that they rim for a comparatively short distance. In transverse sections the tubes are seen radiating from these channels, and at their terminations sometimes inosculating with the terminal branches of the tubes of another system. The channels contain prolongations of the vascular pulp, which are distinct in the upper pai't of the tooth, but intimately united together at its base, where the disposition of the channels ceases to be regular, and, as a consequence, the G 82 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. systems of dentinal tubes pass from them in various direc- tions without producing the symmetrical patterns which characterise the upper part of the crown. Fig. 41 When the tooth comes into use and its immediate surface gets worn off, the ends of the perpendicular pulp channels would be laid open, were it not that they become blocked by the deposition of a transparent homogeneous tissue Avithin them, analogous to the similar tissue which closes Haversian canals of an antler about to be shed. Such is an example of plici-dentine in a simple form, in which the tooth might be said to be built up of a series of small parallel denticles ; and a similar structure is pre- sented by the rostral teeth of the saw-fish, and by the teeth of the Orycteropus or Cape ant-eater. Vaso-dentine. — In the dentine of human teeth it occa- sionally happens that a larger canal is found, having no clear relation to the course of the dentinal tubes, which it crosses at various angles ; this larger canal contained the (^) Transverse section of the dentine of Myliobates. THE DENTAL TISSUES. blood-vessel, the remains of which may be found even in a dried section. But in human dentine vascular canals do not often occur, and when they do, are to be regarded as decided abnormalities. The accompanying figure, representing a canal of large Fig. 42 ('). size, was drawn from a specimen shown to me at the Cam- bridge (Massachusetts) Museum Ijy Dr. Andrews. In some mammalian teeth these vascular canals are disposed with regularity, running out in loops from the pulp cavity, and lying, for a considerable i:)art of their course, at right angles to the dentinal tubes. lu the Manatee for example the dentinal tubes radiate out with perfect regularity from the central pulp chamber, and, so to speak, take no notice of the vascular canals, (,') Vascular canal in dentine. From a liuman tooth. G 2 84 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. which are to be met with (especially in the root) in large numbers. Where they are numex'ous the vascular canals form loops, so as to constitute a sort of plexus beneath the cementum. The Tapir, whose teeth in external configuration are not very dissimilar to those of the Manatee, also has vascular canals in the dentine ; a curious diftereuce in this respect Fia. 43 (•). was pointed out by my father (Proc. Zoolog. Soc. 1851) between the Indian and the American Tapir, the former having the canals in the dentine of the crown of the teeth, the latter having them not. The great extinct ^Megatherium possessed dentine very rich in these canals : to the left of the figure is seen the inner portion of the dentine, rich in them ; in the middle a fine tubed dentine, forming the external layer of the dentine of the whole tooth, and to the right cementum, also rich in vascular tubes. In those teeth in which the whole pulp is converted into solid material, and no pulp cavity remains, the last portions of the pulp are often converted into dentine which has not the same character as that of the rest of the tooth. Thus {}) Dentine and cementum of Megatherium : the latter to the right of the figure. THE DENTAL TISSUES. in teeth of perpetual growth, such as the incisors of rodents, the axial portion of the tooth is that latest calcified, and consists of a dentine containing vascular canals, which are not present in the other part of the tooth. When a change thus occm-s in the character of the tissue formed at a later time than the rest of the dentine, the name "secondary dentine " is applied to the resultant tissue. But secondary dentine may partake of several different varieties of structure, so that the term must not be taken as Fig. 44 (')■ denoting anything more than the circumstances under which it was formed. It is in the class of Fish, in which vaso-dentine is rather common, that the most instructive examples of its nature are to be found. The conical teeth of the common Flounder, and indeed of most flat fish (Pleuronecticke) have their pointed tips formed (*) Tooth of a Flounder, a, Dentinal tubes near apex of tooth ; b. Vascular canals ; c, Spear points of enamel. 86 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of ordinary hard dentine, surmounted by enamel tips. In this part of the tooth the dentinal tubes are numerous, and regular in their disposition, radiating out from the axial i)ulp chamber. Lower down in the teeth the dentinal tubes become less numerous, and at the same time much lai'ger looped canals make their appearance, and as these become more numerous and regular so do the dentinal tubes become less so. These larger tubes contain blood-vessels, and red blood circulates through them during the life of the tooth. We may suppose that tha nutrition of the dentine maybe Fig. 45 Q). provided for either by protoplasm carried for a long distance from the pulp by the dentinal tubes, or by blood circulating through the larger vascular channels, but that both are not required, and so do not exist together. And whilst the teeth of the Manatee, the Tapir, and of (^) Tooth of Ostracion. a, Enamel ; h. Capillary channels ; c, Axial pulp chamber. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 87 the Flounder teach that hard dentine and vaso-dentine are not very dissimihir in their nature, and tliat the one passes by imperceptible gradations into the other, the dentine at the base of the Flounder's tooth provides us with an example of typical vaso-dentine : that is to say, dentine in which the dentinal tubes are quite absent, having had their place taken by a complete system of vascular channels. The teeth of the Ostracion (Fig. 45), or of the Hake (Figs. 46 and ^^), afford good examples of this form of tissue. Fig. 46 ('), '^;~\ ■{ o/t-^^.---:; ■^ ' r^^^f.^ __. C]i The matrix is solid, so far as penetration by fine tubes goes, but it contains a system of larger canals which carry only blood, and no pulp tissue, out to near the surface of the dentine, where they form a plexus. I have not been able to satisfy myself of the existence of any definite structure in the matrix ; sometimes it looks granular, and sometimes has a finely reticulated look, re- calling the appearances described by Bodecker in human dentine. (See page 68.) Q) Section of Dentine from a freshly caught Hake (Merlucius). d. Dentine matrix ; cp, Capillary blood-vessels hanging out from its edge, containing here and there abundant blood-corpuscles. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The an-angement of the vascular canals is regular and striking, reminding one of the appeai'ance of the capillary network in an injected intestinal villus. In fact, an intes- tinal villus petrified, whilst the capillary network remained pervious and carried red blood circulating thi-ough it, would form no bad representation of a conical vaso-dentine tooth. For these canals do actually contain capillaries, and blood actively circulates through them ; a section cut from the fresh, brilliantly red tooth of a Hake often shows the coats of the capillary hanging out from the edge, and the canals full of blood-corpuscles {Fig. 46). In all vaso-dentine teeth with which I am acquainted the pulp chamber is of simple form, the pulp coated by a distinct layer of odontoblasts, and no pulp-tissue other than the capillaries passing out into the dentine, so that each capil- lary fits and wholly fills its channel in the dentine. Vaso-dentine is less dense and hard than ordinary dentine, and consequently generally gets protection by a harder tissue when exposed to hard work. The teeth of the Hake, used simply for piercing and catching fish, are merely tipped with enamel (Fig. 86) ; those of Ostracion, put to severer work, are coated with enamel, while the teeth of the Wrasse (Labrus), which are composed of ordinary dentine are, though very hard worked, unprotected by enamel. Osteo-dentine. — This is a tissue far more sharply marked off from hard dentine, plici-dentine and vaso-dentine, than these are from one another, and approaches closely to bone, from which it has few points of essential diff"erence. The distinction can hardly be fully emphasized until the development of dentine has been described, but it may be mentioned that it is not developed on the surftice of the pulp, from an odontoblast layer, but within its whole substance. Consequently in a completed osteo-dentine tooth there is no single simple pulp, which can be withdrawn from the THE DENTAL TISSUES. 89 tooth, but pulp and calcified tissue are quite inextricably mixed up. And though there are numerous large channels, often much larger than those of vaso-dentine, they are less regular, Fi;;. 47 ('). do not in their arrangement suggest the idea of capillary loops, and in a fresh tooth contain masses of pulp-structure as Avell as blood-vessels. The Pike's tooth aftbrds a good example of osteo-dentine. Its surface is formed of a layer of fine tubed tissue, almost (1) Tooth of Common Pike. inner mass of osteo-dentiue. a, Outer la3'er of fine tubed dentine ; b, A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. like ordinary dentine, but this soon gives place to a coarsely channeled tissue, containing elongated spaces filled with pulp, from which canaliculi, like those of a Ijone lacuna, branch off in all directions, but do not run far. Veiy many sharks have teeth composed of osteo-dentine, Fig. 4S (i). witli an outer dense layer : the tooth of Lamna here figured shows a central core of osteo-dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the tooth ; external to this a somewhat thin layer of hard dentine, in which all the dentinal tubes run out at right angles to the surface, but are derived from the channels of the osteo-dentine and not from any single pnlp chamber ; Avhile the outermost layer, which is clear and structureless, {') Tooth of a species of Lamna, consisting of a central mass of vaso- dentine, passing towards its surface into a fine-tubed unvascular dentine. The clear structureless layer on the surface may probably be regarded as enamel. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 91 may be merely the outer part of the hard dentine, or may be a thin layer of enamel. It is to be regretted that special names have been given to this layer ; it is sometimes called vitro-dentine, sometimes gauoin or fish-enamel ; but there is no reason why it should have a special name at all. The similarity of the channels of pulp in osteo-dentine to Haver- sian canals in bone is very close ; in fact, -when teeth con- sisting of osteo-dentine become, as in many fish they do, anchylosed to the subjacent bone, it becomes impossible to say at what point the dentine ends and the bone commences ; and this difficidty is intensified by the fact that the bone of many fishes lacks lacunse, and is almost exactly like dentine. Osteo-dentine was defined by Professor Owen as dentine in which the matrix was arranged in concentric rings around the vascular canals, and in which lacunse similar to those of bone were found. But neither of these characters are to be found in many teeth, which, if the manner of their development is to be taken into account, are unquestionably made of osteo-den- tine ; and so they cannot be made use of for purposes of definition, although lacunse and lamination of the matrix axe far moi*e often present in osteo-dentine than in the other varieties of dentinal structure. The varieties of dentine may be grouped thus : — (A.) Dentines developed upon the surface of a pulp, by calcification of a specialised layer of odontoblast cells. (i.) Hard, unvascular dentine, thoroughly per- meated with dentinal tubes, which radiate from a simple central pulp chamber. Example — Human dentine, (ii.) Plici-dentine, permeated with dentinal tubes, which radiate from a pulp chamber rendered complex in form by foldings in 92 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of its walls. Example — Lepidosteus, Labyrinthodon. (iii.) Vaso-dentine, dentinal tubes few or absent, but capillary channels with blood circulating through them abim- dant. Example — Hake. (B.) Dentines developed by calcifications shooting- through the interior of a pulp, not by calcifi- cation of a specialised surface layer of cells, (iv.) Osteo-dentine ; with no true dentinal tubes, but minvxte tvibes analogous to bone canaliculi, and large irregular channels containing pulp-tissue (not blood-vessels only). Example — Tooth of Pike. It remains to be added that the same pulp may undergo a change in the manner of its calcification ; that is to say, that after having gone on with surface calcification from an odontoblast layer for a certain length of time, this may give place to a more irregular internal calcification into an osteo-dentine. This is especially prone to happen after injury, and is often exemplified upon a large scale in Elephants' tusks ; the pulp of which, normally engaged in calcifying the odontoblast layers into ivory, may after an injury calcify irregularly, and solidify into a coarse osteo-dentine. It will then be easy to understand that so-called secon- dary dentine, produced in a pulp which ordinarily forms hard dentine, may partake of the character of vaso- or of osteo-dentine. Thus the pulp of a sperm whale's tooth becomes oblite- rated by a development of secondary dentine, which some- times forms irregular masses loose in the pulp chamber, and sometimes is adherent to and continuous with the dentine THE DENTAL TISSUES. previously formed. The structure of these masses is very confused. Tubes, of about the same diameter as dentinal tubes, abound ; but thev are often arranged in tufts or in bundles, and without any apparent reference to any com- mon points of radiation. Irregular spaces, partaking of the character of interglobiilar spaces or of bone lacunte, abound; and vascular canals are also common. In the human tooth secondary dentine occurs in the teeth of aged persons, in which the pulp cavity is much contracted in size, and is also very frequently formed as a i^rotection to the pulp when threatened by the approach of dental caries, or by the thinning of the walls of the pulp cavity through excessive wear. The accompanying figure, representing one of the cornua of the pulp chamber from a molar tooth affected by caries, is a good example of secondary dentine. (') Section of a mass of secondary dentine from the tooth of a sperm whale. 94 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. It occasionally happens that the pulp resumes its formative activity, and new dentine is developed which, with the exception of a slight break or bend in the continuity of the tubes, is almost exactly like normal dentine. Moi'e often. Fig. 50 {}). however, the boundary line between the old and the new is marked by an abundance of irregular spaces and globular contours, whilst further in the mass of new secondaiy dentine, the tubular structure again asserts itself more strongly : this is well seen in the specimen figured. (') Secondary dentine filling up one of the cornua of the puli^ cavity. From a human molar affected by caries. TEE DENTAL TISSUES. 95 CEJIEXTUM. The cement forms a coating of variable thickness over the roots of the teeth, sometimes, when the several roots are very close to another, or the cement is thickened by disease, uniting the several roots into one. The cement is ordinarily said to be absent from the crowns of the teeth of man, the carnivora, ifec, and to com- mence by a thin edge just at the neck of the tooth, over- lapping the enamel to a slight extent ; it is, in the healthy state, thickest in the interspaces between the roots of molar or bicuspid teeth : it is, however, often thickened at the end Fig. 51 ('). of a root by a dental exostosis. In compound teeth, the cementum forms the connecting substance between the den- ticles (see the figures of the tooth of the Capybara, the Elephant, &c.), and, before the tooth has been subject to wear, foi'ms a complete investment over the top of the crown. The cementum also covers the croAras of the com- (') Thick laminated cementum from tlie root of a human tooth. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. plex-pattemed crowns of the teeth of ruminants ; and, in my opinion, is present in a nidimentary condition upon the teeth of man, &c., as Nasmyth's membrane. The cementum is the most external of the dental tissues : a fact which ne- cessarily follows from its being derived more or less directly from the tooth follicle. Both physically and chemically, and also in respect of the manner of its development, the cementum is closely allied to bone. It consists of a calcified matrix or Viasal substance, to a slight extent laminated, and lacuna?. Vascular canals corresponding to the Haversian canals of bone, are met with, but it is only in thick cementum that they exist ; and, in man, perhaps in exostosis more often than in the thick healthy tissue. The matrix is a calcified substance, whicli, when boiled Fig. 52 ( ). yields gelatine, and if decalcified retains its form and struc- ture : it is, in fact, practically identical with the matrix of bone. It is sometimes apparently structureless, at others finely granvdar, or interspersed with small globules. The lacun?e of cementum share with those of bone the following characters : in dried sections they are irregular (') Lacuna of cementum which communicates with the terminations of the dentinal tubes. THE DENTAL TISSUES. 97 cavities, elongated in the direction of the lamellse of the matrix, and furnished with a large number of processes. The processes of the lacunae (known as canaliculi) are most abundantly given off at right angles to the lamellse (see Fig. 51), and, again, in cementum, are more abundantly- directed towards the exterior of the root than towards the dentine. The lacunae of cementum differ from those of bone in being far more variable in size, in form, and in the excessive number and length of their canaliculi ; in this latter respect the lacunae of the cement of Cetacean teeth are very remarkable. Many of the lacunae in cementum are connected, by means of their canaliculi, with the terminations of the dentinal tubes (Fig. 52) ; they, by the same means, freely intercom- municate with one another, while others of their processes are directed towards the surface, which, however, in most instances, they do not appear to actually reach. The lacunae assume all sorts of peculiar forms, especially in the thicker portion of the cement. Hei-e and there lacunae are to be found which are fur- nished with comparatively short processes, and are contained within well-defined contours. Sometimes such a line is to be seen surrounding a single lacuna, sometimes several lacunae are enclosed within it ; lacunae so circumscribed are called " encapsuled lacunae," and were first observed by Gerber in the cement of the teeth of the horse (they are specially abundant in the teeth of the solidung\ilata). By cautious disintegration of the cementum in acids these en- capsuled lacunae may be isolated ; the immediate walls of the lacunae and canaliculi, just as in bone, being composed of a material which has more power of resisting chemical re-agents than the rest of the matrix. The enca:psiiled lacunae are to be regarded as individual osteoblasts, or nests of osteoblasts, with a common connective H A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. tissue iuvestment, which have to some extent preserved their individuality during calcification. In the fresh condition it appears probable that the lacunas are filled up by soft matrix, which shrinks up, and so leaves them as cavities in dined sections. It can hardly as yet be said that the question of the contents of lacunse has been finally settled, though the researches of Bcidecker and Heitz- mann have gone far towards doing so. According to them each lacuna contains a protoplasmic body, which they term the cement corpuscle, with a central nucleus. This nucleus may be large and surrounded by but little protoplasm, or it may be small ; or there may be many nuclei. The cement corpuscles communicate freely with one another by offshoots, those of large size occupying the conspicuously visible canaliculi of the lacuna;, whilst the finer offshoots are believed by them to form a delicate network through the whole basis substance or matrix. The cement corpuscles near to the external surface give off numerous offshoots which communicate with protoplasmic bodies in the periosteum. By this means the cementum can remain alive even when the pulp of the tooth is dead, and thus the tooth is in no way a mere foreign body, dead and inert. Like bone, cementum is also sometimes found to contain Shai'pey's fibres ; that is to say, rods running through it at right angles to its own lamination, and, as it were, perforat- ing it. These are probably calcified bundles of connective tissue. Where the cementum is very thin, as, for instance, where it commences at the neck of a human tooth, it is to all appearance structureless, and does not contain any lacunse, and therefore no protoplasmic bodies : nevertheless lacunae may be sometimes found in thin cementum, as, for example. THE DENTAL TISSUES. in that thiu la3-er which invests the front of the enamel of the rodent-like tooth of a wombat. The cementum at the neck is also devoid of lamellae ; it appears to be built up by direct ossification of osteoblasts, the prismatic shape of which may be traced in it : Bodecker describes it as permeated by a fine but abundant network of soft living matter. The larger dentinal tubes fall short of the boundary line at the neck, but a fine protoplasmic network ci'osses it. Bodecker states that it has a covering of epithelial elements, like those of the gum. The outermost layer of thick cementum is a glassy film, denser apparently than the subjacent portions, and quite devoid of lacunse ; on the surface it is slightly nodular, and might be described as built up of an infinite number of very minute and perfectly fused globules ; this is, in fact, the youngest layer of cement, and is closely similar to that globular formation which characterizes dentine at an early stage of its development. The cementum is veiy closely, indeed inseparably, con- nected with the dentine, through the medium of the " granular " layer of the latter ; the fusion of the two tissues being so intimate, that it is often diflicult to say precisely at what point the one may be said to have merged into the other. And in this region there is an abundant passage of protoplasmic filaments across from the one to the other. Nasmyth's membrane. — Under the names of Nasmyth's membrane, enamel cuticle, or persistent dental capsule, a structure is described about which much difference of opinion has been, and indeed still is, expressed. Over the enamel of the crown of a hiunan or other mammalian tooth„ the crown of which is not coated by a thick layer of cemen- tum, there is an exceedingly thin membrane, the existence of which can only be demonstrated by the use of acids, which cause it to become detached from the sui-face of the enamel. When thus isolated it is found to form a continu- H 2 100 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. 0118 transparent sheet, upon -which, by staining with nitrate of silver, a reticulated pattern may be brought out, as though it Avere made up of epithelial cells. The inner surface of Nasmyth's membrane is, however, pitted for the reception of the ends of the enamel prisms, which may have something to do with this reticulate appearance. It is exceedingly thin, Kolliker attributing to it a thickness of only one twenty-thousandth of an inch, but, nevertheless, it is very indestructible, resisting the action of strong nitric or hydrochloric acid, and only swelling slightly when boiled in caustic potash. Notwithstanding, however, that it resists the action of chemicals, it is not so hard as the enamel, and becomes worn off tolerably speedily, so that to see it well a young and umvorn tooth should be selected. Observations upon the presence or absence of Nasmyth's Fig. 53 ('V membrane in fish and reptiles are very much needed ; my own recent investigations upon the development of the (•) From a section of a bicuspid tooth in which the cemcntum, c, is con- tinued over the outside of the enamel, a ; the dentine is indicated by the letter h. THE DENTAL TISSUES. teeth in these classes make me doubt whether the d priori conclusion of Waldeyer, who believes that the cuticle will be found on all teeth, is not based upon an interpretation of its nature which is incon-ect. The observation of Professor Huxley, who believed that he found it upon the teeth of the frog, &c., may be suscep- tible of another explanation, to which I shall have to I'ecur, merely premising here that its presence is only certain in Primates, Carnivora, and Insectivora. The singular power of resistance to re-agents which characterises it proves nothing more than that it is a tissue, imperfectly calcified, on the border-land of calcification, so to speak, since similarly resistant structures are to be found lining the Haversian canals, the dentinal tubes, the surface of developing enamel, the lacunse, &c. In my father's opinion (Dental Surgery, 1859) it is to be Fir.. 54 {'). "..^^ '^^"'^^^^^^M'T^iil ^M'Mi \ /^.f ?;' ' / \/ ,J: >'':■ ■ ' "^ , , regarded as a thin covering of cementum, and I have given additional evidence in support of the view in a paper refen-ed to abeady in the list of works which heads this chapter. It now and then happens that the cementum upon a more or less abnormal tooth, instead of ceasing at the neck, (') Encai>suled lacuna occupying a pit in the enamel. 102 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. is continued up over the exterior of the enamel. This has occurred less uncommonly than is generally imagined, and the accompanying figure represents a portion of the crown of such a tooth. If the section be made of the grinding surfaces of such teeth as present rather deep fissures in these situations, well marked and unmistakeable lacunal cells, or encapsuled lacuna), will be met with with considerable frequency. Now Fig. .55 ('). cl . and then an encapsuled lacuna may be found occupying a shallow depression in the enamel which it just fits, but more commonly a dozen or more are crowded together in a pit in the enamel, where they are usually stained of a brownish {}) Nasmyth's membrane, set free by the partial solution of the enamel. a. Nasmyth's membrane, h. Dentine, d. Mass occupying a pit in the enamel, e. Enamel. «'. Torn end of Nasmyth's membrane. THE DENTAL TISSUES. colour. The occurrence of lacunse in these situations is far from rare : my father's collection contains more than a dozen good examples of them in these positions. Nasmyth's membrane, thin though it is over the exterior of the enamel, is thickened when it covers over a pit or fissure, and when isolated by an acid is seen to have entirely filled up such spots. (Fig. 55). In these places, then, where the encapsuled lacunse ai'e to be found, Nasmyth's membrane also exists, a fact which alone would lend some probability to the view that it is cementum. The general absence of lacuna; in Nasmyth's membrane is due to the fact that it is not thick enough to contain them; just as the thinnest layers of unquestionable cementum also are without lacunse. In sections of an unworn bicuspid which was treated with acid subsequently to its having been ground thin and placed upon the slide, I have several times been fortunate enough to get a view of the membrane in situ ; it then appears to be continuous with an exterior layer of cementum, which becomes a little discoloured by the acid employed to detach Nasmyth's membrane from the enamel. I am therefore inclined to regard it as young and incomplete cementum, and to consider it as representing (upon the human tooth) the thick cementum which covers the crowns of the teeth of Hcrbivora ] and I am very glad to learn from my friend Dr. Magitot, who has made many as yet unpublished re- searches upon this subject, that he entirely concurs in this view, which has also the support of Professor Wedl. The evidence offered that Nasmyth's membrane is cementum, although strong-, does not amount to absohite proof ; it is therefore desirable to briefly recapitulate the other explanations of its nature which have been offered. Xasmyth, who fii-st called attention to its existence, regarded it as •' persistent dental capsule ; " a view of its nature not very ma- terially differing from that advocated in these pages. 104 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Professor Huxley described ib as being identical with the mein> brana performativa ; that is to say, with a membrane which covered the dentine papilla prior to the occun-ence of calcification, and which afterwards came to intervene between the formed enamel and the enamel organ. The objections to the acceptance of this, view of its nature are so inextricably wrapped up with other ob- jections to Professor Huxley's theory of the development of the- teeth, that they cannot profitably be detailed in this place ; it will suffice to say, that evidence and the weight of authority alike point. to there being no such true membrane as this membrana performa- tiva in the place in question. Waldeyer holds that it {\.c., Nasmyth's membrane) is a product of a part of the enamel organ. After the completion of the formation of the enamel he believes that the cells of the external epithelium of the enamel organ become applied to the surface of the enamel and there corn ijird ; in this way he accounts for its resistance ta reagents, and for its peculiar smell when it is burnt. Its extreme thinness, so far as it goes, is an objection to this supposition : a more weighty argument against it is the absence of analogy for such a peculiar change, by which one portion of the same organ is calcified, and the rest cornified ; and again, what be- comes of these cells in those teeth in which cementum is deposited in bulk over the surface of the enamel .' According to the statement. of Dr. Magitot, the layer of cells in question (external epithelium of the enamel organ) is atrophied before the time of the completion of the enamel ; a fact which, if confinned, is fatal to Waldeyer's explanation. And Dr. Magitot, in his most recent paper on the subject (Joiu-nal de Tanatomie, &c., 1881), gives his adherence to the view that it is cementum. KoUiker, who dissents strongly from the views of Waldeyer, and admits some uncertainty as to its nature, provisionally regards it as a continuous and structureless layer furnished by the enamel cells, after their work of forming the fibrous enamel was complete ; a sort of varnish over the surface, as it were. This would not account for the occui-rence of lacunaj in it. The Tooth Pulp. The Tooth Pulp, occupying the central chamber, or pulp cavity, is the formative organ of the tooth, and consequently varies to some extent in its anatomical character according to its age. As well as being what remains of a formative organ, it is the vascular and nervous source of supply whence the dentine mainly derives its vitality. THE DENTAL TISSUES. The pulp may be described as being made up of a mucoid, gelatinous matrix, containing cells in abundance, which are especially numerous near to its periphery. In it some fibrous connective tissue is discoverable, though this is not abundant until the period of degeneration has set in. Nerves and vessels also ramify abundantly in it. The cellular elements of the pvdp are arranged, as seen in transverse sections, in a direction radiating outwards from the centre ; this is most marked in the highly specialised layer of cells which form the surface of the pulp, and are termed odontoblasts. The odontoblast layer, sometimes called the membrana ehoris, because it usually adheres more strongly to the dentine than to the rest of the pulp, and is therefore often left behind upon the dentine when the pulp is torn away, consists of a single row of large elongated cells, of darkish granular appearance, with a large and conspicuous nucleus near to the end farthest from the dentine. The sharp contours which the odontoblasts possess iu pulps which have been acted on by chromic acid, alcohol, or even water, are absent in the perfectly fresh and unaltered condition, and it is believed that they have no special in- vesting membrane. They are furnished with three sets of processes. The dentinal process (which is equivalent to the dentinal fibre) enters the canal in the dentine, and the in- dividual odontoblast may be furnished with several dentinal processes. By means of lateral processes the cells communi- cate with those on either side of them, and by means of their pidp processes with cells lying more deeply; these deeper cells again are to some extent intermediate in size between the odontoblasts and the internal cells of the pulp. The membrana eboris covers the surface of the pulp like an epithelium. The odontoblasts vary much in form at different periods ; in the youngest puljis, prior to the forma- tion of dentine, they are roundish, or rather pyriform ; 106 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. during the period of their greatest functional activity the end directed towards the dentine is squai'ish, though tapering to a slight extent into the dentinal process ; while in old age they become comparatively inconspicxious, and assume a rounded or ovoid shape. The general matrix of the pulp, as has been before noted, is of firm, gelatinous consistency : it is a little more dense upon the surface, whence has perhaps arisen the erroneous idea that the pulp is bounded by a definite membrane. The vessels of the pulp are very numerous ; three or more arteries enter at the apical foramen, and breaking up into branches which are at first parallel with the long axis of the pulp, finally form a capillary plexus immediately beneath the cells of the membrana eboris. No lymphatics are known to occur in the tooth pulp. The nerves enter usually by one largish trunk and three or four minute ones : after pursuing a parallel course, and giving off" some branches which anastomose but little, in the expanded portion of the pulp they form a rich plexus beneath the membrana eboris, as has been described by Raschkow and many subsequent writers. But here our exact knowledge ends, for the nature of the terminations of the nerve fibres in the pulp is not with ■certainty known : the primitive fibrils, which are extra- ordinarily abiindant near to the surface of the pulp, often form meshes, but this does not appear to be their real termination. Boll, as has been mentioned at a previous page, investi- gated this point, and found that if a pulp be treated for an hour with very dilute chromic acid solution, an immense number of fine non-meduUated nerve fibres, which he suc- ceeded in tracing into continuity with the larger meduUated fibres, may be discerned near to the surface of the pulp. The ultimate destination of these nerve fibres is un- certain ; but he has seen them passing through the mem- THE DENTAL TISSUES. T07 brana eboris, and taking a direction parallel to that of the dentinal fibrils in such numbers that he infers that they have been pulled out from the canals of the dentine. Still, whatever may be the probabilities of the case, he has not seen a nerve fibre definitely to pass into a dentinal canal, nor has any other observer been more fortunate. Boll's observations have not however been fully confirmed by any subsequent worker in the field, nor have they been definitely controverted until Magitot recently stated that he had fully satisfied himself that tlie nerves become continuous with the branched somewhat stellate cells which form a layer beneath the odontoblasts, and through the medium of these cells, with the odontoblasts themselves. (See Fig. 32.) If this view of their relation to the nerves be correct the sensitiveness of the dentine would be fully accounted for without the necessity for the supposition that actual nerve fibres enter it, for the dentinal fibrils would be in a measure themselves prolongations of the nerves. It has already been mentioned that the pulp undergoes alterations in advanced age, its diminution in size by its progressive calcification and the addition thus made to the walls of the pulp cavity being the most conspicuous change which occurs. In pulps w^hich have undergone a little further degeneration, the odontoblast layer becomes atro- phied; fibrillar connective tissue becomes more abundant, coincidently with, the diminution in the quantity of the cel- lular elements. Finally, the capillary system becomes obliterated by the occurrence of thrombosis in the larger vessels, the nerves undergo fatty degeneration, and the pulp becomes reduced to a shrivelled, unvascular, insensitive mass. These changes may go on without leading to actual putrefactive decomposition of the pulp, and are hence not attended by aveolar abscess ; but a tooth in wdiich the pulp has undergone senile atrophy is seldom fast in its socket. The pulps of the teeth of some animals become eventually 108 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. entirely converted into secondary dentine, but it would seem to be very generally the case that those teeth which exercise very active functions and last tliroughout the life of the creature retain their j)ulp in an active and vascular condition. The Gum. The gum is continuous with the mucous membrane of the inside of the lips, of the floor of the mouth, and of the palate, and differs from it principally by its greater density. Its hardness is in part due to the abundant tendinous fasci- culi which it itself contains, in part to its being closely bound down to the bone by the blending of the dense fibrous fasciculi of the periosteum with its own. The fasciculi springing from the periosteum spread out in fan-like shape as they approach the epithelial surface. There is thus no very sharp line of demarcation between the gum and the periosteum when these are seen in section in situ. The gum is beset with rather large, broad-based papilla, which are sometimes single, sometimes compound ; the epithelium is composed of laminae of tesselated cells, much flattened near to the surface ; but cylindrical cells form the deepest layer of the epithelium, the rete malpighi. Small round aggi-egations of pavement epithelium are met with at a little depth, or even bedded in the smface ; these, the "glands" of Sei-res, have no known significance. In the neighbourhood of developing tooth-sacs ejiithelial aggregations of similar appearance are to be met with, and in such spots are remains of the neck of the enamel organ (cf page 137), which has undergone this curious change subsequently to the completion of its original function. The gums are rich in vessels, but remarkably scantily sup- plied with nerves. THE DENTAL TISSUES. At the necks of the teeth tlie gum becomes continuous with the periosteum of the internal surface of the alveoli, into which it passes without any line of demarcation. The Alveolo-Dextal Membrane. The Alveolo-dental 'Periosteum, or Eoot membrane, is a connective tissue of moderate density, devoid of elastic fibres, and richly supplied with nerves and vessels. It is thicker near to the neck of the tooth, where it passes by imperceptible gradations into the gum and peri- osteum of the alveolar process, and near to the apex of the root. The general direction of the fibres is transverse ; that is to say, they n;n across from the alveolus to the cemen- tum, without break of continuity, as do also many capillary vessels ; a mere inspection of the connective tissue bundles, as seen in a transverse section of a decalcified tooth in its socket, will suffice to demonstrate that there is but a single ■"membrane," and that no such thing as a membrane proper to the root and another proper to the alveolus can be dis- tinguished ; and the study of its development alike proves that the soft tissue investing the root, and that lining the socket, are one and the same thing : that there is but one •" membrane," namely, the alveolo-dental periosteum. At that part which is nearest to the bone the fibres are grouped together into conspicuous bundles; it is, in fact, much like any ordinary fibrous membrane. On its inner aspect, where it becomes continuous with the cementum, it consists of a fine network of interlacing bands, many of which lose themselves in the surface of the cementum. But although there is a marked difference in histological character between the extreme parts of the membrane, yet the markedly fibrous elements of the outer blend and pass 110 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. insensibly into the bands of the fine network of the inner part, and there is no break of continuity whatever. At tlie surface of the cementum it is more richly cellular, Fig. 56 ('). >*w.ftV and here occur abundantly large soft nucleated plasm masses, which are the osteoblasts concerned in making cementum, and which by their offshoots communicate with plasm masses imprisoned within the cementum. Q) Portion of tlie side of the root of a tooth, the gum and alveolar dental membrane, and the edge of the bone of the alveolus. A band of fibres is seen passing over the surface of the alveolus and dividing, some to pass upwards into the gum, others to pass more directly across to the cementum. Numerous orifices of vessels cut across trans- versely are seen between the tooth and the bone. THE DENTAL TISSUES. Ill I have never seen the fibres, whether in longitudiual or in transverse sections, pass straight in the shortest possible line from the bone to the cementum, but they invariably pursue an oblique course, which probably serves to allow for slight mobility of the tooth without the fibres being stretched or torn. The vascular supply of the root membrane is, according to Wedl, derived from three sources ; the gums, the vessels of the bone, and the vessels destined for the pulp of the tooth, the last being the most important. The nerve supply also is largely derived from the dental nerves running to the dental pulps ; other filaments come from the inter-alveolar canals (canals in the bone, contain- ing nerves and vessels, which are situated in the septa separating the alveoli of contiguous teeth). It should be borne in mind that the tooth pulp and the tissue which becomes the root membrane have sprung from the same source, and were once continuous over the whole base of the pulp. A recognition of this fact makes it easier to realise how it comes about that their vascular and nervous supplies are so nearly identical. The human tooth is, accepting as correct the researches of Bodecker, which appear in every way deserving of credence, connected with the living organism veiy intimately, even though its special tissues are extra-vascular. For blood vessels and nerves enter the tooth pulp in abundance ; the dentine is organically connected with the pulp by the dentinal fibrils ; these are connected with the soft cement corpuscles, which again are brought by their processes into intimate relation with similar bodies in the highly vascular periosteum. So that between pulp inside, and periosteum outside, there is a continuous chain of living plasm. 112 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. K(»LLIKER. Gewebelehre. Manual of Histology, annotated by Messrs. Busk and Huxley, 1853. Waldeykr. Strieker's Histology. 1870. Prey. Manual of Histology. 1874. Owen. Odontography. CzERMAK. Zeitschrift f. Wiss. Zoologie. ISoO. Neumann. Zur Kentniss der Xoi-malen Zahngeweber. 1 8o3. Boll. Untersuchungen iiber die Zahnpulpa. Archiv. f. Mikros. Anatom. 18(;8. Klein. Atlas of Histology. 1 880. Salter. Dental Pathology. 1874. Tomes, J. Lectures on Dental Physiology and Surgery. 1848. On the Dental Tissues of Eodentia and Marsupialia. Philos. Transac. 1840, 1850. On the Presence of Soft Fibrils in Dentine. Philos. Transac. 1853. Tomes, Charles S. On Vascular Dentine. Phil. Trans. 1 878. On the Implantation of Teeth. Proc. Odontol. Soc. 1874—1876. On Nasmyth's Membrane. Quart. Jour. Micros. Science, 1872. Magitot et Le«ros. Journal de I'anatomie de M. Ch. Robin. 1881, Petzius. Mikrosk. Undersok, &c. Stockholm. 18.S7, and Transla- tion in Nasmyth on the Teeth, 183II. Kasmyth. On the Teeth. 1 839. Hertwig. Ueber der Bau der Placoidschuppen Jenaische Zeit- schrift, B. viii. Von Boas. Zahne der Scaroiden, Zeits. f. Wiss. Zoologie, B. xxxii. BoDECKER. Dental Cosmos. 1878. Lankester. Ray. On the Teeth of Micropteron. Quart. Journal Micros. Science. 1857. CHAPTER IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OP THE TEETH. The development of the teeth is a process which, while subject to modifications in the different groups of verte- brates, retains nevertheless in all certain essential charac- ters, so that it becomes possible to embody its main features in a general account. Prior to the commencement of any calcification there is always a special disposition of the soft tissues at the spot where a tooth is destined to be formed ; and the name of •" tooth germ " is given to those portions of the soft tissue which are thus specially arranged. All, or a part only, of the soft stmctures making up a tooth germ, become con- verted into the dental tissues by a deposition of salts of lime within their own substance, so that an actual conversion of at least some portions of the tooth germ into tooth takes place. The tooth is not secreted or excreted by the tooth germ, but an actual metamorphosis of the latter takes place. The details of this conversion can be better dis- cussed at a later i)age ; for the present it -will suffice to say that the three principal tissues, namely, dentine, enamel and cementum are formed from distinct parts of the tool It germ, and that we are hence accustomed to speak of the enamel germ and the dentine germ ; the existence of a special cement germ is asserted by Magitot, but as yet his descriptions await confirmation. In many anatomical works which the student may have occasion to consult, the process of tooth development may 114 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. still be found to be divided into periods, under the names of " papillary," " follicular," "and " eruptive " stages. These stages are based upon a false conception, upon theories now known to be incon-ect, and may advantageously be absolutely abandoned. The account of the development, of the teeth given in the following pages (based in the case of man and mammals upon the researches of Kulliker, Thiersch, and Waldeyer ; in the case of reptiles and fishes,, upon those of Huxley and Santi Sirena, and upon Hertwig's and my own), will be found to conflict with the accounts published by a deservedly great authority, Professor Owen. I cannot reconcile these discrepancies, except upon the as- sumption that modern methods of research have disclosed facts heretofore not demonstrable ; yet twenty years ago. Professor Huxley demonstrated in a remarkable paper the incorrectness of certain of the theories then promulgated. Of the general accuracy of the following description I am however fully satisfied, and most of the facts may be easily verified by any one desirous of so doing. True tooth gei-ms are never formed quite upon the surface ('),. but are always situated at a little distance beneath it, lying in some creatures at a considerable depth. Every known tooth germ consists in the first instance of two portions, and two only, the enamel germ and the dentine germ ; and these are derived from distinct sources, the former being a special development from the epithelium of the mouth, the latter from the more deeply lying parts of the mucous membrane. Other things, such as a tooth capsule, may be subsequently and secondarily formed, but in the first instance, every tooth germ consists of an enamel germ and a dentine germ only, and the simplest tooth genus never develop any addi- tional parts. The existence of an enamel organ in an early stage is therefore perfectly independent of any subsequent (') The placoid scales of embiyonic sliarks are, however, formed on the surface, and the "germs" covered in by epithelium only (Hertwig). TEE DEVELOrMEXT OF THE TEETH. 115 formation of enamel by its own conversiou into a calcified tissue, for I have shown that it is to be found in the germs of teeth which have no enamel ; in fact, in all tooth germs "whatever. That part of the tooth germ destined to become dentine is often called the dentine pajDilla, having acquired this name from its papilliform shape ; and in a certain sense it is true that the enamel organ is the epithelium of the den- tine papilla. Yet, although not absolutely untrue, such an expression might mislead by implying that the enamel organ is a secondary development, whereas its appearance is contemporaneous with, if not antecedent to, that of the dentine germ. The most general account that I am able to give of the process is, that the deeper layer of the oral epithelium sends down into the subjacent tissue a process, the shape and structure of which is, in most animals, dis- tinguishable and characteristic before the dentine gei'm has taken any definite form. This process enlarges at its end, and, as seen in section, becomes divaricated, so that it bears some resemblance to an inverted letter Y ; or it might more truthfully be compared to a bell jar with a handle ; this constitutes the early stage of an enamel germ (see Fig. G-i), while beneath it in the mucous tissue, the dentine gerai assumes its papilliform shape. The details of the process varying in different creatures, I will at once proceed to the description of the development of teeth in the various groups. In Elasmobrancli Fishes. — If a transverse section through the jaw of a dog-fish (Scyllium canieula) be ex- amined, we shall find that the forming teeth lie upon the inside of the semi-ossified jaw-bones, the youngest being at the bottom (Fig, 57) ; progi-essing upwards, each tooth is more fully calcified till, on passing over the border of the jaw, we come to those teeth whose period of greatest useful- ness is passed and which arc about to be cast off in the I 2 116 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. course of that slow rotation of the whole tooth-bearing mucous membrane over the border of the jaw, which is constantly going on. In the section figured there are four teeth advanced in calcification, while beneath them are four tooth germs in earlier stages ; of the former two only are fully protruded throixgh the epithelium, the third being in part covered in ; the remaining teeth are altogether beneath the surface of the epithelium, and therefore shut off from the cavity of the mouth, if the soft parts be all in situ. All the teeth not fully calcified are covered in and pro- tected by a reflexion upwards of the mucous membrane (c in the figure), which serves to protect them during their calci- fication. But although this may be termed a fold reflected upwards, it is not, as was supposed by Professor Owen, a free flai^, detached from the opposite surface on which the teeth are developing ; there is no deep open fissure or pouch running round inside the jaw, as would in that case exist, and the epithelium does not pass down on the one side to the bottom of such fissure, and then ascend upon the other as a distinct layer. Although the fold is very easily torn away from the tooth germs which it covers in, yet in the natural condition it is attached, and there is no breach of surface ; the epithelium passing across from the jaw to cover it is well seen in the figure, in which the epithelial layer is represented as broken just at the point (between the third and fourth teeth) where it leaves the jaw to cross over on to the surface of the flap. The conditions met with in the Elasmobrauch fishes are peculiarly favourable for the determination of the homolo- gies of the several parts of the tooth germ and of the formed tooth ('). At the base of the jaw, where the youngest tooth germs are to be found, the tissue whence the dentine papillye arise blends insensibly with that making up the substance of the thecal fold on the one hand, and on the (}) Compare the description of the placoid dermal spine (page 2). THE DEVELOrMEXT OF THE TEETH. 117 other, with that clothing the convexity of the jaw and giving attachment to the teeth. No sharp line of demarcation at any time marlcs off the base of the dentine papilla from the tissue which surrounds it, and from which it springs up, as would be the case in mammalian or reptilian tooth germs ; all that can be said is, that the dentine e;erms are cellular, the cells being large Fig. 57 ('). z.-^^ and rounded, while in the rest of the mucous membrane the fibrillar elements preponderate, so that it passes by imperceptible gradations into the densely fibrous gum, found on the exposed border of the jaw. (') Trausvei'se section of lowei" jaw of a Dog-fish. a. Oral epithelium. h. Oral epithelium jjassing on to flap. c. Protecting flap of mucous mem- brane (thecal fold), d. Youngest dentine pulp. e. Youngest enamel organ. /. Tooth about to be shed. (j. Calcified crust of jaw. 118 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The dentine germs, and consequently the dentine, are indisputably derived from the connective tissue of the mucous membrane immediately subjacent to the epithe- lium, nor can it be doubted that the enamel organs are simply the modified epithelium of that same mucous membrane. Of course there is nothing new in this conclusion, which had been already arrived at by the study of other creatures, but the sharks happen to demonstrate it with more clear- ness than those other animals in whom the original nature of the process is more or less masked by the introduction of further complexities. Hence it is worth while to study carefully the relations of the epithelium constituting the enamel organs with that of the surface of the mouth. As has been already mentioned, in the normal condition of the part there is no deep fissure on the inner side of the jaw, but the epithelium passes across (from the interspace between the third and fourth teeth in the figure) on to the protecting fold of mucous membrane (c in fig.) But although the epithelium is re- flected across on to the thecal fold, it is also continued downwards along the inner side of the developing teeth and tooth germs, giving to each a complete investment, and filling up the whole interval between the tooth germ and the thecal fold. The epithelium in this situation does not, then, consist simply of one layer going down on the one side and covering the tooth germs, and then reflected up at the bottom to coat the inner side of the thecal fold, but it is so arranged as to have relation only to the tooth germs ; it is termed '•' enamel organs " because over the tooth germs these epithelial cells assume a marked columnar character, and are very different in appearance from the epithelium else- where. The terminal portion of this epithelium, or, in other words, the youngest enamel germ, forms a bell-like cap over TEE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 119 the eminence of mucous membrane connective tissue which constitutes the earliest dentine germ, and in section is of the form shown in the figure. The surface next to the dentine papilla consists of elongated columnar cells, with nuclei near to their attached extremities, while the rest of its substance is made up of much smaller cells, some of which have inosciilating processes, so that they constitute a sort of finely cellular connective tissue, very difi'erent in appearance from anything met with in mammalian enamel organs. It is sufficiently consistent to keep up the con- tinuity of all the enamel organs, even when displaced in cutting sections, so that the whole might be described as forming one composite enamel organ. The columnar cells already alluded to invest the whole siu"face which is directed towards the forming teeth, but they atrophy some- what in the interspaces of the tooth germs. Before proceeding further in the description of the deve- lopment of the tooth germs, it will be well to refer to a somewhat earlier stage in the growth of the Dog-fish, in which the relation subsisting between the teeth and the dermal spines is still well seen. On the lower jaw of the young dog-fish there is no lip ; hence, as is seen in the figiire, the spines which clothe the skin come close to the dentigerous surface of the jaw. Although there are differences in form and size, a glance at the figure will demonstrate the homological identity of the teeth and the dermal spines. As the dog-fish increases in size, this continuity of the teeth with the dermal spines on the outside of the head becomes interrupted by an extension of the skin to form a lip ; this happens earlier in the upper jaw than in the lower, and at first the spines are continued over the edge and the inside of the newly formed lip — from these situations, however, they soon disappear. In structure, the teeth and the dermal spines are, in many species, very closely similar ; the latter are, however, much less often 120 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. shed and reproduced, so that it is less easy to find them in all stages of their growth ; I believe, however, that they follow a course esseutially similar to that of the teeth. Fig. 58 (i). It is stated by Gegenbaur that in Selachia the mucous membrane of the mouth is clothed with spines of a structure- similar to that of the teeth, and that these spines are often limited to particular regions, extending back as far as the pharynx — these same regions in Ganoids and Osseous fishes being occupied by conspicuous teeth; and Hertwig has. shown that the dei-mal spines are developed in a manner precisely analogous to that described in the teeth, save that the germs are even less specialised. In Teleostei or Osseous Fishes. — In passing from the consideration of the development of the tooth germs of Elasmobranch to those of Osseous fishes, the first difference to be noted is this : whereas in the former each tooth germ was, so far as the enamel germ is concerned, derived fi-om that of the next older tooth, in the latter each enamel germ often arises independently and, as it were, de novo. At all events, (') Section of lower jaw of young Dog-fish, showing the continuity of the dermal sijines of the skin under the jaw, with the teeth which lie above and over its end. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 121 SO far as my own investigations go, no connection has been traced between the germs of teeth of different ages ; but Heiucke says that in the Pike new enamel organs may be derived from older ones. This independent origin of an indefinite number of teeth, having no relation to their predecessors, is only certainly known to occur in the osseous fish : of the development of the teeth of Ganoid fish nothing is known. The oral epithelium, which varies much in its thickness and in other characters in difierent fishes, sends down a process which goes to form an enamel organ, whilst a dentine papilla in rising up to meet it, comes to be invested by it as ■with a cap. The after-history of the process depends much on the character of tooth which is to be formed. If no enamel, or but a rudimentary coat of enamel, is to be formed. Fig. 59 (\). the cells of the enamel organ remain small and insignificant, as in the mackerel. If, on the other hand, a partial invest- ment of enamel is found upon the perfected tooth, such for instance, as the little enamel tips upon the teeth of the eel (see Fig. 90), then the after-development of the enamel organ is very instructive. (') Tooth-igerra of an eel. d. Neck of enamel organ, e. Enamel cells. «. Cap of enamel, h. Cap of dentine, e. Eudiraentary enamel cells opposite to that part of tlie dentine germ where no enamel will be formed. 122 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Opposite to the apex of the dentine papilla, where the enamel cap is to be, the cells of the enamel organ attain to a very considerable size, measuring about -^]y^ of an inch in length 3 below this the investing caj) of enamel organ does not cease, but it is continued in a sort of rudimentary con- dition. Thus, although the enamel organ invests the whole length of the dentine papilla, its cells only attain to any considerable size opposite to the point where the enamel is to be formed. The knowledge of this fact often enables an observer to say, from an inspection of the tooth genu, whether it is probable that the perfected tooth will be coated with enamel or not. In any case an enamel organ will be there, but if no euamel is to be formed, the individual cells do not attain to any considerable degree of differentiation from the epithelium elsewhere ; in other words, the whole enamel organ will partake of the chai-acter of the lower portion of that represented in the figure of the tooth germ of the eel. Although of course there are many differences of detail arising from the very various situations in which teeth are developed in fish, so great uniformity pervades all which I have examined, that we may at once pass on to the con- sideration of the development of the teeth of reptiles, merety adding that it is not altogether true to say that the teeth of fish in their development exemplify transitory stages in the development of mammalian teeth. In Reptiles. — So far as the appearances presented by the individual germs go, there are few difierences worthy of note to be found in the present class by which they are distinguishable from those of either fish or mammals. The enamel organ is derived from the oral epithelium, the den- tine organ from the submucous tissue in a manner very similai* ; nevertheless, there ai'e points in the relation which the successional tooth germs bear to one another, and to the teeth already in situ, which are of some little interest. The THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 123 constant succession of new teeth met with amongst almost all reptiles renders it easy to obtain sections showing the teeth in all stages of growth : upon the inner side of the jaw- there will be found a region occupied by these forming teeth and by nothing else, which may be called " area of tooth deve- lopment ; " this is bounded on the one side by the bone and Fig. go (i). A teeth which it carries, and on the other by a more or less sharply defined wall of fibrous connective tissue. In the newt, for example (Fig. 60), to the left of the tooth in use are seen four tooth sacs, in serial order, the youngest being nearest to the median line of the mouth. As the sacs increase in size they appear to undergo a sort of migration towards the edge of the jaw, while simultaneoiisly new ones are constantly being developed beyond them. In the newt, •« (^) Section of upper jaw of Triton crlstatus (newt). To the inner .side of the tooth attached to the bone are tliree younger tooth germs. 124 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the ^ingrowth of the epithelium is obviously the first step apparent; this ingrowth of a process of epithelium takes. place in close relation with the "neck" of an older enamel organ (i.e., the contracted band of epithelium which remains, for some time connecting the new enamel organ with the epithelium whence it was derived). New enamel organs are therefore not derived directly from the epithelium of the surface, but from the necks of the enamel organs of their predecessors. In the newt, the developing teeth spread out for a con- siderable distance towards the palate, and thus, being free from crowding, the relations of the enamel organs of three or four successional teeth of serial ages may be studied in a single section ; and the ai'rangement so disclosed may be advantageously compared with that seen in the dog-fish (see Fig. 57). The tooth sac of the newt is a good example of the sim- plest form of tooth sac, consisting solely of an enamel organ and a dentine germ, without any especial investment. The *' sac" is wholly cellular, and on pressure breaks up, leaving nothing but cells behind it. The cells of the enamel organ are large, and resemble those of the eel ; the teeth of newts. have a partial enamel tip, like those of the fish referred to, but differing from them in being bifurcated, as is very early indicated by the configuration of the enamel organ. In the frog there is a peculiarity in the manner in which the two jaws meet, the edentulous lower jaw, which has ne lip, passing altogether inside the upper jaAv and its svip- ported teeth, and so confining the area of tooth develop- ment within very narrow limits. Consequently I have been unable to satisfy myself whether the new tooth germs, or rather their enamel organs, are derived from those of their predecessoi's, or spring up de novo — analogy would indicate the former, but appearances tend towards the latter sup- position. TEE DEVELOVMENT OF THE TEETH. 125 In the lizards the new tooth germs are formed a very long way beneath the surface, so that the neck of the enamel organ becomes enormously elongated, for the dentine papilla is, just as in the newt, situated at first quite at the level of the floor of the area of tooth development. The teeth of the lizards have a more complete investment of enamel, hence the enatnel cells are developed upon the side of the dentine germ to a much lower point than in the newt. The Fig. 61 (•). germs also acquire an adventitious capsule, mainly derived from the condensation of the connective tissue around {}) Transverse section of the lower jaw of common English Snake, e. Inward dipping process of epithelium. /. Oral epithelium. 1, 2, 3, &c. Tooth germs pf various ages. 8. Tooth in place, cut somewhat obliquely, so that its tip aj^parently falls short of its surface, and does not project above the mucous membrane. 126 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. them, which is pushed out of the way as they grow larger. The further progress of the tooth germ being identical with that of mammalia, its description may be for the present deferred. In ophidian reptiles (snakes) several peculiarities are met with which are very characteristic of the order. A snake's method of swallowing its food would seem to render the renewal of its teeth frequently necessary; although I do not know of any data by which the prolmble durability of an individual tooth could be estimated, the large number of teeth which are developing in reserve, all destined to succeed to the same spot upon the jaws, would indicate that it is short. I have seen as many as seven successional teeth in a single section, and their arrangement, particularly in the lower jaw, which undergoes great displacement while food is being swallowed, is very peculiar. The numerous successional tooth sacs, instead of being spread out side by side, as in the newt, are placed almost vertically, and in a direction parallel with the surface of the jaw-bone ; they are, more- over, contained in a sort of general investment of connective tissue ; a species of bag to keep them from displacement during the expansion of the mouth. The inward growing process of oral epithelium enters this case of tooth sacs at its top ; and may be caught sight of here and there as its prolongations wind their way by the sides of the tooth sacs to the bottom of the area. Here the familiar process of the formation of an enamel organ and dentine papilla may be observed, in no essential point differ- ing from that which is to be seen in other animals. That the derivation of each enamel organ is from a part of that of its predecessor is very obvious ; the dentine organs are formed in relation with the enamel germs, but apparently independently of one another. As the tooth sacs attain considerable dimensions, a curious THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 127 alteration iu position takes place ; instead of preserving a vertical position, they become recumbent, so that the form- ing tooth lies moi-e or less parallel with the long axis of the jaw. The utility of such an arrangement is obvious : were the tooth to remain erect after it has attained to some little length, its point would probably be forced through the mucous membrane when the mouth was put upon the stretch ; but while it lies nearly parallel with the jaw no such accident can occur. The tooth does not resume the upright position until it finally moves into its place upon the summit of the bone. Q) Developing teeth of a Snake. /. Oral epithelium, c. Neck of the enamel organs, b. Dentine pulp. o. Enamel cells, d. Dentine. 1, 2. Very young germs. 3, 4. Older germs. 128 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. As has already been mentioned, there is a well-developed enamel organ with large enamel cells : from these a thin layer of enamel is formed and thus the thin exterior layer upon the teeth of snakes is true enamel, and not, as has been usually supposed, cementum. Many points in the development of the teeth of reptiles I have passed over very briefly for the want of space ; a more full account of my observations will be found in the Philo- sophical Transactions for 1875. In Mammalia the earliest changes which will ultimately result in the formation of a tooth are traceable at a very Fig. 63 ('). early period ; before the commencement of ossification, the lower jaw consisting solely of Meckel's cartilage imbedded in embryonic tissue, and the lateral processes which become the upper maxillary bones having but just reached as far as the median process which constitutes the intermaxillary Iwne. That is to say, about the fortieth or forty-fifth day (in the human subject), in the situation corresponding to the future alveolar border, there appears a slight rounded depression, extending the whole length of the jaw, it and {}) Embryo at end of fifth week after Carpenter. 1, 2. First two visceral arches, a. Saperior maxillary process, t. Tougne. b. Eye. c. Lateral nasofrontal process, nf. Nasofrontal process. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 129 its elevated borders being formed by tin increase in the thickness of the layer of epithelial cells ; while in trans- verse sections the proliferation of epithelial cells is found to have been even more energetic in a direction downwards into the substance of the jaw than it is upwards, so that a cul-de-sac of epithelium dips into the embryonic sub-mucous tissue/ In a certain sense, then, there is a dental groove, hwi it is not the same thing as that described as such in the text- books, and it therefore better to abstain from applying that or any other name to the shallow fuiTow of which we are now speaking, which is almost filled up with spherical or flattened cells, the deepest layer being, however, columnar cells. From the bottom, or the side near the bottom of the depression, an inflection of epithelial cells takes its origin, which does not dip downwards vertically, but inclines in- wards. This secondary narrow inflection of epithelium, which in section closely resembles a tubular gland, consti- tutes the rudiment of the future enamel organ ; a prolife- ration of the cells at its deepest extremity speedily takes place, so that it expands, attaining somewhat the form of a Florence flask (Fig. 64). It should, however, be noted, that while the inflection of epithelium takes place around the entire circumference of the jaw, so that that which appears in sections like a tubular gland is really a continuous sheet or lamina of epithelium, the dilatations of its extremity, which I have compared to a Florence flask, occur only at the several points where teeth will nltimately be developed. The cells upon the periphery are columnar, polygonal cells occupying the central area of the enlargement. Very (') The epithelium having been I'emoved by maceration or by keeping a specimen in dilute spirit, a groove would result, and this is pi-obably what was seen and described by Goodsir as the "primitive dental groove" : but, as the student will gather from the text, there is at do time any such thing as a deep open groove like that described by him, unless it results from maceration and consequent partial destruction of the specimen. 130 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. soon the terminal enlargement, as it grows more deeply iiito the jaw, alters in form ; its base becomes flattened, Fio. 64 (1). / 2 "" ^#^^ l- c - 'm^T^^-^ J- A ^^ and the borders of the base grow down more rapidly than the centre, so that its deepest portion presents a concavity looking downwards ; it might be compared to a bell, sus- i}) Three stages in the development of a mammalian tooth germ (from Frey). a. Oral epithelium heaped np over germ. 6. Younger epithelial cells, c. Deep layer of cells, or rete Malpighi. d. Inflection of epithelium for enamel germ. t. Stellate reticulum. /. Dentine germ. g. Inner portion of future tocth sac. h. Outer portion of future tooth sac. i. Vessels cut across. A-. Bone of jaw. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 131 pended from above by the thin cord of epithelium -which still coimects it with the epithelium of the surface, or it might in section be described as crescentic, the horns of the crescent being long, and looking downwards. Coincident with the assumption of this form by the enamel germ, is the appearance of the dentine germ ; but it will facilitate the description of the process to pursue a little farther the development of the enamel organ. The cells on its periphery remain prismatic or columnai', but those in its centre become transformed into a stellate network, in which conspicuous nuclei occupy the centre of ramified cells, the processes from which anastomose freely with those of neighbouring cells (see Fig. 65). This conver- sion of the cells into a stellate reticulum is most marked quite in the centre of the enamel organ ; near to its surfaces the processes of the cells are short and inconspicuous. The transformation of the cells occupying the centre and constituting the bulk of the enamel organ into a stellate reticulum goes on progressing from the centre outwards, but it stops short of reaching the layer of columnar cells which constitute the surface of the enamel organ, next to the den- tine papilla; a narrow layer of unaltered cells which remain between the stellate cells and the columnar enamel cells constituting the " stratum intermedium." Thus far the cells constituting the periphery of the enamel organ are alike : they are columnar or prismatic, but from the time of the appearance of the dentine papilla those which come into relation with it become much more elongated and greatly enlarged, while those round the outer or convex surface of the enamel organ do not enlarge ; indeed, according to some autliors, they even commence to atrophy even at this early period. The cells which lie like a cap over the dentine germ or "papilla" as they elongate and their nuclei recede to their extremities, take on the character to be presently described as belonging to the 132 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. " enamel cells," (enamel epithelium, internal epithelium of the enamel organ). The enamel organ, then, consists (proceeding from with- out inwards) of an " external epithelium," a " stellate reti- culum," a " stratum intermedium," and an " internal epithe- lium," the external and internal epithelia being continuous at the edges or base of the enamel organ, while at its summit the external e]Dithelium remains still, through the medium of the " neck of the enamel organ," in continuity with the cells of the " stratum Malpighi." Thus the enamel organ is entirely derived from the oral epithelium, with which, by means of its "neck," it long retains a connection, so that it, and whatever products it may afterwards give rise to, are obviously to be regarded as " epithelial structures." But it is the enamel organ alone which is directly derived from the epithelium ; the origin of the dentine germ is quite distinct. In the embryonic tissue of the jaws, some little distance beneath the surface, and at a point corresponding to that ingrowth of cells and subsequent enlargement of the same which goes to form the enamel organ, appears the first trace of a dentine germ.(^) This appears as a mere increase in the opacity of the part, without at first any visible structural change, and it occupies the concavity of the enamel organ. Thus the dentine germ appears early, indeed almost simul- taneously with the formation of a definite enamel organ, but the enamel organ is far in advance of it in point of structural diiferentiation, and the earliest changes which result in the formation of the enamel organ are strikingly visible before a dentine germ can be discovered. According to Dursy the Q) The term "dental papilla," although eminently convenient, is asso- ciated with an erroneous feature of the older views upon tooth develoiJ- ment ; where it is employed in the following pages, the student must guard against the misconception that free papillte at any time exist in any animal. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 133 dark halo which becomes the dentine bulb is, like the inflec- tion of epithelium which forms the enamel germ, continuous all round the jaw, while eventually it develops into promi- nences at the points corresponding to the enamel germs of future teeth, and atrophies in their interspaces. From the base of the dentine bulb prolongations pass out- ward aiid slightly upwards, so that they in a measure embrace the free edge of the enamel organ, and at a somewhat later period they grow uj^wards till they fairh- embrace the whole enamel organ, These prolongations of the base of the dentine bulb are the rudiments of the dental sac. In their origin, therefore, the dental sac and the dentine organ ai-e identical, and spring from the submucous tissue : they contrast with the enamel organ, which, as before said, is derived from the oral epithelium. To recapitulate briefly the facts which are now established beyond all question, the earlj^ mammalian tooth g-erm con- sists of three parts, one of wdiich, the enamel organ, is derived from the epithelium of the surface ; the other two, the dentine organ and the dental sac, originate in the midst of solid embryonic tissue at a distance from the surface. The enamel organ is formed by a rapid increase of cells at the bottom of a process which dips in ft'om the stratum Malpighi of the oral epithelium ; the dentine germ and the dental sac are formed in close contiguity to this enamel organ from the submucous tissue. If there was a " basement membrane " demonstrable at this early period (which there is not) the enamel organ and the dentine organ would lie upon the opposite sides of it. The description of the appearance of the several parts of the tooth germ has brought us to the period at which cal- cification first commences, but before proceeding further, it will be well to examine more minutely the structure of the several organs in which calcification takes place. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY ENAMEL ORGAN. The enamel organ, as has ah-eady been stated, forms a cap-like investment to the dentine bulb, and it is itself thickest over the apex of the latter, tliiuning down some- what as it approaches the base. It is entirely surrounded by an epithelial layer, which upon the inner surface applied to the dentine bulb consists of much elongated columnar cells, and takes the name of internal epithelium of the enamel organ, and upon its outer surface the name of external epithelium of the enamel organ. The greater bulk of the enamel organ consists of a stellate tissue, which passes gradually through the medium of a layer of rounded cells, the stratum intermedium, into the enamel cells, or internal ejnthelitim. The essential portion of the enamel organ is this layer of " enamel cells," which by their calcification give rise to the enamel, and in lower animals, such as most if not all reptiles, the whole enamel organ is rei^resented by little else than this layer of " enamel cells." The cells of the internal epithelium (enamel cells) form an exceedingly regular and perfect columnar epithelium, the individual cells becoming by result of their mutual apposition very symmetrical hexagons. They are four or five times as long as they are broad, and the nucleus, which is large and oval, occupies that end which is farthest from the dentine. It is said by Waldeyer that the sides of the cells only are invested by membrane, the protoplasm being without investment at its two ends. Towards the base of the dentine germ, where the internal epithelium merges into the external ej)ithelium, the cells are not so much elongated, and they then pass gradually into the cubical form of these latter cells. At their attached extremities the enamel cells are prolonged into processes which are continuous with the cells of the stratum inter- THE BEVELOPMEMT OF THE TEETH. 135 medium, so that it may fairly be concluded that the enamel cells, as they are used up in the formation of enamel, are recruited from the cells of this layer. The "stratum intennedium" consists of cells intermediate in character between those of the bordering epithelium and the stellate reticulum ; they are branched, but less conspicu- ously so than the stellate cells, with which on the one hand they are continuous, on the other with the enamel cells. The stellate cells proper are characterised by the great length of their communicating processes, and the interspace of the meshes is occupied by a fluid rich in albumen, so that the consistence of the whole is little more than that of jelly ; as the structure in question constitutes the major part in bulk of mammalian enamel organs, these have been called the enamel jellies, or enamel pulps. Fig. 65 [^). The function and destination of this portion of the enamel organ is not veiy clear : enamel can be very Avell formed without it, as is seen amongst reptiles and fish, and even in mammalia it disappears prior to the completion of the enamel, so that the external and internal epithelia come into contact. It has been supposed to have uo more important function than to fill up the space subsequently taken up by the growing tooth. (See page 156). {}) Cells of the stellate reticulum of the enamel organ. From Frey's Histology. 136 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY The external epithelium of the enamel organ is com] of cells cubical or rounded in form, and is of little interest save in that it is a matter of controversy what becomes of it. Waldeyer holds to his opinion that, after the disap- pearance of the enamel pulp and the stratum intermedium, it becomes applied to the enamel cells, and on the comple- tion of the enamel becomes cornified and converted into Nasmyth's membrane. Xolliker and Legros and Magitot dissent from this opinion, the latter stating that the atrophy of these cells commences early, and that they actually dis- appear \mov to the complete atrophy of the organ. For reasons which I have given elsewhere, I do not agree with Waldeyer in this matter, but rather with Magitot. The external ej^ithelium was seen by Nasmyth, Huxley, and Guillot, but it was not very fully described until investigated by Robin and Magitot. So simple a matter as the vascularity or non-vascularity of the enamel organ is not yet settled ; Wedl asserts that it contains no vessels, Magitot and Legros sharing this opinion ; Dr. Lionel Beale, on the other hand, stating that a vascular network lies in the stratum intermedium. The inner surface of the enamel organ, where it is applied to the dentine bulb, presents a perfectly smooth outline, but its outer surface is indented by numerous papillary projec- tions, into which enter blood vessels of the dental sacculus. These papillae are homologous with, and continuous with those of the gum ; they may sometimes be traced along the neck of the enamel germ, and it is believed that they exercise an important influence on the formation of the enamel, to which I shall again recur. The narrow attenuated line of cells by which the enamel organ retains its connection with the stratum Malpighi, whence it was derived, varies much in length and direction in different animals ; in man it is short and straight, in the calf it is laroer, and undulates in its course. It does THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 137 not remain quite that simple line of cells of which it con- sisted when first formed, but varicosities, made up of poly- hedral cells, bud out from it. The origin of the dental germs of the permanent teeth remains to be described : the twenty teeth which have deciduous predecessors being derived from parts of the germs of these, the twelve true molai's having a distinct origin. About the sixteenth week of intra-uterine life, from the neck of cells which connects the enamel organ of the temporary enamel germ with the stratum Malpighi, there buds out a secondary inflection of epithelium, similar in appearance to the first rudiment of the enamel germ of Fig. 66 ('). the milk tooth ; it passes down to the inner side of the temporary tooth sac, and by undergoing a series of changes in all respects analogous with those resulting in the forma- tion of the temporary tooth germ, gives rise to the i:)erma- nent tooth germ, (') Dental germ of temporary tooth of an Armadillo, showing its enamel organ, and the enamel germ of the successional permanent tooth to the left of it. 138 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The first permanent molar germ, howevei', is developed about the sixteenth week by a similar budding out of epi- thelium, from that same primary epithelial lamina, -whence the temporary enamel germs originated : whilst the second pei*manent molar oinginates from the neck of the enamel organ of the first molar after a long interval, i.e., about the third month after birth. The enamel germ of the wisdom tooth is similarly derived from the neck of that of the second permanent molar, again after a long interval ; (about the third year. Magitot). The accompanying figure represents the enamel germ Fig. 6" ('). c a J * / / for a permanent tooth budding ofi" from the neck of the enamel organ of the temporary tooth. Many differences of detail, such as the point at which they arise, the depth to (1) From the upper jaw of a kitten about the time of birth, a. Oral epithelium, i. Bone of jaw. c. Neck of enamel organ, d. Dentine papilla, c. Enamel cells. /. Stellate reticulum, h. Tooth germ of the permanent tooth, the enamel organ of which is derived from the neck of that of its predi THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 139 which they penetrate into the surrounding parts, and other such characteristics exist not only between the germs of teeth of different animals, but even between those of teeth situated in different parts of the mouth of the same animal, so that but little importance is to l)e attached to them. Dentine Organ. The dentine germ, or dentine bulb, of which the origin has been abeady described, at first was nothing more than Fig. 63 ('). y a part of the submucous tissue of the jaw which had become more rich in vessels and cells than other neighbouring parts, (') Tooth sac of a calf. a. Tooth sac. a^ a^. Its outer and middle portions, b. Stellate cells of enamel organ, c. External epithelium of enamel organ, d. Internal ei^ithelium of enamel organ, e. Odontoblasts. /. Dentine bulb in papilla, g. Vessels in dentine bulb. t. Points where the sac becomes fused with the base of the dentine papilla. 140 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. but did not present any structures essentially different from those found around it. It very speedily assumes the form of the apex of the future tooth, becoming, if it be a canine, simjDly conical, if a tooth with two cusps, bicuspid; and coincidently with these changes the layer of cells forming its surface, which is in close relation with the enamel cells, becomes differentiated from the parts beneath it. These cells, which become dentine by their calcification, form a very distinct layer, which, after the commencement of calcification, adheres more strongly to the formed cap of dentine than to the i-est of the pulp, and so is often pulled away with the former when the two are separated ; hence this layer of cells has obtained the name of " membrana eboris," or membrane of the ivory ; but the student must • beware of falling into the mistake of supposing that it really is a " membrane " properly so called. The individual cells, which collectively constitute the membrana eboris, are called odontoblasts ; they are variable in shape, differing even in the same animal according as the formation of dentine is going on actively or not, but are always much longer than they are broad, and are fur- nished with oval nuclei near to their deeper ends. The odontoblast cells are furnished with several processes, named according to their direction ; thus the process which pene- trates the formed dentine is called the ''dentinal process," that wliich, at its opposite pole, passes into the deeper part of the pulp where it communicates with other cells, the " pulp process," and those which communicate with neighbouring odontoblasts, " lateral processes." Before entering upon a detailed description of the transformation which the various cells undergo in their conversion into enamel, dentine, or cementum, it will not be o\it of place to say a few vrords relative to the process of calcification generally. But before doing ro it may perhaps assist the student, who may THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 141 be perplexed in endeavouring to reconcile the statements of various authors, to give a succinct history of the views from time to time set forth. (') Before the time of Goodsir (1838), the development of the teeth was described by Raschkow somewhat vaguely as proceeding under- neath the mucous membrane, he did not, however, trace out in what precise manner the several parts of the tooth germ originated. The papers of Goodsii- giving, in the place of somewhat vague and general notions, a very definite and intelligible description of ob- servations, was accepted without question by most anatomists, if not by all. Accordingly we find in all the text-books at and after that period, and ia some even at the present daj, the description given by Goodsir reproduced almost without alteration, so that it wiU be worth while to briefl'y relate what his views were. He believed that at an early period in fcetal life there appeared a continuous open groove, running round the whole circumference of the jaws ; that from the bottom of this groove tliere arose iso- lated and uncovered papillae, corresponding in number to the milk teeth ; that these papillaj became covered in by the deepening of the groove and the meeting of its two edges over their tops, whilst at the same time transverse septa were formed, so that the several papillae became enclosed in their own separate follicles. With the details of the process as described by him we are not concerned ; it will suffice to remember that he distmguished the four stages ; a primitive dental groove, a papillary stage, a follicular stage, and an eruptive stage (the latter of coiu-se at a long subsequent period). Not only were these views accepted quite without question, but they were even extended to explain the development of the teeth in Reptiles and Fishes, and thus in the OdontogTaphies of Professor Owen and Professor Giebel may be found accounts of the develop- ment of the teeth in reptiles and fish which are perfectly in accoixl with Goodsir's theoiy, but which in fact are far more inaccurate than the same theories were as applied to mammalian teeth. Even so careful a writer as Professor Huxley, who was the fii-st to point out that these stages really did not exist either in the frog, the mackerel, or certain other fish, accepted them without question as true of mammalia. Marcusen (^') (1849) gave upon the whole a correct account of the process, referring the enamel to the oral epi- thelium, and Professor Huxley (1854), whilst demonstrating that the stage of free papillse was not to be found in certain fish and (') After the present suminary had been partly prepared, the autbor met with the veiy excellent resume given by Messrs. Legros and Magitot, from which he has received much assistance. {^) In the rhaim given by Messrs. Legros and Magitot, before referred to, due credit is not given to the papers of Marcusen and Huxley (1849, 1854) (although they are alluded to), and it appears to roe that too much is given to that of Xatalis (juillot (1S58). 142 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. reptiles (a fact also made out in the newt by Dr. Beale), clearly and strongly expressed the same view as to the origin of the enamel organ, and hence of the enamel. And whilst regretting that their hold upon the minds of anatomists has been so strong as to en- courage deductions therefrom going wider and wider of the mark, I would not be understood to set small value upon the observations of Arnold and Goodsir. They were a step in advance, and were probably as accurate as the methods of investigation then in use would allow of : moreover, the error in observation is very easy to account for, as, the epithelium having peeled ofP as a result of de- composition, or the use of weak spirit, the state of things left does not widely differ from that described by Goodsir. The subject rested for many years without further advances, but in 18G3 Professor Kolliker demonstrated, beyond all cavil, the real origin of the enamel organ and its relations to the oral epithelium, the dentine organ, and the dental sac. His views, substantially correct, have been elaborated by Wal- deyer, KoUmann, Hertz, Legros and Magitot, Wedl, and others, but only in minor particulars have they been modified. The development of the teeth of reptiles was found by a pupil of M. KoUiker's, M. Santi Sirena, to have several features in accord with that of mammalian teeth ; my own researches on the teeth of Batrachia and Fish and Reptiles, elsewhere detailed, have proved a striking general similarity in the process throughout the vertebrate kingdom, though they are not in accord with the views of Pro- fessors Owen and Giebel. Dental Follicle. — Tu the foregoing accouut little mention has been made of the tooth follicle or tissue forming a capsule-like investment around the dentine germ and enamel organ. At an early period of development the tissue form- ing the dentine papilla of a mammalian tooth is seen to be prolonged outwards and upwards from its base (see h in Fig. 64) ; these processes appear to grow rapidly upwards, so as to embrace the enamel organ; but whether this is really so, or whether it is merely that the ill-defined tissue in which the dentine forming organ has itself originated is in this region also becoming more pronounced, it is hard to say. This up-growth from the base of the dentine papilla is the first appearance of a special dental sacculus, which is thus derived from a source identical with that of the forma- tive organ of the dentine. Fio. fi9 (1) rni.ied from Wil.Uxd (IMil. ^ /Mt- tiithful to mturt , it is sotcii dia^'i mil magnifying power einplnyed is iiitrmlii :. DentiiiP. germ, ^vitli its iHnilfi- df 4. Points where flie inii'i' ipitli"; continuous. :>. Kimmel rells (.r i organ. 7. Htellate retieuliim <>( organ. 9. Connective tissue aroun gum (Of/); this eonsti jaw. 11. Bone of low J \w \N!) Ui \i 1 oi iM 1>MK fooiH Of \ Lamb, t. lUt. Jled. IbUs). In its outline'^ tlie figure ib that more ot structuic than could be seen with the ■d deiil liat is c-iil.M (lii 1-J. IVno>trlll,l theyouiig tooth. 14. External skin with its of mouth. ormed enamel, ii.niiel become iiiii of enamel ito the enamel ontiiiuuu.s above with that of the ic. 10. Vessels and nen-es of the iiiiii. ii. K N. Tapillai-y projei .inw, 13. Heap of epithelium over JIusciilar bundles from floor [Tijfiw'p. 14;;, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 143 While these changes are going on, the tooth sac is becoming lodged in a widely open gutter of bone, which is being rapidly formed at its sides and under its base. If at this stage (see Fig. 69) the gum be stripped off the jaws, the developing tooth capsules are torn off with it, from which they ai'e inseparable except by actual cutting, thus leaving the gutter of bone quite bare and empty. In fact the capsule or sac which encloses the tooth germ consists of almost the whole of the connective tissue which intervenes between the special dentine and enamel germs and the bone. In the first instance the follicle wall is only distinguished from the connective tissue external to it by being somewhat richer in cells, vessels, and fibrillar elements ; being, in foct, more condensed or more compact. The sacs, when at their fullest development, are divisible into two layers, an outer thin firm wall, and an inner looser tissue, not very dense. At the base of the tooth sac, the follicle wall is not separable nor distinguishable from the base of the dentine papilla with which it blends. The follicle wall is richly vascular ; and over the surface of the enamel organ it is prolonged inwards in the form of villous or papilliform eminences (8 in Fig. 69), projecting into the external epithelium of the enamel organ ; to these prominences, which are analogous to the papillae on the free surface of the gum, some authors attach much importance, as having an influence upon the direction of the enamel prisms, and so regulating the pattern formed ; but this view is by no means universally accepted. The internal or softer and looser portion of the follicle wall, which has a consistency but little firmer than that of the stellate reticulum of the enamel organ, is much developed in Ruminants, where there is to be a deposition of coronal cement. This differentiation of a portion of the dental sac is thought by Messrs. Legros, Robin, and Magitot to be sufficiently pronounced to justify its designation as a distinct " cement organ." A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The Cement Organ. Cementum is, according to tliese authors, developed, just as bone is, in two distinct methods. Where it is not to be very thick, and is to clothe roots, the ossification takes place in membrane (the alveolo dentar periosteum), but where it is to form a thick layer Fig. 70 f'l over the crown, as in lluuiinants, a cartilaginous cement organ is formed, and we have a calcification analogous to formation of bone in cartilage. Thus the cement organ is found in those animals only which have coronal cement, such as the Herbivora. In a calf embryo about the time that dentine calcification is commenced, there may be distinguished beneath the follicle wall and above the enamel organ a greyish layer of tissue, thick enough to be distinguishable with the naked eye, and of firmer consistence than the enamel organ, from which it also differs in being richly vascular. {}) Cement organ of a calf (aftei- Magitot), a. Fibroid matrix. h. Cartilage cells and cap.si;]< s. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 145 But though it exists at this early period, it is not till later, wheu, after the completion of the dentine and enamel immediately beneath it, its own function is about to come into play, that it attains to its characteristic structnre. This M, Magitot designates as fibro-cai-tilaginous, as there appear in it characteristic cartilage cells or chondroplasts, containing one, two, or rarely three cells, which have spherical or ovoid nuclei. In those creatures which have cementum upon the roots of the teeth only, no special cement organ exists, but osteoblasts which calcify into cementum are furnished by the tooth sac. It is said that the inner layer of the tooth sac is concerned in the formation of the cement ; that the outer layer, con- jointly with the surrounding connective tissue, is converted into the alveolo-dentar periosteum, but I cannot myself recognise 'the justice of this distinction in practice. In human teeth the parts of the follicle wall or sac cease to be distinctly distinguishable at a comparatively early period, and their importance is not such as to call for very detailed description. Another structure, once thought important, and now known to be a mere bundle of dense fibrous tissue, is the " guhernaculum." The permanent tooth sacs, during their growth, have become invested by a bony shell, which is complete, save at a point near their apices, where there is a foramen. Through this foramen passes a thin fibrous cord, very conspicuous w4ien the suiTounding bone is broken away, which is called the " guhernaculum," from the notions entertained by the older anatomists that it was concerned in directing or effecting the eniption of the tooth. The gubemacula of the front permanent tooth sacs perforate the alveolus and blend with the gum behind the necks of the corresponding milk teeth; those of the bicuspids unit- ing with the periosteum of the alveoli of their deciduous predecessors. § i < g 1 oljj ill 1 i 2 ? 1 1 2 1 1 \ o 'A ii r3 ° § Hi III ill II li\ ^ 3 " III < 1-i I 1 1 observes at the edge of embryo only the epi- e and the epitlielial in- ker. The superior max- naxillary bones are not inferior maxillary arch I's cartilage only, with- bone. It is in the course ek that the epithelial rgans) of the temporary essively formed in the signation. u-s in juxtaposition with extremity of the epi- ■ lirst trace of the dcn- is stage occurs nearly for the whole series of .Hides, c wall of the follicle de- m the base of the bulb sides. This stage occurs Br as the preceding. ■§i§ - a 5 1 mi ii to s-S ° "■g II Jo r^i.i i IP 7th week. nth week. J1 j3 .is; S3 3 Ii 1 s^i i4 SsS |3| l^l g 1 lill 1 £^s I^H 'Ul 3i ~ 2 2 SiiS Si S| ^ .3 ■5=3 ^*^ ^ = l||2'3 l^lo l^i: s a 1=3 5"^ ill il II til 2"§ g"3 -^ig 1 2 m 1 3 1 1 If 111 ||| ill 5 1 2 1 1 ° -o^'t ;iss •Is 1.- :-ss| 1 111 ifil 2 > s a Il li so C a 11 i 1§ < H H '^ 1 iiim^ o . ^ 2 1 2 .^ al^ii's'^ o — o - ^!3 [•St s CO s i i 2 -S 2 2 ^2 1 ^ - « i^ C3->J 1 2-2 il S S i ;■ 1 § S l"^5 o o 23 ■o _ ,_ -, O 1 M 3s ill 2 S V P o => li 3 n - ^ CO ■^ oM ■^ ^ 1 " ° Ti 2 2 2 i| ill 5-g — -^^ ill III o S o " s s ill ^ -o ^ rf « o 14 i^i i^ 14 M 14 w S 0-. feoS l^i So3 Sof^ SoS .tco fJ.S £4 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Calcification. A tissue is said to be " calcified " when the organic stnic- tures of which it is composed are hardened and stiffened by- impregnation with salts of lime. The impregnation with lime salt may go on so far that the residual organic matrix is reduced to a very small proportion, as is exemplified in the case of adult enamel, in which the organic constituents make up only from one to three per cent, of the whole, so that practically the enamel wholly disappears under the in- fluence of an acid j or the organic matrix may persist in fiufl&cient quantity to retain its structural characteristics after the removal by solution in an acid of its salts, as is the case with dentine, bone, and cementum. There are two ways in which a calcified structure may be built up : the one by the deposition of the salts in the very substance of a formative organ, which thus become actually converted into the calcified structure ; the other by a formative organ shedding out from its surface both the organic and inorganic constituents, and thus, so to speak, excreting the resultant tissue. An example of the latter method is to be found in the shells of many mollusks, in which the mantle secretes the shell, and is able to repair fractures in it, without itself undergoing any apparent alteration ; while the formation of dentine, bone, and enamel (') are examples of calcification by conversion. The insoluble salts of lime are altered in their behaviour by association with organic compounds, a fact which was first pointed out by Rainie, and has been more recently worked out by Professor Harting and Dr. Ord. If a solution of a soluble salt of lime be slowly mixed with another solution capable of precipitating the lime, the (1) All observers are not, however, agreed as to the formation of the enamel. (Cf. page 157.) THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. resultaut lime salt will go down as au amorphous powder, or, imder some circumstances, in minute crystals. But in the presence of gelatine, albumen, and many other organic compounds, the form and physical character of the lime salts are materially altered, and in the place of an amor- phous powder there are found various curious but definite forms, quite unlike the character of crystals produced with- out the intervention of the organic substance. Mr. Rainie found that if calcium carbonate be slowly formed in a thick solution of mucilage or albumen the re- sultant salt is in the form of globules, laminated in structure, so that the globules may be likened to tiny onions ; these globules, when in contact, becoming agglomerated into a single laminated mass, it appearing as if the laminae in immediate apposition blended with one another. Globular masses, at one time of mulberry-like form, lose the in- dividuality of their constituent smaller globules, and become smoothed down into a single mass ; and Mr. Rainie suggests as an explanation of the laminated stnictm-e that the smaller masses have accumulated in concentric layers which have subsequently coalesced ; and in the substitution of the globular for the amorphous or crystalline form in the salt of lime when in contact with various organic substances, Mr. Rainie claimed to find the clue for the explanation of the development of shells, teeth, and bone. At this point Professor Harting took up the investigation, and found that other salts of lime would behave in a similar manner, and that by modifying the condition of the experiment very various forms (i) might be produced. But the most im- portant addition to our knowdedge made by Professor Harting lay in the very peculiar constitution of the " calco- spherites," by which name he designated the globular forms seen and described by Rainie. That these are built up of (M Thus lie was successful in artificially producing "dumb-bell"' crystals. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. concentric laminae like an onion has already been mentioned, and Mr. Rainie was aware that albumen actually entered into the composition of the globule, since it retained its form even after the application of acid. But Professor Harting has shown that the albumen left behind after the treatment of a calcospherite with acid is no longer ordinary albumen ; it is profoundly modified, and has become exceedingly resistant to the action of acids, alkalies, and boiling water, and in fact resembles chitine, the substance of which the hard skins of insects consist, rather than any other body. For this modified albumen he proposes the name of " calcoglobulin," as it appears that the lime is held in some sort of chemical combination, for the last traces of lime are retained very obstinately when calcoglobulin is submitted to the action of acids. The "calcospherite," then, has a true matrix of calco- globulin, which is capable of retaining its form and structure after the removal of the great bulk of the lime. Now it is a very suggestive fact that in the investigation of calcification we constantly meet with structures remark- able for their indestructibility : for example, if we destroy the dentine by the action of very strong acids, or by variously contrived processes of decalcification, puti*efaction, &c., there remains behind a tangled mass of tubes, the " dentinal sheaths " of Neumann, which are really the immediate walls of the dentinal tubes. Or if bone be disintegrated by certain methods there remain behind large tubes, found to be the linings of the haversian canals (Kolliker), and small rounded bodies, recognisable as isolated lacunse ; and in the cuticula dentis we have another excellent example of this peculiarly inde- structible tissue. In point of fact, as will be better seen after the develop- ment of the dental tissue has been more fully described, on TH-E DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 151 the borderland of calcification, between the completed fully calcified tissue and the formative matrix as yet unimpreg- nated with lime, there very constantly exists a stratum of tissue which in its physical and chemical properties very much resembles " calcoglobulin." It should also be noted that globulai*, spherical forms are very constantly to be seen at the edges of the thin cap of forming dentine, and may be also traced in and around the interglobular spaces (see Fig. 34) ; moreover, isolated spherules of lime salt have been described by Messrs. Robin and Magitot as occun-ing abundantly in the young pulps of human teeth, as well as those in the herbivora, where their presence was noted by Henle. Calcification of the Examel, Although the calcification of the dentine commences before that of the enamel, it will be convenient to describe that of the enamel first, as being a somewhat simpler and more easily intelligible process. As has already been mentioned, I am distinctly of opinion that the enamel is formed by the actual conversion of the cells of the enamel organ into enamel, but as this view is not held by all who have written upon the subject, I will first mention the alternative theory, namely, that the enamel is in some sense secreted or shed out by these cells. In support of this latter theory the names of no less authorities than Professor Huxley, KoUiker, Wenzel, and Magitot, may be adduced, but the grounds on which their decisions are based are appearances susceptible of a different interpreta- tion. Kolliker considers that the cells do not undergo any direct conversion, but that the enamel is shed out from the ends of the enamel cells, the enamel fibres therefore corre- 152 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. spouding in size and being continuous with tiie enamel cells whence they were shed out. Professor Huxley's reason for doubting the direct con- version of the enamel cells into enamel was that a membrane could be raised from the surface of growing enamel, at any period of its development, by the use of acid reagents, this membrane necessarily intervening between the formed enamel and the enamel cells ; hence he denied that the enamel organ contributed in any way directly, though it might indirectly, to the development of the enamel To the nature of this "membrane " I shall have again to refer, so that for the present it will suffice to say that the structure in question cannot be demonstrated, and in fact has probably no existence, prior to the use of the reagent. The cells of the internal epithelium of the enamel organ or enamel cells have been already in some measure de- scribed : they are elongated cells, forming a very regular columnar epithelium, and are hence rendered hexagonal by mutual apposition ; they vary in their length and diameter in different animals. To secure uniformity of nomenclature, the name adaman- toblast has recently been proposed for them, as being better comparable with the term odontoblast and osteoblast. Although they are connected with the cells of the stratum intermedium by a process at their base, they often adhere more strongly to the enamel, when once this has begun to be formed, than to the rest of the enamel organ, so that when a dental sac is opened the enamel cells are most easily obtained by scraping the surface of the enamel. The cells thus torn away often have tapering processes at the ends directed towards the enamel, which were first described by my father, and go by the name of " Tomes' processes." The cells are also slightly enlarged at these extremities, especially if they have been immersed in glycerine or any such fluid which causes their shrinkage, for this end of the cell having THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 153 received a partial impregnation with lime salt at its peri- phery, and so being rigid, is unable to contract with the rest of the cell. These enlarged, everted ends, often show a very Fig. 71 (}). sharp contour, their trumpet-like mouths tending to confirm the statement of Waldeyer that the protoplasm of the cell is not covered in by membrane at its ends. The impregna- tion with calcareous salts commences at the free end of the Fw. 72 (-). enamel cell, and at the periphery before the central portion, and it is to this fact that the existence of " Tomes' pro- cesses " is due, for when the enamel cell is dragged away from the foi-med enamel prism, it separates across the line of calcification ; and thus the axial part of the cell, when torn away, projects out further than its peripheiy, in con- (') Enamel cells with Tomes' processes. (^) Enamel cells ; the two on the right have been shrunk by immersion in glycerine, and present the open tmmpet-shaped ends described in the text. 154 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. sequence of calcification having extended less far at this central portion of the cell. In other words, if the forming enamel were freed from the adherent enamel cells, its surface would be pitted, each little pit marking the centre of an enamel prism ; and if a thin section of this immediate surface could be taken off, it would be pierced with holes at regular intervals. The enamel cell with its process is like an odontoblast with a very short dentinal fibril, which has been pulled out of the formed dentine, and the nature of the " Tomes' processes " is well illustrated in the enamel organs of marsupials. It will be remembered that their enamel is permeated by a large number of canals, which become continuous at the junction of the dentine and enamel, with the dentinal tubes. Accordingly the enamel cell of a marsupial, engaged in the formation of a permanently tubular enamel, is just like an odontoblast in that it has a long, fine process, pulled out of the already formed enamel. As the youngest part of the enamel has by no means attained to its full hardness, it is quite possible to obtain, in small pieces, sections parallel to its surface ; the nearer they are to the surface, the larger will be the perforations, show- ing what has already been stated respecting calcification commencing at the periphery of each cell to be true. And it is possible, by the use of an acid, to obtain such sections upon a larger scale, for under the influence of such a reagent, this youngest layer of the enamel peels off in a sheet, bringing with it in places enamel cells, in places enamel prisms, adhering to its opposite sides. When destitute of adherent enamel cells or prisms, this so-called membrane is foraminated ; and the processes of the ends of the enamel cells are fitted into and passed through these perforations. The real nature of the membrane which could be raised from the surface of growing enamel was first demonstrated by my father, and his explanation has been accepted by THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 155 Waldeyer and other authorities ; it will be seen that this sheet, produced solely by the destructive action of reagents, corresponds with the membrana preformativa of some writers (see page 171), and with the membrane described by Pro- fessor Huxley as intervening between the enamel cells and the enamel. Hence it will be seen that the fact of acids raising a membrane from the surface of the enamel does not really militate against the theory that the enamel is due to the direct convei'sion of the enamel organ into enamel. The ends of the enamel cells near to the formed enamel are granular, this granularity being due to the deposition of particles of lime salts, as is indicated by its clearing up when treated with acid. The cells on the one side of the membrane readily separate from one another, adhering, however, slightly by their dilated ends (vide supra), and the fact that we are able to isolate the youngest layer of enamel as a thin sheet is probably to be explained by its chemical nature. It ap- pears to belong to that class of peculiarly resistant sub- stances which are to be found on the borders of calcification, and behaves very much like Professor Hartiug's " calco- globulin" (see page 150); at all events it may safely be said to have undergone some chemical change preparatory to the i-eception of its full amount of lime salts. The calcification of the enamel should be so complete that itrf fibrous structure is but slightly apparent in longi- tudinal sections, and the individual fibres should appear structureless, with the exception of the feebly marked striation (see page 50). In enamel of imperfect structural character the centre of the fibre is not completely calcified, the arrest of development having taken place short of its full conversion. The stellate tissue of the enamel organ disappeai-s some time before the whole thickness of the enamel is formed, and changes go on in the latter up to the time of the erup- 156 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. tion of the tooth ; the enamel of a tooth prior to its erup- tion having a chalky, opaque surface. The enamel of the teeth of reptiles is developed from an enamel organ which at no time possesses any stellate tissue ; this is also the case in all fish which I have hitherto ex- amined. In the poison fangs of snakes the enamel cells, over the interior of the poison tube, appeared to be trans- formed into a stellate reticukim, which change in this case would appear to be a retrograde metamorphosis. The nuclei of the enamel cells, which lie at the estre- mities furthest from the enamel, appear to recede as calcifi- cation goes on ; they do not exercise any special influence on the process as far as can be seen. (') Transverse section of the tooth sac of a poison fang (Viper). The crescentic pulp (a) is surrounded by a layer of dentine (cZ) ; external to this is a layer of columnar enamel cells, which, upon the exterior of the tooth, upon which a thin layer of enamel is to be formed, are large con- spisuous cells. Where they pass in between the horns of the crescent, into that part which will ultimately be the poison canal, their character is lost, and their place taken by stellate cells (/). No enamel is formed in this latter position. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 157 As has been already mentioned, Kolliker dissents from the above account of the calcification of the enamel, partly on the gi-ound that enamel cells may be seen of the same size and form at all stages of the foiTuation of enamel. The process he regards as one of secretion, the enamel being shed out. so to speak, from the free end of each enamel cell ; hence the prisms of the enamel will con-espond in size and number with the cells of the enamel epithelium ; the processes of the enamel cells he regards as being fragments of this hardened secretion which are still clinging to the parent cell. M. Magitot (Journal de Tanatomie de M. Ch. Robin, 1879) has reyived this view, describing each cell as tenninated, towards the forming enamel, by a little plate of dense material through which by some process of exosmosis the constituents of enamel travel out. He notes that these plates often cohere so as to form a sheet (cf. page IJJi), but says nothing of their being perforated. No one, however, who had seen the enamel cell of a marsupial with the tapering process five or six times as long as itself which had been pulled out of the young enamel would be satisfied with the excre- tion theory. The reasons for adopting the opposite view will have been ga- thered from the text ; they are, in brief, the occurrence of the •' Tomes' processes," especially in marsupials ; the rigidity of the open mouths of the enamel cells ; the pitted surface of the youngest layer of enamel, the foraminated membrane which can be raised from it, and the relation of these facts to the occurrence of the processes of the enamel cells. Schwann believed that the enamel cell was constantly increasing at its free end (/.<"., that next to the enamel), and that the new growth, or youngest part of the cell, is calcified as fast as it is foi-med ; this view differs little fi-om that of Kolliker, who prefers to express it by saying that this end of the cell is constantly shed- ding off or secreting a material which becomes external to itself. My father, Waldeyer, Hertz, and many others, believe that the cell growth takes place not at this free end, but at the attached nucle- ated end, and that it is the oldest portion of the ceU itself which receives an impregnation with salts and forms the enamel. Professor Huxley's opinion (page 152) is, I take it, based on the fact that a membrane could be raised from the surface of young enamel, which must have intervened between the enamel cells and the enamel prisms ; if my father's explanation of the nature of this membrane be accepted, the difficulty vanishes. My o^vn researches upon the development of the teeth of fishes also furnish evidence tending in the same direction : as has been al- ready mentioned, the enamel cells in some parts of the enamel org-ans of certain fish, such as the eel and perch, and certain Batrachia, e.g., the newt, have dimensions very greatly exceeding those of the cells in the remainder of the organ. These highly developed cells, 158 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. three times as long' as the corresponding cells lower down upon the dentine papilla, are in the position of the terminal cap of enamel which characterises these teeth. Moreover in the tooth sac of the poison fang of a viper, the distribution of the large cells coincides with that of the enamel on the finished tooth. Calcification of the Dentine. — The dentine is formed upon the aurface of the dentine bulb, or papilla, from with- out inwards, so that no portion of dentine once calcified can receive any increase in external dimensions ; all additions must take place upon the interior of the dentine cap. The nature of the dentine bulb has already been to some extent described ; it remains to consider somewhat more minutely the nature of its surface. The cells constituting the mem- brana eboris, to which Waldeyer has given the convenient name of " odontoblasts," form an exceedingly sharply defined layer upon the surface of the dentine wall, being aiTanged in a single row ; the cells immediately beneath them differ strongly from them, so that there is not so marked an appearance of transitional structure as may be seen in the stratum intermedium of the enamel organ. Nothing what- ever like the linear succession of formative cells, which, by coalescence at their ends went to form the dentinal tubes, as described l)y the older waiters, is to be seen. The odontoblast cells vary in form according as the den- tine formation is actively going on or not, but at the period of their greatest activity they are broad at the end dii-ected towards the dentine cap, so as to look almost abruptly truncated. The several processes of the cells have already been described ; there are, however, sometimes several " dentinal processes " proceeding from a single cell, and Boll has counted no less than six. The cells are finely granular, and are, according to Waldeyer and Boll, destitute of all membrane ; the nucleus is oval, lies in that extremity of the cell which is farthest from the dentine, and is sometimes prolonged towards the dentinal process so as to be ovoid or almost pointed. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 159 The dentinal process passes into the tubes of the dentine, and it frequently happens that when the membrana eboris is only slightly separated from the dentine these processes, Fig. 74 (i). which constitute the dentinal fibrils, may be seen stretching across the interval in great numbers. The odontoblasts, as may be seen from figm-es 30 and 31, are fitted closely together, and there is no room for any other tissue between them, so long as the formation of dentine is actively going on. Prior to its commencement, however, the cells are not so square at their ends, and the appear- ance of the thin edge of such a pulp suggests the idea that they are bedded in a transparent and structureless jelly, which projects a little beyond them. To render my mean- ing more clear by a homely illustration, the surface of the pulp at this stage reminds one of the clear jellies put upon the table with strawberries or the like buried in them, near to, but beneath, the surface. But no such substance can be seen when once calcification has actively set in. When the pulp has completed, for the time being at all events, the formation of the dentine, the odontoblast cells become more elongated and more rounded in their outline and taper off towards and into the dentinal process, instead of having truncated ends. The cells figured by Lent as the formative colls of dentine I regard as odontoblasts taken from an adult tooth, the (') Isolated odontoblast cell. 160 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. period of formative activity being past, and I am inclined to think that his views on the subject of development are open to criticism, as being based upon the appearances presented by such old cells. Fig. 75 Q). The dentine is, I believe, formed by the direct conversion of the odontoblast cells, just as is the enamel by that of the enamel cells, and is derived from them, and from them alone. According to this view, which is supported by Waldeyer, Frey, Boll, Dr. Lionel Beale, and many other writers, the dentinal fibrils, the dentinal sheaths, and the matrix between these latter, are alike derived from the metamoi-phosis of the odontoblast cell. In other words, the three structures in question may be taken as being three stages in the con- version of one and the same substance : thus we have the dentinal fibril in its soft condition, little more than the unaltered protoplasm of the cell, then the dentinal sheath, one of those peculiarly resistant substances which lie on the borders of calcification ; and lastly, the matrix, the com- pleted, wholly calcified tissue. That some such relation exists seems to be indicated by the fact that dentinal tubes once formed are capable of (') Odontoblasts in situ. After 'Wakleyer. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 161 further calcification, by -^-hich their calibre becomes sensibly diminished. Thus, my father states (speaking of the incisor teeth of rodents), " the tubes which proceed from the pulp cavity near the base of the tooth, are, in most cases, per- ceptibly larger than those that are situated higher up ; hence it follows that, as the latter were once near the base of the tooth, the dentinal tubes undergo a diminution of calibre after their original formation. In the teeth of the Scim-idse I have found a difference of size amounting to a third or half between the tubes near the base and those near the surface in wear." And Dr. Lionel Beale calls attention to the fact that the hollows of the canals are largest nearest to the pulp, and smallest at the periphery of the tooth, in other words, at the oldest part ; also that calcification is still slowly going on even in advanced life, so as often to lead to the oblite- ration of the peripheral tubes. There is, too, the statement of Robin and Magitot, that the teeth become more rich in calcareous salts as age advances, so that analyses of human teeth show great discrepancies. It is difiicu^lt to see how a dentinal tube once formed can become contracted to a third or half of its diameter unless. we believe that that which was at first the soft tissue (den- tinal fibril) occupying its canal may become at its periphery metamorphosed into " dentinal sheath," while that which was ci-iginally this latter has passed into the condition of matrix. Other illustrations of this fact, observed by inde- pendent writei-s, suggest themselves to me ; the converti- bility of the dentinal fibril into dentinal sheath and of the latter into matrix, seems to be of necessity implied by the narrowing of the calibre of a tube once formed, for the tubes thus naiTowed present no special character ; their walls do not appear any thicker, nor do they in any way become dif- ferent save in the one matter of diameter. The phenomena of dental caries also appear to lend some support to this. 162 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. view, that dentinal fibril, dentinal sheath, and matrix, are but three ages of the same tissue. For under the influence of caries the walls of the tubes, invisible, or almost so, in perfectly healthy dentine, become apparent. As I have elsewhere expressed it, the most external portions of the odontoblasts undergo a metamorphosis into a gelatigenous matrix, which is the seat of calcification, while their most central portions remain soft and unaltered as the fibrils. Intermediate between the central perma- nently soft fibril and the general calcified matrix, is that jDortion which immediately surrounds the fibi-il, namely, the dentinal sheath; as expressed by Dr. Lionel Beale they are protoplasm, formed material, and calcified formed material. That the whole of the dentine is derived from a conversion of the •odontoljlast cells is not agreed to by all writers. Thus Kolliker and Lent believe that while the canals and their contents are continua- tions of the odontoblasts, the matrix is a secretion either from these cells or from the rest of the pulp, and so is an " intercellular " sub- stance. Their view is therefore intermediate between the excretion und conversion theories ; and KoUiker goes on to say, " since the dentinal cells are immediately drawn out at their outer ends into the dentinal fibres, and do not. as was formerly thought, grow out in such a manner that the dentinal fibre is to be regarded only as the inner part of the cell, so it is not possible to derive the dentine immediately from the cells."' But is not Professor KoUiker think- ing and writing of those aged, spent cells which his jnipil Lent figured ? No one could speak of a young, active odontoblast as " dra'rni out into the dentinal fibril." A good section of young developing dentine shows that the cells are square and abrupt towards the dentine : they do not taper into the deirtinal process in the smallest degi-ee, and there is no room for any intercellular sub- stance whatever. Hertz coincides with KoUiker in regarding the matrix as a " se- cretion from aU the dentinal cells in common which stands in no definite histological relation to the individual cells," but his figui-e also I believe to be representative of an adult inactive surface of pulp, in which dentine foiination lip.d almost ceased. KoUiker and Lent are of opinion that a single cell is suflJcient to form the whole length of a dentinal fibril, not having seen evidence of active cell gTowth in the siibjacent layer of the i)ulp. from which they would infer that the membrana eboris was supplemented by THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 163 new cells from below. In the latest edition, however, KoUiker speaks with much more hesitation on this point. Magitot now (1881) holds that the whole of the dentine is '• a product elaborated by the odontoblasts," but neither secreted by nor formed by the conversion of the odontolilasts, and he denies the existence of the sheaths of Xeumann in iotn. Klein believes that the odontoblast forms the matrix only, whilst the dentinal fibrils are processes continued up between the odontoblasts from a subjacent layer of stellate cells. Robin and Magitot formerly held that the dentine matrix was fonned by the transfoi-mation of the odontoblast cells, but that the tubes were intcrspucfs between these latter, not corresponding with the axes of the cells. The thinnest layer of dentine, such as may be found at the edges of the dentine cap, is soft and elastic, and so transparent as to appear structureless. Where it has at- tained a somewhat greater thickness, globules begin to appear in it, which are small in the thinner, and larger in the thicker portion of the dentine cap. As they are actually in the substance of the cap, their growth and coalescence obviously go on without any very immediate relation to the cells of the pulp ; in point of fact, a process strictl}^ analogous to that demonstrated by Mr. Rainie and Professor Harting (see page 148), is going on. Thus, in the formation of the first skin of dentine, a stage of metamorphosis pre- paratory to impregnation with calcareous salts distinctly precedes that full impregnation, which is marked by the occurrence of globules and their subsequent coalescence. The occurrence of these globular forms and consequent large interglobular spaces, in the deeper parts of adult dentine, is therefore an evidence of arrest of development rather than of any otherwise abnormal condition. When the formation of the dentine and enamel has gone on to the extent of the crown of the tooth having attained its full length, the reproduction of new formative pulp (in teeth of limited growth) takes place only over a contracted area, so that a neck, and finally one or more roots are the result, of its conversion into tooth substance. In teeth of constant growth, however, no such narrowiug of tlie forma- M 2 164 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. tive pulp takes place, but the additions to the base of the tooth are of constatit, or ever-increasing dimensions, as is the case in some tusks, -which arc of conical form. It is said that tlie number of roots which would have been developed at the base of a particular dentine organ may be inferred from the vessels, i. e., that in a single rooted tooth the vessels would, even at an early period, form a single fasciculus, in a double rooted one similarly they would be arranged in two bundles, so that the ultimate formative activity will be exercised around one, two, or three centres of nutrition. I am not however able, from my own ob- servations, to thrown any light upon this matter. THE CALCIFICATION OF VASO-DENTINE. During the conversion of the membrana eboris into ordinary hai'd un vascular dentine the vessels of the formative pulp recede, so that, whilst at all stages a cajiillary plexus is to be found just below the odontoblast layer, no vessels are to be found amongst the cells which constitute it. Nevertheless a moment's reflection will show that (except in the eai-liest stages, before any dentine is formed) the plexus must at a prior time have occupied the place now taken possession of l"»y the inward marching odontol)lasts and dentine. But in the calcification of a formative pulp into vaso- dentine this recession of its vessels before the advancing border of calcification does not take place ; the whole vascular network of the papilla remains and continues to caiTy blood circulating through it, even after calcification has crept up to and around it. So that if we imagine a vascular papilla to have its stroma suddenly petrified whilst its circulation went on all the same, we should have something like a vaso-dentine. Just as in hard dentine, the odontoblast layer is distinctly TEE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 165 marked off from, the rest of the dentine oi'gan, and the dentine is wholly derived from its conversion into calcified material, so that the difference between vaso-dentine and hard dentine is not one of a very fundamental character. Indeed, as we have seen (p. 85), the same formative pulp, the same odontoblast layer, is able at one time to form hard tubular dentine, at another vaso-dentine. All, therefore, that has been before said of the calcification of odontoblasts will apply equally to those of a vaso-dentine pulp, save only that in a typical tissue of this latter kind each cell calcifies solidly, and does not leave the axial portion soft, to remain as a dentinal fibril. Of the development of Plicidentine nothing more need be said, as it presents no peculiarities which are not the obvious result of the folding of the surface of its formative pulp- THE CALCIFICATION OF OSTEO DENTINE. With the exception of the thin external layers (see fig. 47), which are develo])ed from a superficial layer of not very highly specialised cells, osteo-dentine is built up in a manner fundamentally different from that in which hard dentine, plicidentine, and vaso-dentine, are constructed. For it is not, like these, a surface formation ; it is not laid down in a regular manner upon the exterior of a pulp, and it has no relation to an odontoblast layer, if we except, perhaps, its thin exterior shell. So soon as this has been formed its inner surface becomes roughened by trabecules shooting inwards into the substance of the pulp, which speedily becomes traversed completely by them, as Avell as by the connective tissue bundles which are continuous with them. Thus the pulp being pierced through in every direction by these ingrowths cannot be withdrawn, like the pulp of a hard or of a vaso-dentine tooth, A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. from the interior of the dentine cap. Osteoblasts clothe, like an epithelium, the trabeculfe and the connective tissue fibres attached to them, and by the calcification of these the osteodentine is formed. The process is exactly like the calcification of any mem- brane bone, and the connective tissue bundles remind one of those which are believed to be the occasion of the formation of Sharpey's fibres in bone. In the case of teeth which are going to be anchylosed to the subjacent bone, these fibres run continuously from the interior of the dentine cap down to the bone, and calcification in and around them binds the two inseparably together. It is interesting to note, especially in connection with the fact that some observers believe Sharpy's fibres to be elastic, that the hinged teeth of the pike (see fig. 88) owe their power of resilience entirely to the elasticity of these connective tissue bundles, which do not become completely calcified, although at an early stage it would be quite im- possible to say whether the tooth imder observation was going to be anchylosed, or to be a hinged tooth tied down by elastic strings. The Calcification of Cementum. — Just as is the case with ])ones elsewhere in the body, cenientum may be formed in two distinct ways, by membranous ossification, and by ossification in a fibro-cartilage, the former method obtaining upon the roots of teeth, and the latter upon those crowns where the cement organ described by Magitot exists. At the time when the crown of a tooth appears through the gum, it alone is complete, and the root has yet to be calcified ; as each portion of dentine of the root is completed it is coated with a closely adherent vascvdar membrane which is in fact the follicle wall, and Avhich is to become, when the cement is formed, the alveolo-dentar periosteum. The inner or dentinal face of this membrane presents a layer of large cells, the osteoblasts of Gegenbaur, and it i& THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 167 by their calcification that bone or cenjentum is directly formed. These osteoblasts are themselves a special de- velopment where bone is about to be manufactured, as is cleaiiy explained in the following extract from a paper by my father and the late Mr. De Morgan, who termed them osteal cells : — " Here (towards the bone) in the place of cells with elongated processes, or cells arranged in fibre-like lines, we find cells aggregated into a mass, and so closely packed as to leave little room for intermediate tissue. The cells appear to have increased in size at the cost of the processes which existed at an earlier stage, and formed a bond of union be- tween them. Everywhere about growing hone a careful ex- amination will reveal cells attached to its surface, tvhile the surface of the hone itself will jyresent a series of similar bodies ossified. To these we propose to give the name of osteal cells, as distinguished from lacunal and other cells." Externally to the osteoblast layer, but still very near to the perfect cementum, lies a reticulum or network made up by the inosculating branches of cells. The cells have largish round nuclei, and are each furnished with three or four homo- geneous processes, so that the tissue, save in very thin sec- tions, looks hopelessly confused from the interlacing of the cell processes. Many of these processes pass into, and are loit in the clear, structureless matrix of the already formed cementum ; the functions which they perform in its deve- lopment are not very apparent, as they do not correspond to anything which can be traced in the completed tissue. Externally to the fine-meshed net-work which has been Avell figured and described by Dr. Lionel Beale, the soft tissue surrounding the root partakes more of the character of ordinary fibrous tissue, and may be teased out nito fibrils. The fibrou.s bands run mainly in a direction from the alveolus towards the tooth. Many of them pass through the whole thickness of the soft structures, extendincr from the 168 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. bone of the alveolus to the cementum of the tooth, becoming lost at each extremity in the one tissue or other. The osteoblasts form both matrix and bone corpuscles : in Professor Klein's words " each osteoblast by the peripheral portion of its cell substance gives origin to the osseous ground- substance, while the central protoplasm round the nucleus persists with the latter as the nucleated bone-cell. The bone- cell and the space in which it lies become branched. For a row of osteoblasts we then find a row of oblong or round territories, each composed of matrix, and in it a nucleated branched cell. The outlines of individual territories are gradually lost, and we have then a continuous osseous lamina, with its bone-cells. The ground substance is from the outset a network of fibrils ; it is at first soft, but soon becomes impregnated with inorganic salts, the process com- mencing at the ' point of ossification.' The bone cells, with their pi'ocesses, are situated in corresponding lacunae and canaliculi, j ust as in the adult osseous substance. " Thus jiist as calcification in an enamel cell or in an odon- toblast commences upon its surface, and proceeds inwards till it has more or less completely pervaded it, so in the case of the osteoblast the deposition of calcareous salts proceeds from without inwards. To use a rough comparison we might imagine a calcifying osteoblast as like an egg-shell, the central cavity of which was being gradually obliterated by the addition of successive layers on its interior (it is not to be understood that any such lamination is to be detected in an individual osteoblast). In a certain number of osteo- blasts this process of calcification does not proceed with such regularity as to obliterate their centres, and at the same time to fuse together their exteriors, but as it pro- gresses with some degree of irregularity towards the centre, tracks of uncalcified matrix are left, and finally it stops short of obliterating the central portion of the cell. Al- though for the purpose of description I have spoken of the THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 169 centre of the osteoblast cell as a ' space,' of course it is not hollow, but consists of uncalcified matrix, and in this situa- tion lies the nucleus of the cell. In carmine-stained preparations from the teeth of calves a round nucleus may sometimes be seen lying in the stellate " lacuna ; " the nucleus soon disappears, and plays no active part in determining the form of the lacuna. The nucleus may also be seen in the developing bones of human foetuses and, though this is difficult to understand, the traces of the nucleus seem to be beautifully preserved in the lacunte of a supposed Pterodactyle bone from the Wealden, a section from which was ligured by my father in the paper referred to. Exactly as calcification, advancing with irregularity in Fig. 76 ('). the interior of an individual cell, fails to render it homo geneous by pervading its whole substance, so it may fail so completely to unite contiguous cells as to obliterate their contours. A lacuna, suiTounded by such a contour line, mapping the limits of the original cell, or cluster of cells, is what is termed an " encapsuled lacuna." That Avhich determines the formation of a lacuna, or an encapsiiled lacuna, at any particular spot, is unknown : all that can certainly be said upon the subject is embodied in (') Encapsuled laciinse 170 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANAT03IY. the following extract from the paper by my father and Mr. De Morgan, above alluded to : — " We see the bomidary of the original lacunal cells only in those cases where the lacunar have but few, or are entirely devoid of canaliculi. It would appear to be a law, to which there are few, if any, exceptions, that when anastomosis is established between adjoining lacunee, the lacunal cells blend with the con- tiguous parts, and are no longer recognisable as distinct bodies." According to Kolliker, the cemeutum first is deposited iu isolated scales, which coalesce with one another, rather than in a continuous sheet. In the teeth of the Primates, the Carnivora, Insectivora, &c., the cementum, at least in any appreciable thickness, is confined to the roots of the teeth. Various reasons, however, exist, for regarding Nasmyth's membrane as an exceedingly thin layer of cement, which have been entered into in the section relating to that structure, and need not be recapitulated here. It will suffice to say, that it appears to be one of those structures midway betwixt full calcification and full vitality, and shares with such substances the power of resistance to chemical reagents which characterises them. M. Magitot states that the calcification of the cartilaginous cement organ of Herbivora differs in no respect from that of other cartilages, but in his description he merely states that patches of calcification appear here and there in the deepest jjortion of the organ, coalesce, and come to invade its entire thickness ; and further that the cement at the period of eruption is constituted of " osteoplasts " regularly grouped round vascular canals, and included in a ground substance finely striated. {Joimial deVanatomie, 1881, p. 32.) Where intra-cartilaginous ossifications occur elsewhere in the body a temporary bone is formed by the calcification of the cartilage matrix, which is subsequently absorbed and swept away, as marrow-containing channels appear in it, and bore THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 171 their -way through it, substituting for the calcified cartilage a bone developed from osteoblasts, and ultimately all remains of the calcified cartilage or temporary bone disappear. Thus all bone whether developed in cartilage or in membrane is formed alike, the calcified cartilage merely forming a temporary framework or scaffolding, in and amongst which the bone is formed from osteoblasts. But M. Magi tot does not describe in much detail this calcification of cartilage and subsequent removal to give place to an osteoblast-derived bone, though he speaks of the cartilaginous cement organ as a transitory or temporary structure. Membrana Preformativa. — To the student of dental development few things are more perplexing than the con- flicting statements wdiich he reads in various works as to the nature and position of the Membrana preformativa, of which I have hitherto studiously avoided all description; Avhile it is not encouraging, after having mastered with difiiculty some one description of its character, to find that many of the most recent authors altogether deny its exist- ence. I will endeavour, therefore, so far as I am able, although not myself believing in its presence, to put the matter in a clearer light, and to point out wherein lie the discrepancies of statement. According to the older theories of tooth development, under the thrall of which most authors have written, the tooth germ was in the first instance a free, uncovered papilla of the mucous membrane, which subsequently sank in and became encapsulated, &c., &c., (see page 129). Moreover, it was taught by the older histologists that fine homogeneous " basement membranes " were to be found in a great variety of situations, amongst others beneath the epithelium of the mucous membrane, and that these were of (physiologically) umch importance, inasmuch as they formed defining limits, through which structures did not pass. As a necessary con- sequence of these views, it was assumed as a matter of 172 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. course that the " dentine papilla " was covered over by a " basement membrane," or membrana prcformativa. Thus this membrane necessarily intervened between the enamel organ and the dentine papilla, and hence gave rise to difficulties in the understanding of the calcifying process. Henle considered that evidences of its presence speedily became lost, but that ossification proceeded in opposite directions upon the two sides of this membrane : from within outwards in the case of the enamel, from without inwards in the case of the dentine. Prof. Huxley, starting on the same hypothesis as to its position, namely, that it was between the enamel organ and the dentine papilla, came to a different conclusion as to its after fate ; relying upon the fact that a continuous sheet of tissue or membrane can be raised from the surface of the developing enamel (see page 152), he concluded that this was the original membrana preformativa, that it afterwards became the Nasmyth's membrane, and that enamel was developed without the direct participation of the enamel organ, seeing that a membrane separated the two. My reason for doubting the correctness of these conclusions has been there given; the membrane so demonstrable is, I believe, artificial, and does not represent any naturally existing structure. KoUiker strongly affirms the existence of the membrana preformativa, and in the older edition of his Histology, held that if became converted into Nasmyth's membrane ; al- though he now gives a different explanation of the origin of Nasmyth's membrane, I have not found a definite state- ment as to his recent views of the ultimate fate of the membrana preformativa. We have thus three destinations assigned to the mem- brane covering the dentine papilla, or membrana prefor- mativa. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEETH. 173 (i.) Between the dentiue and the enamel (Henle). (ii.) Between the enamel and tlie enamel organ, or out- side the enamel (Huxley), (iii.) Between the dentine and the pulp (several writers of less authority). "VVe come next to those writers who deny its existence altogether, explaining on other gi'ounds the appearances observed. Markusen believed that it was nothing more than the part of the papilla first ossified ; and Dr. Lionel Beale definitely denies the existence of a membrane in any one of the three situations above detailed, as do also Hertz, Wenzel, and Waldeyer. Messrs. Robin and Magitot have offered a plausible ex- planation of the appearance of a limiting membrane over the pulp, which is briefly this : the formative pulp is rich in a clear substance of gelatinous consistency (which in fact forms its chief bulk), and which reminds the observer of the tissue contained in an umbilical cord. This is some- what more dense towards the surface, where it forms a matrix for the odontoblasts and projects beyond them, so as to look, in section or at a thin edge, like a sort of varnish to the papilla. From its greater density near the surface, it may become corrugated, and so look like a folded or torn membrane. I am quite inclined to agree with the foregoing explanation. I am inclined to think, that but for the eiToneous theories that the dentine germ originated as a free papilla on the surface, which would according to the prevalent view have been necessarily invested by a basement membrane, we should never have heard of a membrana preformativa. At all events it is difficult to imagine that such a membrane exists upon papilla formed at such a great distance from the surface as those of tlie snake or the lizard (P'igs. 61 and 62) ; 174 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. and if there be such a membrane, it must be a secondary development upon the surface of the mass of cells -which primarily constitute the rudiment of the dentine papilla, and in that case is not a part of the general basement membrane of the oral mucous membi'ane ; or else it must have been carried above as a sort of cul de sac in front of the inward growing process of epithelium, to which in that case it would belong rather than to the dentine germ. Neither of these suppositions commend themselves as probable ; and a still greater obstacle to the acceptance of a membrane in this position is afforded by the structure of Marsupial teeth (see fig. 23), in which the membrane would be everywhere per- forated by the soft contents of the dentine and enamel tubes. Robin et Mag-itot. Journal de I'anatomie. 1866. Legkos et Magitot. FoUicule Dentaire. Journal de ranatomie de M. Ch. Robin, 1873. Morphol. du foUicule dentaire. 1879. Fonnation de I'organe dentaire. 1881. Klein. Atlas of Histology. 1880. Waldeyer. Strieker's Histology. 1870. Huxley. Quart. Jour. Micros. Science. 1853. Kollikek. Gewebelehre. Tomes, J. Quart. Jour. Micros. Science, 1853. Dental Surgery. 1859. Tomes, Chakles S. Develop, of Vascular Dentine. Philos. Trans. 1878. Develop, of Teeth of Batrachia. Ophidia, Se- lacliia, and Teleostei. Phil. Trans. 1875 — 187G. On Nasmyth's Membrane. Q. J. Microsc Science, 1872. Owen. Odontography. 1845. Anatomy of Vertebrates. 1870. Nasmyth. Med. Chirurg. Transact. 1839. Observations on the Teeth. 1835. Mabcxjsen. Bulletin de I'Acad. de S. Petersburg. 1849. GOODSIB. Edinbm-gh Med. and Surg. Journal. 1838. Beale, Dr. Lionel. Structure of the Simple Tissues. Archives of Dentistry, vol. i. Dursy, EiiiL. Entwickelungsgeschichte des Kopfes. 1869. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW. Heetwig. Entwickelung der Placoidscliuppen uud Ziihnc. Jen- aische Zeitsclirift. 1874. Zahnsystem der Amphibien. Ai-cliiv. f. Mik. Anat. 187i. Raschkow. Meletemata circa Dentium Evohitionem. 1835. Heincke. Zeitsclirift f. "Wiss. Zool. Bd. :ixiii. 187:;. WeI)L. Pathologie der Zahne. 1870. Tomes axd De 5lOEaAX. On Development of Bone. Phil. Trans. 1852. Gegenbal'E. Manual of Comparative jinatomj. Translated by Jeffrey Bell. 1878. ROLLET. Connective Tissues, in Strieker's Histology, Haetixg. Quart. Journal Micros. Science. 1872. Eainie. Brit, and Foreign Med.-Chimrg. Review. 1S.")7. Dean. 31. S. Annotated Translation of Robin and Magitot on the Origin of the Dental Follicle. Chicago, 1880. CHAPTER V. THE DEVELOPMKXT OF THE JAWS — THE ERUPTION AND THE ATTACHMENT OF THE TEETH. At an early period in the development of the embryo there is a single primitive bnccal cavity, which is subse- quently divided into a nasal and an oral cavity by the palatine plates growing horizontally across it ; the phaiynx l)ehind the hinder end of the primitive buccal cavity remains undivided. Both upper and lower jaws make their appearance about the twentieth day as little buds from the first visceral arch, and grow inwards towards the middle line : those which form the lower jaw reach to the middle and there coalesce, those for the upper jaw stop short, and the gap left between them is filled by a double downward sprouting process from the forehead, which afterwards forms the intermaxillary bone. A failure in the coalescence of the maxillary processes with this intermaxillary process, on one or both sides, results in a single or double hare-lip. In the lower jaw or mandibular processes there ap2:)ears, about the end of the first month, a dense cord of cartilaginous consistence, Meckel's cartilage, which seems to serve as a scaffolding, giving form and consistency to the lower jaw prior to the occurrence of calcification. Meckel's cartilage, formed as two distinct halves, soon unites in the middle, and then forms a continuous curved bar, the hinder ends of which reach up to the tympanum. About the fortieth day a centre of ossification appears in the mandibular process, which, spreading rapidl}', soon forms THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAJF. 177 a slight osseous jaw outside Meckel's cartilage, which is not however in any way implicated in it, and very soon begins to waste away, so that by the end of the sixth month it has disappeared : that end of it alone which extended up to the tympanum does not so waste away, but becomes ossified into the malleus. There are, however, observers who hold that in some animals, at all events, Meckel's cartilage plays a more active part in ossification of the jaw. In the upper jaw the suture separating the intermaxillary from the maxillary bones becomes obliterated ver}' early on the exterior surface, but it long remains distinguishable on the palatine aspect of the bones. The later changes which are undergone by the jaws during the development, eruption, and loss of the teeth, have long engaged the attention of anatomists, and amongst others of Hunter, who was the first to an-ive at a tolerably coiTect appreciation of the process. In the first edition of my father's " Dental Surgery," the results of a very extensive series of observations can-ied out upon maxillae collected by himself, were detailed, confirming in the main Hunter's conclusions, but adding many new points to orn* knowledge ; and from this work I have borrowed largely in the present chapter. Professor Humphrey, who had overlooked these descriptions, which were never published in any other form than as an introduction to the " Dental Surgery," instituted a series of experiments upon growing animals, which tended towai'ds the same conclusions. As a means of giving the student a guide in his reading of the following pages, and a clue to the results towards which he is being led, a preliminary statement, which does not pretend to scientific accuracy, may perhaps be useful ; while the description given will relate for the most part to the lower jaw, because its isolated position, bringing it into relation with fewer other bones, renders it more easy to study ; not that any difference of princiiile underlies the 178 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. growth of the upper jaw. The different parts of the lower jaw answer for different purposes ; one division of its body having a very close and intimate relation with the teeth, the other serving a distinct purpose, and being only secon- darily connected with the teeth, ^ The alveolar portion of the jaw, that which lies above the level of the inferior dental canal, is developed around the milk teeth : when they are lost, it disappears, to be re-formed again for the second set of teeth, and is finally wholly removed after the loss of the teeth in old age. The portion of jaw below this line, which is essential to deglutition and respiration, is late in acquiring any con- siderable development. Once formed it is never removed, save that when in advanced old age the muscles of mastica- tion are no longer in full use, it becomes, to a slight extent only, wasted. In order to understand the drift of the following descrip- tion, it is essential to keep in view the different life histories of those two parts of the jaw just alluded to. In an early foetus, long before the necessity for respiratory movement or deglutition has become imminent, a thin lamina of bone has begun to be formed beneath the tooth germs, forming, as it were, a semicircular gutter running round the jaw, in which the developing tooth sacs are lodged. The thin gutter of bone thus formed is above and outside Meckel's cartilage, and intervenes between the rudimentary inferior maxillary vessels and nerves, and the teeth. The sides of the bony furrow rise as high as the top of the tooth germs, but they do not arch over and cover them in, in such manner as the permanent tooth germs are arched in, for the long fuiTOW is widely open at the top. Passing on to the condition of the mandibles at the time of birth, the two halves are as yet not anchylosed, but are united only by fibro-cartilage. " The alveolar margins are deeply indented with lai-ge open ciypts, more or less per- THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW 179 fectly formed. The depth of these bony cells is only suffi- cient to contain the developing teeth and tooth pulps, the Fig. 77 ('). (') Upper and lower jaws of a nine months fcetus, the teeth having been removed from the jaws on one side to show the extent to which they are calcified at this period. (Two-thirds life size. ) a. Alveoli of lateral incisors, h. Alveoli of canines, c. Alveoli of second temporary and first permanent molars. A bristle has been passed through the inferior dental canal. N 2 180 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. former rising to the level of the alveolar margins of the jaws. At this period the crypts or alveoli are not arranged in a perfectly uniform line, nor are they all equally complete. The septa, which divide into a sei'ies of cells that which at an earlier nge was but a continuous groove, are less perfect at the back than at the front part of the mouth. The alveoli of the central incisors of the upper and the lower jaws are a little larger within than at the orifice, and this difference is made still greater by a depression upon the lingual wall of each for the reception of the pulp of the corresponding permanent tooth. They are divided from the crypts of the lateral incisors by a septum which runs obliquely backwards and inwards towards the median line. The sockets for the lateral incisors occupy a position slightly posterior to those for the central teeth, and are divided from the canine alveoli by a septum which proceeds obliquely backwards, and in the lower jaw, as regards the median line of the mouth, outwards. By the arrangement of these divisions the alveoli of the central incisors are rendered broader in front than behind, and the relative dimensions of the sockets of the lateral teeth are reversed, as shown in Fig. 77. The crypts of the canine teeth are placed a little anteriorly to those of the laterals, and nearly in a line with those of the central incisors, giving to the jaws a somewhat flattened anterior aspect." While the main bulk of the lower jaw is made up by the alveoli of the teeth, in the upper jaw the alveoli descend but little below the level of the palatal plates, though the sockets are tolerably deep. The antrum as a special distinct cavity cannot be said to exist, being merely represented by a depression upon the wall of the nasal cavity, the alveolar cavities therefore being separated only by a thin plate of bone from the orbits. The figure represents also the extent to which calcification has advanced in the various teeth. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW. 181 A full half of the length of the crowns of the central incisors, about half that of the laterals, and the tips only of the canines are calcified ; the first temporary molars are complete as to their masticating surfaces ; the second tem- porary molars have their cusps more or less irregularly united, in many specimens the four cusps being united into a ring of dentine, the dentine in the central depression of the crown not being yet formed. During the formation of the permanent teeth, very similar relations exist between the amount of calcification in the incisors and canines ; thus when, as sometimes happens, the development of the teeth proceeds very imperfectly up to a certain date, and then changes for the better, it may be that the lower half of the crown of the central incisor, somewhat less of the lateral, and the extreme tip of the canine will be honeycombed, ■while the remainder of the tooth will be perfect, thus per- petuating an evidence of the stages to which each of these teeth had at that particular period attained. Having noted in some detail the characters of the jaws of a nine months foetus, we may pass on to the consideration of those changes which precede the cutting of the deciduous teeth. A general increase in size takes place, new bone being developed at all those points where the maxillse are connected by soft tissue with other bones, as well as from their own periosteum. But the increase in dimensions does not take place in all directions equally, so that material changes of form result. In con-espondence with the elongation of the tooth sacs, the alveoli become increased in depth, and their edges circle inwards over the tooth sacs ; active development of bone takes place in the sutvu-es uniting the two halves of the jaws to one another, which is compensated by the inclination in wards, of the alveoli of the central incisors. In the lower jaw the articidar process, at first hardly raised above the level of the alveolar border, rises rapidly up, the direction 182 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of the ramus at first remaining oblique, though the angle of the jaw becomes developed as a stout process for the attach- ment of muscles. At the age of six months the symphysis is still well marked, and the mental prominence first becomes noticeable. Fig. 78 ('). An additional bony crypt for the first permanent molar has also appeared, though its separation from that of the second temporary molar, from which it was at first in no way distinct, is yet incomplete, especially in the lower jaw. In the upper jaw the first permanent molar crypt has no posterior wall ; bony cells for the permanent central incisors are well marked, but those for the laterals are mere deep pits in the palatine wall of the crypts of the temporary teeth. At the age of eight months, or thereabouts, the process of the eruption of the teeth, or "teething," has fairly set in ; anchylosis has taken place at the symphysis of the lower jaw, the mental prominence is well marked, and in the upper jaw the antrum has become a deep depression, extending under the inner two-thirds of the orbit. Postponing for the moment the consideration of the erup- tion of the teeth, in order to follow up the growth of the jaws, it becomes necessary to take some fixed points as standards from which to measure the relative alteration of other portions of the bone. In most bones, processes for the attachment of muscles would be very unsuitable for the pui-pose, because they would alter with the general altera- (1) Lower jaw of a nine months foetus. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW. 183 tion in the dimensions of the bone : thus a process situated at a point oue-third distant from the articular extremity of a large bone, will still be found one-third distant from the end, though the bone has doubled in length. The four little tubercles which give attachment to the genio-hyo- glossus and genio-hyoid muscles are not, however, open to these objections, as they are already, so to speak, at the end of the bone, or, at least, of each half of it ; and their general correspondence in level with the inferior dental canal, which can hardly be imagined to undergo much alteration, in- dicates that their position is tolerably constant. The points selected as landmarks are then, the spinte mentales, the inferior dental canal and its orifice, and the mental foramen. The mental foramen itself does undergo slight change in position, but this change can easily be estimated, and may as well at once be mentioned. As the jaw undergoes increase in size, large additions are made to its surface by deposition of bone from the periosteum, neces- sarily lengthening the canal. The additions to the canal do not, however, take place quite in the line of its original course, but in this added portion it is bent a little outwards and upwards. If we rasp off the bone of an adult jaw down to the level of this bend, a process which nature in great part performs for us in an aged jaw, or if instead we make due allowance for the alteration, the mental foramen becomes an available fixed point for measurement. The mental foramen, which undergoes most of its total change of position within a few months after birth, comes to correspond with the centre of the socket of the first tem- porary molar ; later on it corresponds with the root of the first bicuspid, which is thus shown to succeed, in exact vertical position, the first temporary molar. On the inner surface of the jaw the tubercles for the attachment of the genio-hyo-glossus and genio-hyoid muscles ai-e in the foetus, opposite to, and very little below the base ]S4 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of the alveoli of the central incisors, a position which they afterwards hold with regard to the permanent incisors. The upper of the two pairs of processes are about at the same general level as the mental foramen. The genei-al result arrived at by measurements taken from these fixed points is that the alveolar arch occupied by the teeth which have had deciduous predecessors, namely the incisors, canines, and bicuspids, corresponds very closely with the whole alveolar arch of the child in whom the tem- porary dentition is complete ; and that the difterences which do exist are referable, not to any fundamental alteration in form or interstitial growth, but to mere addition to its exterior sm'face. Or more briefly, that the front twenty of the permanent succeed vertically to the places of the tem- porary teeth, the increase in the size of the jaw in an adult being due to additions at the back, in the situation of the true molars, and to other points on the surface. If measurements be taken across between the inner plates of the alveoli on either side at the points where they are joined by the septa between the first and second temporary molars, and at about the level of the genio-hyo-glossus tubercles, it will be found that the increase is slight, if any, notwithstanding that in other dimensions there is a very great difl:erence between the jaws of a nine months foetus and of a nine months child. Again, if an imaginary line be sti'etched across between these two points, and from its centre a line be drawn for- wards to the spina mentalis in the same two jaws, this will be found to differ but little in length in the two specimens. But, if instead of measuring to the spina mentalis, the line had been carried to the anterior alveolar plate, a great dift'crence would have been observable ; in point of fact, con- temporaneously with the development of the crypts of the permanent teeth inside them, the temporary teeth and their outer alveolar plates are slowly pushed outwards, a process. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAJF. 185 the results of which we see in the separation which cc about between each one of the temporary teeth, prior to their being shed, where the process of dentition is being carried on in a perfectly normal manner. Measurements taken for the sake of comparing adult jaws with those of an eight months child, give closely similar results, which I have endeavoured to roughly embody in the accompanying figures. In these it is shown that the increase in the dimensions of the jaw has taken place in two directions; by prolongation backwards of its cornua concomitantly with the addition at the back of the series of teeth of the true molars, which follow (') Diagram representing a jaw of a nine months fcetus, superimposed upon an adult jaw, to show in what directions increase has taken place. 186 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. one another at considerable intervals ; and by additions to its exterior surfoce by which it is thickened and strengthened. The study of the growth of the jaw in vertical depth is also very instructive. We find that, as has already been men- tioned, the history of that part of the jaw which lies below the inferior dental canal is very different from that which lies above. From the time of birth to that at which the temporary teeth begin to be cut, the jaw below that line has been making steady but slow progress in vertical depth ; the alveoli, above that line, have been far more active but far more intermittent in their development. Again, passing from the nine months fcetus to the seven years old child, in whom the temporary dentition is complete, the framework of the jaw below our imaginary line has far/t/.f _p/77c>/!///j attained to a depth almost equal to that which it is seen to have in an adult ; in the adult again it corresponds pretty well with that in an aged jaw. The alveolar portion, how- ever, is far deeper in the adult than in the child (this difference is not sufficiently well marked in the figure), and (1) Lower jaw. The horizontal line marks the level of the inferior dental canal. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW. 187 in fact constitutes almost the whole increase in vertical dimensions down the passage from the child's to the adult's form of the jaw. Fig. 81 ('). In the lower jaw we may take it as i^roven that the basal portion has little relation to the development of the teeth, but that the alveolar, or upper portion is in entire and absolute dependence upon them, a point to (^) Lower jaw of an adult. ('-) Lower jaw of an aged person, the dotted lines indicating the outline of the parts removed by absorption, as the jaw assumes the form charac- teristic of advanced age. 188 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. which I shall again return in speaking of the erui)tion of the teeth. It remains to speak in some further detail of the precise means by which the enlargement of the jaw is effected. To a slight extent there is formation of bone going on at the symphysis, prior to the comi^lete anchylosis taking place : the share taken by this in increasing the size of the jaw would, however, appear to be but small, after the ter- mination of the intra-uterine period. Additions to the surface, at the edges of the alveoli and at the base of the jaw are continually going on, and bring about that addition to the exterior already noticed. But the main increase in the size of the jaw has been in the direction of backward elongation ; in this, as Kolliker first pointed out, the thick articular cartilage plays an im- portant part. The manner in which the jaw is formed might almost be described as wasteful ; a very large amount of bone is formed which is subsequently, at no distant date, removed again by absorption; or we might compare it to a modelling process, in which thick, comparatively shapeless masses, are dabbed on to be trimmed and pared down into form. To bring it more clearly home to the student's mind, if all the bone ever formed were to remain, the coronoid pro- cess would extend from the condyle to the region of the first bicuspid, and all the teeth behind that would be buried in its base : there would be no " neck " beneath the condyle, but the internal oblique line would be a thick bar, corre- sponding in width with the condyle. It is necessary to fully realise that the articular surface with its cartilage has successively occupied every spot along this Ihie ; and as it progresses backwards by the deposition of fresh bone in its cartilage, it has been followed up by the process of absorption removing all that Avas redundant. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAW. On the outer surface of the jaw we can frequently discern a shght ridge, extending a short distance from the head of the bone ; but if the prominence were preserved on the inner surface, the inferior dental artery and nerve would be turned out of their course. We have thus a speedy removal of the newly-formed bone, so that a concavity lies imme- diately on the inner side of the condyle ; and microscopic examination of the bone at this point shows that the lacuna3 of Howship, those characteristic evidences of absorption, abundantly cover its surface, showing that here at least absorption is most actively going on. In the same way the coronoid process, beneath the base of which the first, second, and third molars have successively been formed, has moved backwards by absorption acting on its anterior, and deposition on its posterior surfaces. The periosteum covering the back of the jaw is also active in forming the angle and the parts thereabouts. It is worth while to add that the direction of growth in young jaws is marked by a series of minute ridges ; in like manner the characteristic marks of absorption are to be found about the neck of the condyle, and the front of the coronoid process, and those of active addition about the pos- terior border, so that the above statements I'est upon a basis of observation, and are not merely theoretical. Two cases of arrested development of the jaw ("Dental Surgery," p. 108) lend a species of experimental proof to the theory of the formation and growth of the jaw above given. There are authors, however, who maintain that the growth of the jaws is not merely a backward elongation of the cornua, together with additions to the external surface, but that an " interstitial growth" takes place. AVedl inclines to this latter view, and the question cannot, I think, be held to be absolutely settled. Although it is difficult to form any definite conception of interstitial growth in a tissue so dense and unvielding as bone, so that the doc- 190 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. trines promulgated in the foregoing pages have the support of ct. priori probability, there are some rather paradoxical facts to be met with in comparative odontology. Never- theless, there can be no doubt, that backward elongation as teeth are successively added, &c., is sufficiently near the truth in the case of human and most mammalian jaws for practical jDurposes. It remains to notice the changes in form which the ascending ramus and the angle of the jaw undergo. In the foetus the ramus is but little out of the line of the body of the jaw, and the condyle little raised above the alveolar border. Gradually the line of development, as is indicated even in the adult jaw by the course of the inferior dental canal, takes a more upward direction ; copious additions of bone are made on the posterior border and about the angle, so that in an adult the ramus ascends nearly at right angles to the body of the jaw. In old age, concomitantly with the diminution of muscular energy, the bone about the angle wastes, so that once more the ramus appears to meet the body at an obtuse angle. But all the changes which mark an aged jaw are the simple results of a supex'ficial and not an interstitial absorption, cor- responding with a wasting of the muscles, of the pterygoid plates of the sphenoid bone, &c. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. The mechanism by which teeth, at the date of eruption, are pushed upwards into place, is far from being perfectly understood. The simplest theoiy would appear to be that they rise up, in consequence of the addition of dentine to their base ; in fact, that their eruption is due to the elonga- tion of their fangs. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 191 Various very strong objections have been brought forward, clearly proving that this cause is quite inadequate to explain all that may be observed. In the first place, teeth with very stunted roots — which may be practically said to have no root — are often ervipted. Again, a tooth may have the whole length of its roots completed, and yet remain buried in the jaw through half a person's life, and then, late in life, be erupted. Moreover, when a healthy normal tooth is being erupted, the distance travelled by its crown materially ex- ceeds the amount of addition to the length of its roots which has gone on during the same time. To turn to comparative anatomy, the tooth of a crocodile moves upwards, tooth pulp and all, obviously impelled by something different from mere elongation; and my own researches upon the development and succession of rep- tilian teeth clearly show that a force quite independent of increase in their length shifts the position of, and " erupts" successive teeth. But what the exact nature of the impulse may be, is an unsolved riddle : the explanations which I have read, being, to my mind, less satisfying than the admission that we do not know. Towards the eighth month of childhood the bony crypts which contain the temporary teeth in the front of the mouth begin to be renewed. The process of absoi-ption goes on with greater activity over the fronts of the crowns than over their apices, so that almost the whole outer wall of the alveoli is removed. At the back of the mouth the crypts still retain their inverted edges ; indeed, development of the crypts is still going on in this part of the mouth. When a tooth is about to be cut, very active absorption of its bony surroundings goes on, particularly on the anterior surface, the bone behind it Ijeing still i-equired as forming part of the crypt of the developing successional tooth. But no sooner has the crown passed up through the very wide and fi-ee orifice so formed, than absorption gives place to 192 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. deposition, and the bone rapidly developes so as to loosely embrace the neck of the tooth. Additions to the margin of the alveoli keep pace with Fig. 83 ('). the gradual elongation of the roots of the teeth ; as this is a moderately rapid process, the alveolar portion of the jaw increases in depth almost abruptly. But it does not do so iiniformly all over the mouth ; if it did, the teeth could only be closed at the back of the mouth, unless the rami elongated by an equally sudden accession of new bone. The front teeth are erupted first, and the jaw deepens first in front : later on the back teeth come iip and the jaw is deepened posteriorly ; meanwhile the elongation of the Q) Jaws of a male nine montlis old, in wliicla the eruption of the teeth is jnst commencing. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 193 rami has been going on slowly, but -without interruption. Thus is brought about a condition of parts allowing of the whole series of teeth coming into their proper mutual antagonism. It was pointed out by Trousseau that the eruption of the teeth is not a contimious process, which, once commenced, is carried on without intermission to its completion, but that it is interrupted by period? of repose. The teeth are, according to his statement, cut in groups ; the eruption of the teeth of each group being rapid, and being succeeded by a complete cessation of the process. Individual variations are nume- rous ; the following may lie taken as an approximation to the tiiith : — The lower centrals are erupted at an age ranging from six to nine months ; their eruption is rapid, and is completed in ten days or thereabouts ; then follows a rest of two or three months. Next come the four upper incisors ; a rest of a few months ; the lower laterals and the four first molars ; then a rest of four or five months. The canines are peculiar in being the only teeth of the temporary set which come down between teeth already in place. To this, as well as to the greater length of their root (though it is not quite clear what this has to do with it), Trousseau ascribes the great length of time which their eruption occupies, it taking two or three months for its com- pletion. According to him, children suffer more severely from constitutional disturbance during the cutting of these teeth than that of any other, but Dr. West thinks that the eruption of the first molars causes the most suffering. It may also be noted that the canines during their develop- ment lie farther from the alveolar border than do the other teeth, so that they travel a greater distance ; obviously, not merely from the elongation of the root, which is wholly inadequate to effect such a change in position. 194 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The dates of the eruption of the milk teeth vary much, no two authors giving them alike ; but the whole of the deciduous teeth are usually cut by the completion of the second year. Cases in which incisors have been erupted before birth are not very uncommon. At a time when the crowns of all the deciduous teeth have been fully erupted, their roots are still incomplete, and are widely open at their bases, so that it is not till between the fourth and sixth years that the temporary set of teeth can be called abso- lutely complete. At the sixth year, preparatory to the appearance of any of the permanent teeth, the temporary teeth maybe observed to be slightly separated from each other ; they have come to occupy a more anterior position, pushed forward, it may be, by the great increase in size of the crypt of the permanent teeth behind them. The general relation of these to the (^) Normal well-formed jaws, from wliicli the alveolar plate has been in great part removed, so as to expose the developing permanent teeth in their crypts in the jaws. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 195 temporan- teeth may be gathered from the accompanying figure, in which it "will be noticed that the canines lie far above and altogether out of the line of the other teeth, and that a slight degree of overlapping of the edges of the per- manent central and lateral incisors exists. The bicuspids lie in bony cells which are embraced pretty closely by the roots of the temporary molars, and it hence happens that extraction of the latter sometimes brings them away in their entirety. The first permanent molars are erupted in a manner closely similar to that described as occurring with the temporary teeth; that is to say, their bony crypts become widely opened out by absorption, the crown passes out, and new bone is rapidly formed which embraces the neck, prior to any considerable length of root being formed. Last, then, follows the absorption of the root of the tem- porary teeth, a matter first accurately investigated by my father. The root at or near to its end, becomes excavated by shallow cup-shaped depressions ; these deepen, coalesce, and thus gradually the whole is eaten away. Although ab- sorption usually commences on that side of the root which is nearest to the successional tooth, it by no means invari- ably does so ; it may be, and often is, attacked on the oppo- site side, and in many places at once. The cementum is usiially attacked first, but eventually dentine, and even enamel come to be scooped out and removed by an extension of the process. That part of the dentine, however, which immediately surrounds the pulp appears to have more power of resistance than any other part of the tooth, and thus often persists for a time as a sort of hollow column. The absorption of the temporary teeth is absolutely independent of pressure ; the varying position of the excavation has already been noticed, and it may be added that in many lower animals, for examjjle, the frog or the crocodile, the growing tooth sac passes bodily into the 196 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. excavation made before it in the base of the tooth which has preceded it, while if pressure had had any share in the matter the cells of its enamel organ, &c., must have inevitably been crushed and destroyed. Again, when the absorption and shedding of the first teeth Fig. 85 C). have taken place early, before their successors are ready to appear, perfect little sockets are formed behind the lost (^) Jaws of a six year old child. In the upper jaw complete sockets = een where the temporary incisors have been shed. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 197 temporary teeth, cutting them off from the permanent teeth destined to follow them. Absorption, too, may attack the roots of permanent teeth, which is another reason for regard- ing the process as not necessarily dependent upon the approach of a displacing tooth. Closely applied to the excavation jiroduced by absorption is a mass of veiy vascular soft tissue, the so-called absorbent organ. The surface of this is com- posed of very large peculiar-looking cells, bearing some little resemblance to those known as " myeloid cells," or the " giant cells " of recent authors. Microscopic examination of the excavated surface shows it to be covered with small hemispherical indentations, the "lacunae of Howship," into each of which one of the giant cells fitted, and in which they may sometimes be seen in situ. In what manner these giant cells, or " osteoclasts," effect their work is not known, but their presence where absorption of hard tissues is going on is universal. Some suppose that they put forth amoebiform processes, others that they secrete an acid fluid, but nothing very definite is known ; a curious parallel is afforded by the manner in which a fungus can di-ill and tunnel through and through the dentine, as may be very constantly observed in teeth long buried. The process of absorption once commenced does not neces- sarily proceed without intermission, but may give place for a time to actual deposition of osseous tissue on the very sur- face eroded ; probably by the agency of the absorbent cells themselves, which are capable of being calcified in the exca- vations they have individually made. These alternations of absorption and deposition, so com- mon a result of inflammations of the pulp, or of the alveolo- dentar periosteum, as to be diagnostic of the former occurrence of these maladies, often occur during the normal process of the removal of the deciduous teeth, and result in the deposi- tion of. a tissue not unlike cementum in excavations made in the dentine, or even in the enamel. 198 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The eruption of the permanent teeth is a process closely analogous to that of the temporary set. Rapid absorption of the bone, especially on the exterior surface of the crypts, takes place, and an orifice very much larger than the crown of the tooth is quickly opened out. Hence it is that the slightest force will suffice to determine the direction assumed by the rising crown : a fragment of a root of a temporar}' tooth, the action of the lips and tongue, &LC., are all potent agencies in modifying the arrangement of the teeth. The temporaiy teeth stood vertically, the })ermanent teeth in front of the mouth stand obliquely, thus opening a space between the lateral incisors and the first bicuspid for the canine, which during development was out of the line altogether. And, inasmuch as the crowns of the teeth are on the whole much larger than their necks, it would be manifestly impossible for them all to come down simul- taneously. The permanent teeth usually make their appearance in the following order : — First permanent molars, about the seventh year ; a little later, the lower central incisors, upper centrals and laterals, the first bicuspids, the canines, the second bicuspids, the second permanent molars, the third permanent molars. The period of eruption is variable. From a comparison of several tables, I find the principal discrepancies to relate to the date of the appearance of the canines and the second bicuspids. The canine would certainly appear to belong to the eleventh and twelfth years ; but some authors consider that the second bicuspid is usually cut earlier, otliers later than this date. We may now revert to the phenomena observed in the alveolar processes. They were first built up as crypts with overhanging edges enclosing the temporary teeth : then they were swept away, in great part, to allow of the eruption of ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 199 the temporary teeth : and next they were rebuilt about the necks, to form the sockets, of the deciduous teeth. Once more, at the fall of the deciduous teeth, the alveoli are swept away, the crypts of the permanent teeth are widely opened, and the permanent teeth come down through the gaining orifices. When they have done so, the bone is reformed so as to closely embrace their necks, and this at a period when but little of the root has been completed. Take for example the first upper or lower molars : their short and widely open roots occupy the whole depth of the sockets, and reach respectively to the floor of the antrum and the inferior dental canal. No growth, therefore, can possibly take place in these directions ; the utmost available depth has already been reached, and as the roots lengthen the sockets must be deepened by additions to their free edges. It is impossible to insist too strongly upon this fact, that the sockets grow up with and are moulded around the teeth as the latter elongate. Teeth do not come down and take possession of sockets more or less ready made and pre- existent, but the socket is subsei'vuent to the position of the tooth ; wherever the tooth may chance to get to, there its socket will be built up round it. Upon the proper appreciation of this fact depends our whole understanding of the mechanism of teething ; the position of the teeth determines that of the sockets, and the form of the pre-existent alveolar bone has little or nothing to do with the disposition of the teeth. During the period of eruption of the permanent teeth the level of the alveolar margin is seen, in a dried skull, to be extremely irregular, the edges of the sockets corresponding to tlie necks of the teeth, whether they have attained to their ultimate level, or have been but just cut. And when temporary teeth have been retained for a longer 200 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. period than is natural, they sometimes become elevated to the general level of the permanent teeth (which is consider- ably higlier than that of the temporary teeth), so that they take their share of work in mastication. When this is the case the alveoli are developed round them, and come to occupy with the tooth a higher level than before. Fig. 86 ('). Enough has perhaps been said to illustrate the entire dependence of the alveoli upon the teeth, a relation of which dentists every day avail themselves in the treatment of regulation cases : it remains to say a few words as to the forces which do determine the position of the teeth. Inasmuch as when a tooth leaves its bony crypt, the bone does not at first closely embrace it, but its socket is {}) From a child aged fourteen. The specimen well exemplifies the fact that the height of the alveolar edge corresponds exactly to the position of the neck of each tooth, on which it is wholly dependent. A temporary tooth (the first right lower temporary molar) has been elevated, so that it has attained to the level of the surrounding permanent teeth, and the edge of the socket follows the level of the neck of the tooth. ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 201 miich too large for it, a very small force is sufficient to deflect it. And, indeed, a very slight force, constantly operating, is sufficient to materially alter the position of a tooth, even when it has attained to its full length. Along the outside of the alveolar arch the muscular lips are exercising a very symmetrical and even pressure upon the crowns of the teeth ; so also the tongue is, with equal symmetry, pushing them outwards : between the two forces, the lips and the tongue, the teeth naturally become moulded into a symmetrical arch. That the lips and tongue are the agencies which mainly model the arch is very well illustrated by that which happens in persons who have from childhood suffered from enlargement of the tonsils, and are conse- quently obliged to breathe through the mouth, which is thus pretty constantly open. This causes a slight increase in the tension of the lips at the corners of the mouth, and is im- pressed upon the alveolar arch as an inward bending of the bicuspids at that point ; thus persons with enlarged tonsils will be found, almost invariably, to present one of the forms of mouth known as V-shaped. But Dr. Norman Kingsley attaches far more importance to disturbed innervation than to any mechanical causes, and refers most dental iiTegularities to unhealthy conditions of the child's nervous system. When the crowns of the teeth have attained such a level as to come in contact with their opposing teeth, they very speedily, from readily intelligible mechanical causes, are forced into a position of perfect correspondence and an- tagonism ; and even at a somewhat later period than that of eruption, if this antagonism be interfered with, the teeth will often rise up so as to readjust themselves in position. 202 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. THE ATTACHiMENT OF TEETH. Although the various methods by which teeth are fixed iu their position upon the bones which carrj^ them pass by gradational forms into one another, so that a simple and at the same time absolutely correct classification is impossible, yet for the purposes of description four principal methods may be enumerated, namely, attachment by means of fibrous membrane, by a hinge, by anchylosis, and by implantation in bony sockets. Attachment toy means of Fibrous Membrane. — An excellent illustration of this manner of implantation is afforded by the Sharks and Rays, in which the teeth have no dii'ect connection with the cartilaginous, more or less calcified, jaws, but are imbedded solely in the tough fibrous mucous membrane which covers them. This, carrying with it the teeth, makes a sort of sliding progress over the curved surface of the jaw, so that the teeth once situated at the inner and lower border of the jaw, where fresh ones are constantly being developed, rotate over it, and come to occupy the topmost position (cf. description of the denti- tion of the sharks). That the whole fibrous giim, with the attached teeth, does really so slide over the surface of the jaw, was accidentally demonstrated by the result of an injury, which had been inflicted upon the jaws of a shark. The fibrous bands by which each individual tooth of the shark is bound down are merely portions of that same sheet of mucous membrane which furnished the dentine papillte ; and the gradual assumption of the fibrillated structure by that portion of the mucous membrane which is contiguous to the base of the dentine papilla may be traced, no such fibrous tissue being found at the base of young papillae, and very dense bands being attached to the bases of the com- pleted calcified teeth. Attachment by an Elastic Hinge. — The possession THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. 203 of moveable teeth, able to yield to pressure and subsequently to resume the upright position, was formerly supposed to be confined to the Lophius (Angler) and its immediate allies. I have however found hinges in the common Pike (Esox), and in the Gadidce (Cod tribe) ; so that, as they occiu' in these fish so widely removed from one another in other respects, it is probable that further investigation will bring to light many other examples of this very peculiar method of attachment, eminently suited to, and hitherto only discovered in, fish of predatory habits. In the Angler, which obtains its food by lying in ambush on the bottom, to which it is closely assimilated in colour, many of the largest teeth are so hinged that they readily allow an object to pass into the mouth, but rebounding again, oppose its egress. These teeth are held in position by dense fibrous ligaments radiating from the posterior side of their bases on to the subjacent bone, while the fronts of the bases of the teeth are free, and when the teeth are pressed towards the throat, rise from the bone. The elasticity of the ligament is such that when it has been compressed by the tooth being over towards it, it returns it instantly into position with a snap. Many of the teeth of the Angler are, like most fishes' teeth, anchylosed firmly. The Hake (Merlucius, one of the Gadidce) possesses two rows of teeth, the inner and shorter of which are anchylosed, whilst the outer and longer are hinged. In some respects these hinged teeth are more highly specialised than those of the Angler, which they resemble in being attached by an elastic hinge fixed to their inner sides, the elasticity of which is brought into play by its being compressed, or at all events bent over, upon itself. The pulp is highly vascular, and its vessels are so arranged that, by entering the pulp through a hole in the ligament, which is about at the axisof motion, they escape being stretched or torn during the movements of the tooth. But the base 204 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of the tooth itself is modified so as to be pai'ticularly fitted for resisting the jars to which a moveable tooth must at times be exposed, and so is the bone upon which it is set. As is seen in the figure, the base of the tooth, or the side Fio. 87 (')• opposite to the hinge, is thickened and rounded, the advan- tages which such a form must possess over a thin edge when bumping upon the bone being sufiiciently obvious. This (') Hinged tooth of Hake. a. Vaso dentine, h. Pulp. c. Elastic hinge, d. Buttress of bone to receive /, formed out of bone of attach- ment. €. Bone of jaw. f. Thickened base of tooth, g. Enamel tip. THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. 205 thickened edge is received upon a little buttress of bone, and it occupies a much higher level than the opposite thin edge to which the hinge is attached, so that the tooth cannot possibly be bent outwards without actual rupture of the ligament. And what is not a little remarkable is, that whilst the Hake, the most predatory of all the Gadidce, is possessed of these very perfectly hinged teeth, other members of the family have teeth moveable in a less degree, whilst others again have teeth rigidly fixed. So that within the limits of a single family we have several steps in a gradual progres- sion towards a very highly specialised organ. In the hinged teeth already alluded to the purpose served by their mobility seems to be the catching of active fish, and the elasticity resides solely in the hinges ; but the common Pike possesses many hinged teeth which seem to be con- cerned in the swallowing of the prey after it has been caught, and there is no elasticity in the hinges, the resilience of the teeth being provided for in another way. The teeth which surround the margins of the jaws are anchylosed, and they are more or less solidly filled up in their interior with a development of osteodentine, which, by becoming continuous with the subjacent bone, cements them upon it. The manner of development of this is by rods of calcifying material shooting down through the central pulp (see page 16.5) ; in the hinged teeth also these trabeculse shoot down, and become continuous with the subjacent bone, only instead of rigidly ossifying they remain soft and elastic, so that the tooth is like an extinguisher fastened down by a large number of elastic strings attached to different points on its interior, and hinged at one side. The elasticity is very perfect, so that the teeth depressed and suddenly released return with an audible snap, but it resides solely in these strings, for if these be divided by carefully slipping a cataract needle under the tooth without 206 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. injuring the binge, the tooth will stay in any position into which it is put. Fio. 88 ('). The points most noteworthy are, (i.) that hinged teeth have arisen independently in three families of fish widely removed from one another, and (ii.) that, whilst the general object of mobility and elastic resiliency is attained in all, it is by a different mechanism, and by the least modification possible of the existing fixed teeth of the family. (1) Hinged tooth of Pike. a. Dentine, h. Elastic rods, formed of un- calcified trabeculoe which might have become bone. c. Hinge, not itself elastic, d. Bone of attachment, c. Bone of body of jaw. THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. 207 Attachment by Anchylosis. — In both the socketed and the membranous manners of attachment an organised, more or less vascular membrane, intervenes between the tooth and the jaw-bone ; in the method now under consideration there is no such intervening membrane, but the calcified tooth substance and the bone are in actual continuity, so that it is often difficult to discern with the naked eye the line of junction. The teeth may be only slightly held, so that they break oflf under the application of only a moderate degree of force, or they may be so intimately bound to the bone that a portion of the latter will usually be torn away with the tooth. A very perfect example of attachment by anchylosis is afforded by the fixed teeth of the Pike, of which the central cone is composed of osteodentine. The method by which the entire fusion of this tissue with the bone beneath it takes place has ah'eady been alluded to, the similarity of its method of calcification with that of bone rendering the fusion easy and complete. And in certain extinct fish, whose nearest ally is the now anomalous Australian shark, the Cestracion philippi, the lower part of the tooth is composed of osteodentine, which so closely resembles bone itself that it is impossible to say at which point the bone may be said to commence and the tooth to end ; but even where this intimate resemblance in histological character does not exist, there is often to be found more or less blending of the basal dentine with the bone beneath it, so that there is even here a sort of transi- tional region. From the accounts which pass current in most text books it would be supposed that the process of attachment by anchylosis is a vezy simple matter, the base of the dentine papilla, or the dental capsule, by its calcification cementing the tooth on to a surface of the jaw-bone already formed. 208 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. In the few animals which I have examined ('), however, I have found that this conception does not at all adequately represent what really takes place ; it seldom, perhaps never, happens that a tooth is attached directly to a plane surface of the jaw which has been formed previously ; but the union takes j)lace through the medium of a portion of bone (which may be large or small in amount) which is specially developed to give attachment to that one particular tooth, and after the fall of that tooth is itself removed. For this bone I have proposed the name of "bone of attachment," and it is strictly analogous to the sockets of those teeth which have sockets. It is well exemplified in the Ophidia, a description of the fixation of the teeth of Q) Transactions of the Odontological Society, Dec. 1874. — "Studies on the Attachment of Teeth." (-) Section of tooth and a portion of the jaw of a Pytlion, showing the marked difference in character between the bone of attachment and the rest of the bone. THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. 209 which will serve to convey a good idea of its geucral cha- racter. If the base of one of the teeth, with the subjacent jaw-bone, be submitted to microscopic examination we shall find that the layer of bone which closely embraces the tooth contrasts markedly with the rest of the bone. The latter is fine in texture, its lacunce, with their very numerous fine canaliculi, very regular, and the lamination obviously refer- able to the general surface of the bone. But the " bone of attachment " is very coarse in texture, full of irregular spaces, very different from the regular lacunae, and its lamin- ation is roughly parallel with the base of the tooth. The dentine of the base of the tooth also bends inwards (Fig. 89), and its tubes are lost in the osseous tissue, a blending so intimate resulting, that in grinding down sections the tooth and the bone of attachment often come away together, the tooth and this bone being more intimately united than this special bone is with that of the rest of the jaw. A study of its development also proves that it has an in- timate relation with the tooth with which it is continuous, for it is wholly removed with the Ml of the tooth, and is specially developed again for the next tooth which comes into position. The periosteum of the rest of the jaw-bone appears to take an important share in the formation of this special bone substance, and the tooth capsule, by its ossifi- cation, apparently contributes little. In the frog the teeth are commonly described as being- attached by their bases and outer surfiicc to a continuous groove, of which the external wall is the highest. Such is, however, an inadeqiiate description of the process, the tooth, as seen in section, being attached on its outer side by a new development of special bone, which extends for a short distance up over its external surface ; and for the support of its inner wall there springs up from the sub- jacent bone a pillar of bone, which is entirely removed when that tooth falls, a new pillar being developed for the next tooth. 210 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. When the teetli arc, as in many fish, implanted upon what to the naked eye appears nothing more than a plane surface of bono, a microscopic examination generally, in fact in all specimens which I have examined, reveals that the individual teeth are implanted in depressions much larger than themselves, the excess of space being occupied by new and specially formed bone, or else that the teeth surmount pedicles, which are closely set together, the interspaces being occupied with a less regular calcified structure. A good example of the latter method is afforded by the Eel Fig. 90 ('). (Fig. 90), in which each tooth surmounts a short hollow cylin- der of bone, the lamination, &c., of which differs strongly from that of the body of the jaw-bone. When the tooth which it carries is shed, the bone of attachment, in this case a hollow cylinder, is removed right down to the level of the main bone of the jaw, as is well seen in the figure to the left of the teeth in position. Under a higher magiiifying power (') From lower jaw of an Eel. a. Bone of jaw. h. Bone of attach- ment, d. Dentine. /. Enamel, y. Space vacated by a shed tooth. THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. the bone at this point would be found to be excavated by " How'ship's lacunae." As an anchylosis, the implantation of the teeth is less perfect than that of those of the snake, for the dentinal tubes at the base of the tooth are not de- flected, and do not in any sense blend witli the bone beneath them. Accoi'dingly, the teeth are fir loss firmly attached, and bi-eak off quite readily. A transition towards the socketed type of implantation is furnished by some of the cod tribe. In the haddock, for example, the teeth surmount hollow cylinders of " bone of attachment," resembling in many particulars those of the eel; the teeth do not, however, simply surmoimt the bonv cylinders, but are continued for a short distance within them, definite shoulders being formed which rest on the rims of the cjdinder. The base of the tooth does not, how- ever, contract or taper any more, and is widely open, so that it cannot be considered that any close approximation to a root is made. The pulp cavity of the tooth becomes con- (^) From lower jaw of a Haddock, inent, rf. Dentine of tootJi. a. Bone of jaw. /;. lione of attach- 212 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. tinuous with the cavity of the osseous cylinder, into which it is for a shoi't distance continued. The bony supports of the teeth originate in many osseous trabecula) whicli spring up simultaneously from the lione of the jaw beneath the new tooth ; these coalesce to form a net-like skeleton, which rapidly becomes filled in by the progress of ossification. So far as my own researches enable me to say, there is this much in common in all forms of attachment by anchylosis, no matter how different the- naked eye results of the process may be ; the tooth, as it comes into position, is secured by an exceedingly rapid development of bone, which is more or less directly an outgrowth from the jaw-bone itself, which is in some im- seen manner stimulated into activity by the proximity of the tooth. In amount this specially formed bone varies greatly^ but in all instances it is not the tooth capsule, but tissue* altogether external to this, which serve to secure the tooth in its place by their ossification. The teeth of the maclcerel present an interesting variety of attachment by anchylosis. The margins of the jaws are very thin, and by no means fleshy, and in this thin margin there is a deep groove between the outer and inner plate of the bone. In this groove are the teeth, their sharp points pro- jecting beyond the edges of the bone, and they are held in their place by a network or scaffolding of bone of attach- ment which is developed between their sides and the inner surface of the bone. They are, so to speak, hung up in their place, and their open bases rest on nothing, or at least on nothing hard. Attachment by implantation in a socket. — In this, as in anchylosis, there is a special development of bone, which is modelled to the base of the tooth, but instead of its being in actual close continuity with the dental tissues, there intervenes a vascular organised membrane. The manner in which the sockets are, so to speak, plastered THE ATTACHMENT OF TEETH. 213 around the roots of the teeth, and are perfectly subservient to and dependent on them, has already been described ; little, therefoi-e, need be added here, save that the soft tissue intervening between the bone and the tooth is not sepa- rable, either anatomically or from the point of view of -development, into any two layers, but is a single mem- brane, termed the "aiveolo-den tar-periosteum." That it is single, is a matter of absolute certainty ; there is no difficulty in demonstrating it in situ, with vessels and bundles of fibres traversing its whole thickness from the tooth to the bone, or vice versa. The nature and develojiment of the sockets in those few reptiles and fishes whicli have socketed teeth require further examination. I am not, from what I have seen in sections of the jaws of a young crocodile, inclined to regard them as in all respects similar to the alveoli of mammalian teeth. At all events they are not developed in that same subsex'viency to each individual tooth ; on the contrary, successive teeth come up and occupy a socket which is •already in existence. Although there are animals in which implantation in a spurious socket is supplemented by anchylosis to the wall or to the bottom of the socket, no example of anchylosis occm-ring between the tooth and the bone of the socket has €ver been met with in man, or indeed in any mammal ex- •emplifyiug a typical socketed implantation of the teeth. Hunter. On the Anatomy of the Human Teeth. Tomes, J. Dental Surgery. 1859. HUMPHERY. Ti-ansact. Camb. Philos. Soc. 1863. Wedl. Pathology of the Teeth. Heudker. Beitrage zur Lehre von der Knochenentwickelung, &c. Tomes, Charles S. On Vascular Dentine and Hinged Teeth. Philos. Transac, 1878, and Quart. Journal Micros. Science, vol. xvii. new series. Ti-ansac. Odontolog. Soc. 1874 — 187G. CHAPTER VI. THE TEETH OF FISHES. In the following pages nothing more than a brief account of a few typical forms can be attempted ; the limits of space forbid the mention of many creatures, or the insertion of detailed descriptions of the dentition even of the few which are included in its pages. In the class of fish the task of selection of the forms for description is no easy one ; for the almost infinite diversity of dentition which exists in it makes it a matter of peculiar difficulty to frame any general account, or to do more than present before the reader a description of a few individual forms from which he may gather, as best he can, a general idea of piscine dentition. Fish may be grouped into — I. Phabyngobranchii. IV. Gaxoidei, II. Marsipobranchii. v. Teleostei. III. Elasmobbanchii. VI. Dipnoi. I. PlinrymjobrancMl comprise only the Amphio.inis. II. MarxipobrancMi comprise the Lampreys and the parasitic Myxine. III. Elii.sinohranc?i,ii comprise the Sharks and Eays (Phir/iostovii) and the Chimera and its allies {IMocapJiali). Their skele- tons are cartilaginous, with an ossified crust. IV. (rtuinidri. A large number of extinct fish — of existing fish the Lrpithititm.^. or Bony Pike, is the most familiar. V. Tclcoxtei comprise the ordinary Fish in our seas and rivers. VI. B'lpmn. The LepUlosircnK, or Mud Fishes, capable of living for a long time in moist mud. The Marsipohrancldi need not detain us long ; they are THE TEETH OF FISHES. 215 destitute of true calcified or dentinal teeth, the armature of the mouth consisting of horny cones or serrated plates. The parasitic Myxine, which is found in the interior of other larger fish, is furnished with a median curved conical tooth, of horny consistency, which is believed to act as a holdfast, while the serrated edges of the horny plates upon the tongue are brought into play in boring a way into the interior of its host. The concave circular disc which suiTounds the mouth of the Lamprey is covered with concentrically disposed horny teeth, of simple conical form ; in addition to these there are lingual and palatal horny plates. The teeth of Elasmohranchii present rather more of sim- plicity and uniformity of plan than do those of most fish, and it will hence be convenient to describe their teeth first, although ill most respects they stand at the head of the class of fishes, and present many indications of affinity with the Batrachia. In the Plagiostomi the mouth is a transverse, more or less curved fissure, opening upon the under surface of the head at some little distance behind the end of the snovit. Hence it is that a shark in seizing its prey turns over upon its back or at all events upon its side. The jaws, which are made up of the representatives of the palato-quadrate arch, and of Meckel's cartilage, neither true maxillae nor premaxillse being present, are cartilaginous in the main (although covered with a more or less ossified crust), and therefore shrink and become much distorted in drying. The shape of the jaws differs in the various groups of Playiostomi, in some each of the two jaws being a tolerably perfect semicircle, while in others they are nearly straight and pai'allel to one another (see fig. 92 and fig. 96) ; but in all the rounded working surface of the jaw is clothed or encased by teeth, which are arranged in many parallel concentric rows. 216 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The teeth, which are situated upon the edge or exposed border of the jaw, arc usually erect, whilst the rows which lie behind them, farther within the mouth, point backwards, and are more or less recumbent, not having yet come into full use. In this respect, however, marked difference exists among various genera of sharks ; for instance in the great trojjical Fig. 92 (';. t n. s. white shark the teeth which lie on the border of the jaw are erect, and all the successive rows are quite recumbent, whereas in many of the dog-fishes the inner surfice of the jaws forms an even rounded surface along which the rows of teeth are disposed in every intermediate position between those fully recumbent at the innermost pai-t of the jaw, and those fully erected upon its exposed borders. Only a few of the most forward rows of teeth are exposed, a fold or flap of mucous membrane covering in those teeth which (^) Lower jaw of Lamna. a. Edge of flap of mucous membrane wliich covers in the teeth not yet completed. THE TEETH OF FISHES. 217 are not as yet fully calcified and firmly attached to the gum. In Lamna, which may be taken as fairly illustrative, the teeth are arranged round the jaws in concentric rows with gi-eat regularity, the teeth of the successive rows con-espond- ing in position to the teeth of older rows, and not, as is the case in some other sharks, to their interspaces. They are attached by being embedded in a densely fibrous gum, which closely embraces their bifurcated bases ; and this dense gum, carrying with it the teeth, slides bodily upwards over the inner face of the jaw, and outwards over its border, beyond (') Transverse section of lower jaw of a Dog-fish. «. Oral epithelium. i. Oral epithelium passing on to flap. c. Protecting flap of mucous mem- brane (thecal fold), d. Youngest dentine pulp. e. Youngest enamel organ. /. Tooth about to be shed. g. Calcified crust of jaw. 218 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. which it, to borrow a phrase from geological science, has an " outcrop." In Lamna the second and third rows of teeth arc only partially erect, the rows behind these lying recumbent, and being in the fresh state covered in V)y the fold of mucous membrane, which, being dried and shrunk in the specimen figured, falls short of its original level. Thus rows of teeth originally developed at the base of the jaw arc carried upwards, come to occupy the foremost position on the border of the jaw, and are cast off when they pass the point/ in the figure. It is thus easy to under- stand why sharks' teeth are so abundantly found in a fossil condition, although other indications of the existence of the fish are rare enough ; for every shark in the course of its life casts off great numbers of teeth, which fall to the bottom of the sea and become bedded in the deposit there forming. The teeth are never anchylosed to the jaw, nor have they any direct connection with it, but, as before mentioned, are retained by being bedded in a very tough fibrous mem- brane ; the natiu-e of then- fixation has been more exactly described at another page (page 202). The sheet of fibrous gum slides bodily over the curved surface of the jaw, continually bringing up from below fresh rows of teeth, as was proved by Andre's specimen, and it may be worth while to condense from Professor Owen the description of the manner in which it was thus proved that an actual sliding or rotation of the membrane does really take place, and that the whole bony jaw itself does not become slowly everted. The spine of a sting ray had been driven through the lower jaw of a shark (Galeus), passing between two (vertical) rows of teeth which had not yet been brought into use ; when the specimen caine under observation the spine had remained in this situation, transfixing the jaw, for a long time, as was evidenced by all THE TEETH OF FISHES. 219 the teeth of these two rows, both above and below it, being stunted aad smaller than their neighbours. Hence the development of these teeth, which ultimately came to be at some little distance from the spine, had been profoundly modified by its presence, and it is difficult to understand in what manner this could have affected them had they not, at an earlier period of their growth, lain in more immediate proximity to it. But if the membrane, with the teeth attached, does move slowly along the surface of the jaw, this difficulty at once disappears. The forms of the teeth in various sharks are different and characteristic ; nevertheless they vaiy somewhat with age in some species, and present differences in size and form in the upper and lower jaws, or in different parts of the mouth of the same individual. For instance, in Lamna, in the upper jaw, the third teeth of each horizontal row, count- ing from the middle line, are very small, while in both jaws there is a gradual diminution in the size of the teeth towards the back of the mouth. Thus, although it is often possible to refer a particular tooth to its right genus or even species, much care is re- quisite in so doing. The teeth of the bloodthirsty white shark (Carch;u-ias) are tx'iangular flattened plates, rounded on their posterior aspect, with trenchant slightly serrated edges ; it is pointed out by Professor Owen that if the relation between the size of the teeth and that of the body were the same in extinct as in recent sharks, the dimensions of the teeth of the tertiary Carcharodon would indicate the existence of sharks as large as wdiales. The intimate relationship between the teeth and the dermal spines, which from the standpoint of development, has been illustrated at page 2 and page 119, is apparent also in their histological structure. There are many dermal spines to be met with in the sharks, which seen alone could A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. not possibly be distinguished from teeth, the resemblance both in outer form, in minute structure, and manner of development being most complete. The tooth figured on page 90 is a fair example of a structure very common among the sharks, viz., a central body of osteo-dentine, the outer portion of which has dentinal tubes so fine, regular, and closely packed as to merit the name of hard unvascular •dentine, and over this again a thin varnish of enamel. C^) And yet no observer from its structure alone could feel sure whether it was a large dermal spine, or a tooth. Dental tissues occur in other parts of the mouths of Selachia than upon the jaws, not only in the embryonic stages, but in the adult. Thus Professor Turner lias described (Proc. Koy. Society, Edinburgh, 1880), very numerous comb-like ap- pendages 5 inches long upon the branchial arches of the Basking Shark (Selache maxima), which apparently perform the same function as whalebone in straining the water. These combs are formed of a variety of dentine C? osteo- dentine), and closely resemble in structure the true teeth, which are however very small in this shark. In the seas of Australia there exists a Shark, the Cestracion Philippi, with a very aberrant dentition, to which great interest attaches, inasmuch as it is the sole surviving representative of forms once spread all over the world. In the front of the mouth the teeth are small and very numerous ; they are flat plates fitted by their edges to one another, while from their centres spring up sharp points, soon worn oif when the tooth reaches such a position upon the jaw that it comes into use. Proceeding backwards, the teeth cease to be pointed, increase in size, and become fewer in each row ; a reference to the figure will convey a better idea of their general form than any description. Those which have come into use are, towards the back of the mouth, always much worn ; their shedding and renewal takes places, as in other sharks, THE TEETH OF FISHES. 221 by a rotation of the mucous membrane over the surface of the jaw, so that, as might have been expected, large numbers of the isolated fossil teeth of Cestracionts are to be met with. The teeth of the Cestracion are fitted for the trituration of hard substances, and for such they are used, its food consisting of shell-fish, etc. The teeth consist of vaso- and osteodentine, protected by what is appai-ently a structure- less layer of enamel. The extinct Cestracionts extended far back in time, beinf met with in palaeozoic strata, and they were equally widely distributed in space ; the size of many of the teeth also indicates the existence of forms much larger than the recent timid and inoffensive Cestracion Philippi. Many of the extinct forms are known only by isolated teeth ; of others (') Lower jaw of Cestracion Philippi. a. Young teeth not yet in use. b. Large grinding back teeth, c. Small pointed front teeth. The new teeth are developed at the bottom of the series on tlie inner side, and, just as in other sharks, are covered in by a flap of mucous membrane. 222 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. ijs.s. portions of tlie jaw with teeth in situ have been discovered ; thus fragments of the jaw of Acrodiis, Fig. 95 ('). ^^g isolated fossil teeth of which have been compared to fossil leeches, with seven teeth arranged in series, have been met with. The Pristis, or Saw fish, so far as the mouth is concerned, is in no way re- markable, its teeth being small and blunt, like those of many rays. The snout is, however, prolonged to an enormous length, and is shaped like a gigantic spatula, its thin edges being beset by dermal spines of large size, arranged at regular intervals, and im- planted in distinct sockets. These dermal spines, or rostral teeth, as they are sometimes termed, are not shed and replaced, but grow from persistent pulps ; in structure they closely re- semble the teeth of Myliobates (see page 82), being made up of parallel denticles, in the centre of each of wiiich is a pulp cavity or medullary canal. What xise the Saw fish makes of its armed snout is not very certainly known, but its rostral teeth are of interest to the odontologist for several reasons — the one that they are dermal spines, having a structure all but iden- (') Rostrum and under side of the head of a small Pristis. o. Mouth. i. Rostrum, c. One of the rostral teeth. The teeth, with which the margins of the jaws are covered, are so small that they cannot be represented in this figure. THE TEETH OF FISHES. tical with that of the actual teeth of another ray, the Myliobates ; the other that they are socketed, a manner of implantation not at all common amongst the teeth of fishes ; and yet another, that they grow from persistent pulps, also unusual in fishes. Broadly speaking, the teeth of the Kays (skates) differ from those of typical sharks by being individually blunter, and being more closely set so that they foiTu something ap- proaching to a contniuous pavement over the jaws, with but little interspace left between the teeth. Fig. 96 ('). :N.S The dentigerous surface of the jaw is very much rounded, and in some is completely encased under a pavement of teeth. (^) Upper and lower jaw of Myliobates. At a, the mosaic pavement fonned by the broad flattened plates whioli constitute its teeth is seen, these being the oldest teeth which are about to be shed off in consequence of the rotation of the whole sheet of mucous membrane over the surface of the jaws. The letter 6 indicates the under surface of one of the plates, which is seen to be finely fluted on its edge. 224 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Thus, in Myliobates, the powerful jaws are straight from side to side, while their working surfaces from back to front are segments of a circle. The teeth form a thick and strong pavement over the jaws, in the manner of their formation and renewal conforming with the teeth of other Plagiostomi ; the severe use to which they are put being indicated by the extent to which the gi-inding surfaces of those teeth which have come into use are worn down. Several genera have the jaws thus covered, the number of the teeth differing ; thus Myliobates has a central series of very broad, oblong teeth, to the outer sides of which are three rows of small hexagonal teeth ; in (Etobatis the large oblong central plates constitute the whole armatiu-e of the jaw. The structure of the teeth of Myliobates has already been described and figured (see page 82). The Teleostei, or osseous fish, form the group which Com- prises all the fish most familiarly known to us, and within its limits the variation in dentitions is so gi-eat that few, if any, general statements can be made about them. It is not uncommon to find teeth crowded upon every one of the bones which form a part of the bony framework of the mouth and pharynx, and the teeth are sometimes in count less numbers. And so great is the variability that even within the limits of single families differences in the teeth are to be found. In the common pike the mouth is crowded with sharply- pointed teeth, having a general inclination backwards, and being in some parts of the mouth of larger size than in others. The margin of the lower jaw is armed with teeth of formidable size and sharpness, the smallest teeth being at the front, where they are arranged in several rows, and the largest being about the middle of the side of the jaw, A pike, as is well known to anglers, when it has seized a fish often holds it across its mouth, piercing and retaining it by THE TEETH OF FISHES. means of these largest teeth ; theu, after holding it thus for a time, and so maimed it and lessened its power of escape, it swallows it, generally head foremost. The tenacity of the pike's hold is often illustrated when it takes a bait, and retains it so firml}- that when the angler '•' strikes " the hooks do not get driven into the fish's mouth ; but aftei- tugging at the bait for a time the pike releases it, and the angler finds that it has never been hooked at all. The margin of the upper jaw is not bordered by tectli, save at the front, where the intermaxillary bones carry a few teeth of insignificant dimensions ; indeed, it is rather exceptional for the true maxillary bones to carry teeth in osseous fish. The roof of the mouth presents three Avide parallel bands of teeth, those in the median band (on the vomer) being directed backwards, those upon the lateral bands (on the palatine bones) backwards and inwards. Some of the latter teeth are very large, but not quite so large as those at the sides of the lower jaw. The marginal teeth are firmly anchylosed, but the teeth upon the palate are all hinged, and in such a manner that they can only bend exactly in one direction. Those of the vomerme band which lie in the middle line, will bend back- wards only ; those upon the outer margins of this band backwards, with an inclination outwards. Those of the lateral or palatine bands bend obliquely backwards and inwards, about at an angle of 45 with the median line of the mouth, or somewhat more directly backwards. To a body sliding over them in - one direction they ofter no resistance, bending down as it passes, and sjjringiug up as the pressm-e is removed from them, but to anything moving in any other direction they are rigidly fixed sharp curved stakes impeding its further progress. An elongated body of some size, such as a living fish, can only be swallowed by the pike when it is arranged lengthwise in the mouth ; crosswise it cannot possibly enter Q 2-20 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the throat. The hinged teeth on the paLate seem ad- mirably arranged for getting the fish into a longitudinal position and keeping it there ; for, if we imagine the fish's (^) Jaws of a Pike, viewed from the front, with the mouth opened more widely than is natural, so as to bring the teeth into view. a. Group of teeth situated on the pahitine bone. h. Group of teeth situated on the vomer, c. Group of teeth situated on the lingual bone. d. Specially large teeth, placed at intervals round the margin of the lower jaw. e. Group of teeth on the intermaxillary l)ones. The diagram beneath represents the direction in which the hinged teeth of the vcmerinc and palatine bands can bci;d. THE TEETH OF FISHES. 221 body held up against these teeth, and consider the direction in which the hinging of the teeth allows them to yield, it will be seen that every motion tending to arrange the body lengthwise, either in the median line of the mouth or in either of the interspaces between the vomerine and palatine bands of teeth, will meet with no obstruction, but in eveiy deviation from this position it will be caught on the points of the teeth and resisted. Thus with the pike's mouth shut, and the fish kept up against the palatine teeth, even its own struggles will be utilised by every movement tending to place it aright being allowed, and every other stopped by the bands of hinged teeth entangling it. The structure of these teeth, and the mechanism by which they are rendered elastic, have been already described (page 206). The lingual bone, and the three median bones behind it, carry small teeth arranged in oblong patches ; the internal surfaces of the branchial bones (which support the gills) are armed with similar small teeth ; while the last or fifth branchial arch (which carries no gills, the bones forming it being called inferior pharyngeal bones,) carry larger teeth. The superior pharyngeal bones (which are median portions of the four anterior branchial arches) also carry recurved teeth larger than those which line the rest of the internal surfaces of each of the branchial arches. The pike's mouth and pharynx thus fairly bristle with teeth, all directed somewhat backwards ; and any one who has been unfortunate enough to have allowed his fingers to get entangled in the mouth of a living pike will realise how small a chance its living prey has of escape, when once it has been seized. The teeth of the pike are composed of a central body of osteo-dentine, on the outside of which is a layer in which the dentinal tubes are directed towards the surface, as in hard or unvascular dentine ; while the outermost portion of 228 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. all is a very dense and hard, and apparently structureless, enamel film. The teetli are anchylosed to the bone, and are very frequently renewed, their successors being developed at one side of their bases. Though the pike has rather more teeth than many other fish, it may be taken as a fair example of most osseous fishes in this respect. Space will only allow of a few of the more exceptional forms being here described. The angler (Lophius piscatorius), another predatory fish, with an enormous mouth and disproportionately small body and tail, lies hidden in the mud, or crouched upon the bottom, and makes a rush upon smaller fishes which ap- j)roach sufficiently near to it ; it is remarkable for the manner of attachment of the teeth, some of the largest of which upon the edges of its jaws do not become anchylosed, but are so attached, as has been described at p, 20-3, as to iillow of their bending in and towards the mouth, but not in. the opposite or any other direction. The teeth of the outer row are firmly anchylosed to the margins of the jaw, and the far larger hinged teeth form a sort of irregular second row. The benefit of such an arrangement to a fish of its habit is sufliciently shown ; its teeth allow the utmost freedom of entry, but offer obstacles to anything getting out again. This arrangement of teeth, long supposed to be unique, is closely paralleled in a very difterent fish, the Hake (Mer- lucius, one of the Gadicke). This fish, the most active and l^redatory of the Cod family, follows shoals of pilchards and of herrings, themselves active fish, and feeds upon them. The margins of the jaws carry two distinct and regularly ar- ranged rows of teeth, an outer smaller row which are anchylosed, and an inner longer row which are hinged. They are very sharp, being tipped with spear points of enamel, and are recurved. In the fresh state they look quite red, being composed of a riclily vascular vaso- deutine. THE TEETH OF FISHES. 229 Another curious dentition is possessed by the Wolf-fish (Anarrhicas lupus), also an inhabitant of British waters, and sometimes to be seen in London fishmongers' shops under the name of the sea cat. The intermaxillary teeth are conical, bluntly pointed, and set forwards and outwards ; these are antagonised by somewhat similar teeth in the front of the lower jaw. The palatine bones carry short, bluntly conical, or round tupped crushing teeth in a double (') Bones of the mouth of the Wolf-fish (Anarrhicas lupus). The letter a. indicates the divergent pointed teeth which occupy the intermaxillaiT bone ; the letter d. indicates the similar teeth which are attached to the front of the mandible, on the middle and back parts of which are round- topped crushing teeth (c). Strong crashing teeth are found also upon tlie I>alatine bones (i), and upon the vomer (c). 230 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. row ; the vomer is also armed with a double row of very much larger and shorter teeth; the lower jaw, with the exception of its anterior part, is occupied by teeth of similar character. All tlic teeth of the Wolf-fish are anchylosed slightly to the bone, a definite process from which forms a sort of short pedestal for each tooth. The jaws are worked by muscles of gi'eat power, and it seldom happens that a specimen is examined in which some of the teeth are not broken. It feeds upon shell fish, the hard coverings of which are crushed by the blunter teeth, while the pointed front teeth apparently serve to tear the shell fish from the rocks to which they are commonly attached. In the group of fish known as " Gj'mnodonts " {naked toothed), the teeth and the margins of the dentigerous bones form a sort of beak, which is not covered by the lips. The example here figured consists of the upper and lower jaws of the Diodon, so called because it appears to casual observators to have but two teeth. A kindred fish in which the division of each jaw in the middle line is conspicuous, is similarly called Tetrodon. The jaw consists of teeth and bone very intimately fused together; the broad rounded mass (c. in the figure), which lies just inside the margin of the jaws, is made up of a number of horizontal plates of dentine, the edges of which crop out upon its posterior surface ; and these are united to one another by the calcification of the last remains of the pulp of each plate into a sort of osteo- dentine, the different hardness of the two tissues keeping the surface constantly rough, as the plates become worn away. The whole margin of the jaw is similarly built up of smaller horizontally disposed denticles, or jDlates of dentine, which are, as they wear down, replaced by the development of fresh plates, which are added from beneath, where they are developed in cavities situated low down in the substance of the bone. TEE TEETH OF FISHES. 231 The new teeth or plates of dentine thus formed at the base of the hemispherical masses -within the jaws (at the point a), or low down in the sulistance of the jaw, do not Fig. 99 ('). 3\ S come into use by the ordinary process of displacing their predecessors, and being in turn themselves replaced, but fresh plates only come into use by the actual wearing a-way of all that is above them, both dentine and bone, so that they come to be the topmost portion of the jaw. The margins of the jaw are, however, mainly built up of dental tissues, there being but little bone in their interspaces. Tetrodou has not the roxmded triturating disk of the Diodon, or has it but feebly rcpi-eseutcd ; and the margins of the jaws are sharpen In the Parrot-fishes (Scai'us), which are not very nearly allied to the Gymnodonts, somewhat similar beaks are found, (') Jaws of the Diodon. a. Base of tlie dental plates, where new lamellm of dentine are being developed, h. Margin of jaw, formed mainly by the sides of the denticles, c. Compound tooth, made up of the superimposed lamelloe of dentine anchylosed together. 232 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the individual teeth being more conspicuous. The whole outer surface of the jaw near to its working edge is covered by a sort of tesselated pavement, formed by the several teeth which are pressed together into a mass, but they form only the outer surface and the immediate edge, so that the soft bone forms a part of the working surface, or would do so but that, by its more speedy wear, it leaves the edge, formed by dentine and enamel, always i)romincnt and more or less sharp. The structure and succession of these teeth have been care- fully described by J. von Boas (Zeits. f. Wissen. Zool. xxxii.), and the differences between the several genera pointed out. He describes cementum as binding the denticles together and forming a part of the working edge, but that which he describes as cementum appears to me to be that tissue which I have termed " bone of attachment." See page 208. In a section of a jaw in my possession, which I believed to have belonged to a Gymnodont fish but which bears a remarkably close resemblance to that figured by von Boas as being a jaw of Pseudoscarus, a very beautiful arrange- ment serves to preserve the sharpness of the edge of the jaw. The denticles are conical, and form a series of hollow superimposed cones with the points upwards ; they consist of dentine and enamel, and the jDoint of the subjacent cone fits closely up into the hollow of that above it, so closely that in von Boas' specimen the dentine of the older tooth is in great part absorbed to make way for the point of its successor, so that the working denticle comes to be little more than a hollow cone of enamel. This is not the case in my specimen in which there is a quantity of dentine left in each denticle. This vertical series of superimposed sharp cones lie in the midst of the somewhat thin jaw bone, fused together by cementum (J bone of attachment), and enclosed between the inner and outer plates of the jaw. The bone being much softer than the denticle, wears THE TEETH OF FISHES. 233 down much faster, so that the edge is always formed by a prominent sharp tooth, which, as the wearing down of the bone progresses, falls off, and the next one beneath it comes into play. The arrangement recalls the way in which a scythe or a chisel is assisted in keeping its edge by being made of a plate of steel welded between two plates of softer iron. The pharyngeal bones are also remarkable; the two lower are united into one, and the stout bone so formed is armed with teeth ; it is antagonised by two upper pharyngeal bones similarly armed. It carries teeth which are anchylosed to it, and which are so disposed as to keep the surface con- stantly rough. When they are freshly formed the teeth Fig. 100 (i). ,r c- have flattened thin edges, something like human incisors. The teeth are coated with enamel, and thus, Avhen calcifi- cation has proceeded so far as to obliterate their central pulp cavities, after the tooth is worn to a certain point (c in Fig. 99) it presents a ring of enamel, inside which comes a ring of dentine, and inside this a core of secondary dentine, as seen in the figure. Owing to the different hard- (•) Lower pharjTigeal bone of Pseudoscarus. a. Posterior Ijorder, at Avhich the teeth are umvorn. c. Oval areas formed by teeth, the points of which are worn off. b. Anterior edge of bone, at which the teeth ai'c iilmost completely worn away. 234 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. ucss of the three tissues a constant roughness of surface is maintained. The upper pharyngeals are similarly armed ; and as the teeth and the supporting bone wear away, fresh teeth are developed at the front, so that the whole bone undergoes a sort of gliding motion backwards, the armature of the lower pharyngeal being renewed in a similar manner, save that new teeth and bone are developed at its j)osterior instead of its anterior extremity. The teeth are developed in bony crypts,beyond the youngest functional teeth, and perforations in the roofs of the crypts give passage to the connecting band l^etween the tooth sac and the mucous membrane. No more fitting place will occur for noticing the stout pharyngeal teeth which are met with in so many fish. Some fish, which are edentulous so far as the mouth is concerned, have the j)haryngeal bones armed ■s\'itli teeth ; in the carp and its allies, edentulous so far as the mouth proper is concenied, the two lower pharyngeal bones carry long pointed teeth, which partly oppose one another, and partly oppose a sort of horny tubercle, which is supported on a process of the base of the occipital bone. A few fish are quite without teeth ; the sturgeon, whose mouth forms a protrusible sucker, is edentulous, as are also the pipe fish, and the little sea horse (Hippocampus), now so common in aquaria. But as a rule fish are remarkable for the great number of their teeth, which are being constantly shed off and replaced by successors an indefinite number of times. In all the fish hitherto mentioned in these pages, it happens that the teeth in different parts of the mouth difi"er in size and in the function which they have to perform ; but this is only so because a few striking forms have been naturally selected fur description. It is far commoner for all the teeth of fish, particularly of those fish which have countless numbers of teeth, to be very nearly alike in form THE TEETH OF FISHES. 235 and size iu all parts of the mouth. As a general rule, fish do not comminute their food very fully, but make use of their teeth simply for the apprehension of prey, not sub- mitting the food to any mastication whatever ; their teeth are hence often mere sharp cones, slightly recurved, or set looking backwards. Thus, though the mouth of the common pike is beset with an immense number of sharp teeth, its food is swallowed whole, and ver}' often is alive w^hen it reaches the stomach, the sole purpose served by the teeth being the prevention of its escape when once it has been seized. Implantation of the teeth in sockets is not usual in the class of fish, but it does occur : for example the Barracuda pike (Sphymena) has its lancet-shaped teeth implanted in distinct sockets, to the walls of which they are said to become slightly anchylosed; the file-fish and others might also be cited. And although the succession of teeth is usually from the side, in some cases the successional teeth are developed in alveolar cavities within the substance of the bone, and displace their predecessors in a vertical direc- tion, as happens in the pharyngeal teeth of the Wrasses, or the curiously human-looking incisors of the Sheep's-head fish (Sargus) ; the Lepidosteus also has its teeth aflixed in incom- plete sockets, to the walls of which they are anchylosed ; this is not a very uncommon airaugement with the teeth of fish when they are socketed at all. The teeth of fish are of all degrees of size and of fineness ; in some (Chtetodonts). the teeth are as fine as hairs, and arc so soft as to be flexible. Teeth which are very fine and very closely set are termed "dents en velom-s;" when they are a little stouter, "dents en brosse," and when still stronger and sharper, "dents en cardes." Teeth that are conical, wedge-shaped, spheroidal, and lamelliform, are all to be met with; in fact there is infinite diversity in the form of fishes' teeth. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. And there are some fish, e.g., some of the large Siluroicl fishes, which have very strong, large teeth, an inch and a half or more long, and very firmly anchylosed to the bone. It is not common for sexual differences to be met with between the teeth of the male and female, though a slight difference exists between the sexes in some species of Skate. And although not strictly speaking a dental character, it may not be out of place to mention here the peculiar armature of the jaw of the male Salmon at the breeding season. The end of the lower jaw becomes produced, and turned upwards at its point; the stout cartilaginous hook thus formed is of such dimensions that it has to be accommo- dated in closure of the mouth in a deep cavity formed for it l)etwcen the intermaxillary bones. In some Canadian salmon this process is supposed to be constant in the older males, but in the British fish it disappears, and only exists at the breeding season, A fish in which it is strongly developed is a foul fish, and is called a Kelt. It is used apparently as a battering ram, and such salmon are con- stantly found killed, with their sides deeply gashed by the charges of their opponents. jS'ot much can be said in general terms of the structure of the teeth of fish. The bulk of the teeth of most fishes is made up of one or other modification of vasodentine or osteodentine ; this is often glazed over upon its exterior by a thin film of enamel, so thin as often to appear structure- less. Unvascular dentine also forms the teeth of many fish, and in some is remarkable for the fineness of its tubes ; in fact, every form of dentine, from fine-tubed hard dentine to tissue indistinguishable from coarse bone is to be found in this class. Dentine of very complex structure (labyrintho-dentine) is met with in some fish ; and an example from the Lepi- TKE TEETH OF FISHES. 237 dosteus (Americau garpike, a ganoid fish) has been figured at page 78. Enamel is often present in a very thin layer, glazing the exterior of the dentine (see Fig. 48) ; sometimes it forms a mere tip, a sort of spear-point to the tooth as in the Eel and the Hake (see Figs, 87 and 90), and sometimes it is very thick, and itself permeated by systems of tubes (see Fig. 24). Cementum is of comparatively rare occurrence in fish. Professor Kolliker has shown that in a very large number of fishes the skeleton more nearly resembles dentine than true bone in its structure ; whilst the dermal scales and protective spines of fish are often made up of a tissue much resembling dentine (cf Professor "Williamson, Philos. Trans. 1849). AVe may say, then, that just as in the external skin, bony or dentinal plates are developed for the purpose of protecting it from destruction by attrition, so for a similar purpose teeth are developed in that portion of the mucous membrane which covers the jaws. Near the borderland between fish and amphibia is the Lepidosiren, or ^Mud-fisli, which is a fish rather than an amphibian. The armature of its mouth is peculiar, the margins of the lower jaws being formed by dental plates anchylosed to the bone. These plates have upon their edges five deep angular notches, the prominence of the upper plate con-esponding to the notches of the lower ; and the edge is kept somewhat sharp by the front surface being formed of very dense hard dentine, while the bulk of the tooth is permeated by large medullary canals, which render it softer. The cutting plates of the upper jaw are developed in tlie median line of the palate, and there arc in front of them conical piercing teeth upon that forward prolongation of the cartilage which takes the place of a distinct vomer ; these have sometimes been described as being upon the nasal bone. It would seem that the two conical piercing teeth serve A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. as holdfosts, while the cutting edges of the deeply-notched plates are brought into play to slice np the food. Both in structure and general disposition the dental plates in Lepidosiren arc paralleled by the teeth of Ceratodus, for some time known only as a fossil, but of which recent examples have been captured near Queensland ; this re- semblance was suspected some years ago by my friend, i\Ir. Moseley, of the Challenger, and has been since worked out by other observers. CHAPTER VII. THI:; TEETH OF BATRACHIA AXD RErTILES. In these classes the teeth are never so numerous nor so widely distributed upon the bones of the mouth as in iish ; a double row of teeth arranged in concentric lines in the upper jaw, between which a single row of teeth upon the lower jaw passes when the mouth is closed, is an arrange- ment rather common amongst Batrachia. Almost all Batrachians and Reptiles have an endless succession of teeth ; but there are a few lizards {e.g., Hatteria), in which the manner of succession, if there be any, has not l)een definitely ascertained. The outer of the two rows of teeth in the upper jaw is situated upon the premaxillary and maiillary bones, and usually extends further back than the vomerine or inner row. From this type of dentition there are many deviations ; thus the toads are edentulous, and the frog has no teeth in the lower jaw. The teeth of the frog form a single row upon the margin of the upper jaw, their jioints projecting but little above the surface of the mucous membrane, and the vomerine teeth are few in number and cover only a small space. The edentulous lower jaw passes altogether inside the row of upper teeth, and, itself having rounded surfaces and no lip, fits very closely against the inner sides of the teeth. Thus it leaves very little room for the young developing tooth sacs, which are accommodated with the A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. space required for the attainment of their full size, by the absorption of the older solid bone and the tooth which has preceded them, in the following manner. The teeth are attached to the Iwne by anchylosis, each tooth being perched upon a little pedestal of bone which is specially formed for it ; and the successional teeth, the germs of which originally lay at the inner sides of the old teeth, commonly undermine the side of the pedestals and the bases of the latter, and move bodily beneath them, so that the new tooth completes its development in what was once the pulp cavity of its predecessor. The teeth of the frog consist of a body of hard dentine, coated with an exceedingly thin layer of enamel, the exist- ence of which has been doubted by some writers ; but a study of the tooth sac of the animal renders it probable that the transparent layer which is xnidoubtedly there is really enamel. The teeth of the newt and its ally the salamander are remarkable for having tips of enamel, somewhat like those of the eel (see Fig. 90), save that they are bifurcated, the one point being larger and longer than the other. The tadpole has its jaws armed with tough horny plates something like a turtle's bill, which are shed off, prior to the development of any true teeth; at all events I have myself been xmsiiccessful in discovering any tooth germs at the ^Deriod Avhen its horny bills are still in use. Some extinct batrachia were of large size ; the Laby- rinthodon, the structin-e of whose teeth has already been described (page 79), was furnished with a marginal row of teeth in the upper jaw, of which some few were of larger size xmd greater length than the others. In the lower jaw, the teeth, which are similar to those of the uptper, are disposed in some sense in an incomplete double row, the series of smaller teeth not being interrupted by the occur- rence of the larger tusks, but passing in unbroken series THE TEETH OF REPTILES. outside them. The Labyrinthodoii was possessed also of palatine teeth. The teeth were auchylosed to slight depressions or sockets, and the successioual teeth were probably developed, as in the frog, at the inner side of the bases of the teeth already in position, as there are no indications of crypts within the bone. In many reptiles teeth are developed for the merely tem- porary end of effecting an exit from the egg-shell. This purpose is sufficiently answered by the hard snout of the crocodiles, and by a sort of snout developed in Chelonia, but snakes and lizards have sharp teeth, which afterwards are lost, developed on the premaxillary bones (Owen), The Chelo:^ia, comprising the Tortoises and Turtles, have no teeth, but the margins of the jaws are sheathed in horny cases, which are variously shaped in accordance with the habit of the animal, being sharp and thin edged in carnivor- ous, and blunt and rugged in herbivorous species. Saurian reptiles (lizards, &c.), have, as a rule, rather simple teeth, which are confined to the margin of the jaws, the occun-ence of palatal teeth being less usual. The teeth are of various forms, being blunt and rounded in many genera, whilst in others they are long and pointed. They are generally made up of a central body of hard dentine, more or less completely invested by a cap of enamel ; and they are attached to the bone by anchylosis. When the tooth is auchylosed by its outer side to an external parapet of bone, the creature is said to be " pleu- rodont," when by the end of its base it is attached to the summit of a parapet it is " aci'odont." The succession of teeth in the Lizards is constant, new teeth being developed at the inner side of the bases of the old teeth, which become undermined by absorption and fall off when the successioual tooth has attained to a certain stage in its development. The accompanying figure of the lower jaw of a Monitor 242 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. lizard will give an idea of a dentition common in the- group. The teeth are not very large nor very numerous-, there being about 30 in the jaw ; towards the front of the mouth they are a little more pointed than at the back, but the differences in this respect are not striking. At the inner side of the bases of the teeth are seen Fig. 101 (1). r'\ \ foramina which lead into the spaces in which new teeth are being developed. Amongst the lizards considerable vai'iety in the form of the teeth themselves exists, some having thin serrated edges, others being exceedingly blunt and rounded, but in the general disposition of the teeth there is considerable uniformity. The teeth of some lizards consist at their apices of ordinary bard dentine, with a simple central pulp cavity, but at their bases of plicidentiue with numerous svibdivisions of the pulp cavity, as is seen in the Monitor lizards (Varanus, see p. 77). One Mexican lizard (Helodermus), has the re- putation of being poisonous, and has teeth which are grooved both back and front ; but it is doubtful whether its harmful powers have not been exaggerated. (^) Lower jaw of a Lizard (Varanus GouMiij. a. Foramina leading to cavities of reserve. THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 243 Vaso-dentiue also occurs in the teeth of some sauriaus, as for example, in those of the gi'eat extinct Iguanodon, in which it, roughly speaking, formed the inner half of the crown, the outer moiety consisting of hard dentine. In addition to this peculiarity, the teeth of Iguanodon were remarkable for the partial distribution of the enamel, which was strongly ridged, the ridges being seiTated, and was con- fined to the outer side of the crown. Thus at the outside came the hardest tissvie, the enamel; next the harder dentine and on the inside, the softer vaso-dentine. Hence, as the tooth woi'e down, a sharp edge was long preserved. There is a New Zealand lizard, to which the several names of Hatteria, Sphenodon, and Rhyncocephalus have been given, which has a very peculiar dental armature (Dr. Giiiither, Phil. Trans., 1867). The inter-maxillary bones are armed with two teeth, so large as to be co-extensive with the whole bone in width, and of a form which recalls that of the gnawing incisors of Rodents ; the other teeth are quite small, and "acrodont " in their attachment. But the great peculiarity of Hatteria is that the alveolar margins of the jaws are sharp, and when the teeth are worn down, which would happen in adult specimens, the actual sharp margins of the bone come into play as masticatory organs, near to the front of the mouth. It occurred to me as probable that the surface thus exposed might be coated with dentine, but a microscopic examination of one of the specimens in the British Museum, which I was, by the kindness of Dr. Gllnther, enabled to make, proved that tlie dense ivory-like surface which serves the purposes of masti- cation is true bone, and has no relation to dental structure. There are very few other instances of actual bone, un- coated by dental tissues, being used for masticatory pui'poses. The great extinct Dicynodon, an African fossil, also had sharp trenchant margins to its jaws ; it is not R 2 244 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. known whether these were sheathed in horny cases like those of the turtles, or whether the bones thcmseh'es came into use, as in Hatteria. But the most striking peculiarity of Dicynodon was the co-existence with such jaws of a pair of very large caniniform tusks, extending downwards and forwards from the upper jaw, and growing from persistent pulps, a thing altogether exceptional in the reptilian class. The dentition of Ophidian reptiles (snakes) is very uni- form; they may be conveniently divided into two groups, the poisonous and the non-venomous snakes. Non-venomous snakes have one row of teeth in the lower jaw, and two rows in the upper jaw ; in the latter the maxillary bones carry one row, while a parallel internal row is supported upon the palatine and pterygoid bones. The teeth are in both groups strongly recurved, and are firmly anchylosed to the bone ; they consist of a central body of vmvascular dentine, coated by a very thin layer of enamel (there is not, as is generally supposed, any layer of cementum, the enamel having been erroneously supposed to be such). The two halves of the lower jaw are connected at the symphysis by an exceedingly elastic ligament ; their articu- lation with the base of the skull through the medium of an elongated movable quadrate bone, is also such as to allow of their being widely separated from the skull and from one another, which allows of the dilatation rendered necessary by the large size of the creatures which a snake swallows whole. The teeth of the snake are simply available for seizing prey and retaining it, as the snakes invariably swallow their prey whole, and in no sense masticate it. As the object to be swallowed is often so disproportionately large as to make the process of deglutition appear an im- possibility, the mouth and pharynx have to undergo great dilation. Tlie arrangements which combine to give to the THE TEETH OF REPTILES. lower jaw its mobility have just been alluded to ; the successional tooth germs, which are very numerous, are also arranged in the snake in an unusual position, which by bringing them very close to the surface of the bone, to which they lie parallel, renders them less liable to displace- ment and injury than they would have been had they been placed vertically, as they are in all other creatures ; while in addition to the advantage of protection by position, they are wrapped i-ound by a sort of adventitious capsule of con- nective tissue. (^) Developing teeth of a Snake. /. Oral epithelium, e. Neck of the enamel organs, h. Dentine pulp. c. Enamel cells, d. Dentine. 1, 2. Very young germs. 3, 4. Older germs. 246 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. As the teeth during their development are thus lying down parallel with the length of the jaw-bone, when the period for their replacing a predecessor arrives, they have not only to move \ipwards, but also to become erected ; how this is done remains a mystery, for I have been quite unable to discern the means by w^hich it is accomplished. When a snake has seized its food, which it retains by means of its many sharp recurved teeth, it slowly swallows Fig. 103 ('). it by advancing first its lower, then its upper jaw, till it thus, so to speak, forces itself over the body of its prey. When this latter is large, deglutition is a very lengthy (^) One half of the skull of a Python (without the lower y<.m) seen from below, a. Intermaxillary bone. h. Maxillary bone, carrying the outer row of teeth, c. d. Palatine bone and pterygoid bone, the teeth upon which constitute the inner or second row of teeth. THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 247 process, but an English snake can swallow a moderate-sized frog with considerable rapidity. There is an African snake (Rachiodon) which has none but rudimentary teeth; its food consists of eggs, which thus escape breakage until they reach the oesophagus, into which spinous processes from the under surface of the vertebrse project, and there serve to break the egg; snakes with their dentitions similarly modiiied exist also in India (e.g., Elachistodon). It has already been mentioned that the non-venomous Fig. 104 (i). have two complete rows of teeth in the upper jaw, the outer row being situated on the maxillary bones, the inner upon the palatine and pterygoid bones. The teeth of such snakes as the Pythons are all simple recurved cones, and ai-e none of them either o-rooved or canaliculated."* (') Head and jaws of Hydropliis. The maxillary bone (6), instead of carrying a complete series of teeth, is armed with a few teeth only near to the front. The foremost tooth is canaliculated, and forms the poison fang. ('-) It has been proposed to divide the Ophidia into groups, distinguished by the presence or absence of gi-ooved teeth, thus : — i. Aglyphodontia. No grooved or canaliculated maxillary teeth, ii. Opisthof/lyphia. Some of the posterior maxillary teeth grooved, iii. Protcroylyphki, Anterior maxillary teeth grooved. Posterior maxillary teeth solid. iv. Solenpglyphia. Maxillary teeth few, canaliculated — poisonous 248 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Some of the harmless snakes, however, have particular- teeth which are developed to a greater length than the rest^ and others have the posterior teeth on the maxillary bones grooved ; but the statement that this grooving serves to convey an acrid saliva into the wound inflicted rests on in- sufficient foundation. The poisonous snakes are charac- terized by a shortening of the series of teeth carried upon maxillary bone, and by the front tooth of the series being developed to much greater length than those which lie behind it. Thus Hydrophis, a genus of poisonous sea-snakes, has five or more teeth upon the maxillary bone, the fore- most of which is much the largest, and this largest tooth is so deeply grooved upon its anterior surface as to be converted into a tube, the tube serving to convey the poison into the wounds inflicted by it. Poisonous snakes which have several teeth upon the maxillary bone for the most part present some little external resemblance to the harmless snakes, and are called "colu- brine poisonous snakes " (coluber being the name of a genus of harmless snakes) ; they present transitional characters between these and the more specialised or "viperine" poison- ous snakes. The Cobra is a familiar example of a colubrine poisonous snake, and almost all the venomous snakes of Australia belong to this group. Their poison fangs are not very long, and they remain constantly erect, being anchy- losed to the bone (the maxilla) which is long and not move- able, and which also carries a varying number of small insignificant teeth behind the poison fang. In the viperine poisonous snakes (PufF-Addei', Ptattle- snake, Vipers, &c.,) the poison apparatus is yet more specialised. The maxillary bone carries no teeth at all behind the poison fang ; it is so reduced in length as to be of squarish form, and is so articulated to the skull as to be movable. The poison fang is of great length, so that if constantly THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 249 erect it would be much in the way ; -when it is out of use, however, it is laid flat aloug the roof of the mouth, and is only erected for the purpose of striking ; when in repose it is altogether hidden by a fold of mucous membrane, which, when it is erected, becomes tightly stretched over a part of its anterior surface, and serves to direct the poison do\vn the poison canal by, to a great extent, preventing its escape around the exterior of the tooth. The mechanism by which the poison fang is erected is thus described by Professor Huxley (Anatomy of Verte- mi. brated Animals, p. 241) : — "When the mouth is shut the axis of the quadrate bone is inclined downwards and back- wards. The pterygoid, thrown back as far as it can go, straightens the pterygo-palatine joint, and causes the axis of the palatine and pterygoid bones to coincide. The trans- verse, also earned back by the pterygoid, similarly pulls the posterior part of the maxilla and causes its proper palatine face, to which the great channeled poison fangs are attached, (') Side and front view of tlie skull of Craspedocepkalus mdas. A bristle is passed down the poison canal. 3fx. Maxillary bones. 3fn. Mandible. PL Palatine bones. Pt. Pterygoid bones. Qu. Quadrate bone. T. Transverse bone. A. Side view. B. Front view. 250 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. to look backwards. Hence these fixngs lie along the roof of the mouth, concealed between folds of the mucous mem- brane. But when the animal opens its mouth for the purpose of striking its prey, the digastric muscles, pulling up the angle of the mandible, at the same time thrust the distal end of the quadrate bone forwards. This necessitates the pushing forward of the pterygoid, the result of which is twofold : firstly, the bending of the pterygo-palatine joint; secondly, the partial I'Otation of the maxillary upon its lachrymal joint, the hidden edge of the maxillary being thrust downwards and forwards. "In virtue of this rotation of the maxillary through about a quarter of a circle, the dentigerous face of the maxilla looks downwards and the fangs are erected into a vertical position. The snake ' strikes ' by the simultaneous contrac- tion of the crotaphite muscle, part of which extends over the poison gland, the poison is injected into the wound through the canal of -the fang, and this being withdrawn, the mouth is shut, all the previous movements reversed, and the parts return to their first position." The poison fang is a long, pointed, slightly recm-ved tooth, traversed by a canal which commences on its front surface, near to the bone, and terminates also on its front surface, a little distance short of its point ; in the figure a bristle has been passed through it, and shows the points where it com- mences and terminates. This tube conveys the poison into the puncture, its upper orifice being in close relation with the end of the duct of the poison gland. It has been mentioned that some snakes which have not definite poison fimgs have a few of the large posterior teeth grooved upon their front surfaces, the object of this grooving being, as a matter of conjecture, to convey a more or less poisonous saliva into the w^ounds inflicted by them. By imagining such an anterior groove to be deepened, and finally converted into a canal by its edges growing up THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 251 and meeting over it, we shall have a fair conception of the nature of the tube in a poison fang, which is thus really outside the tooth ; which might thus, as least in its canali- culated part, be regarded as a thin flattened tooth bent round so as to form a tube. Just as there are gradations in the armature of the maxillary bone, which link together the extreme form of the harmless Python, and the venomous Rattlesnake, so there are gradations in the form of the poison tooth, in the degree in which the groove is converted into a canal. In colubriue poisonous snakes the canal is visible on the Fig. 106 ('). exterior of the tooth, where an apparent fissure marks the point where the two lips of the groove have met. Thus the poison fang of Hydrophis, although in a part of its length (') Transverse section of tooth-sac of poison fang of Viper, prior to the complete closure of the poison tube by the meeting together of the two cornua of the dentine. 252 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the canal is quite closed in, has a very marked line along its front, and in section it looks much as would the dentine in Fig. 106, if the two cornuahad their rounded extremities brought together into actual contact, without, however, their rounded outline being altered. But in the poison fang of a viperine snake the lips of the groove are flattened and fitted to one another, so that not a vestige of the join can be seen upon the smooth exterior of the tooth. In the accompanying figure the pulp cavity is seen to be a thin flattened chamber partly surrounding the tube formed for the conveyance of the poison. Fig. 107 ('). ex The poison-fang is exceedingly sharp, its point being con- tinued some little distance beyond the place where the poison canal opens on the front of the tooth ; this disposi- tion of parts has been copied in the points of syringes for making subcutaneous injections. (') Transverse section of the poison fang of a Eattlesnake. ". Pulp- cavity, d. Dentine. THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 253 The dentine is continued down to a very fine point, and it is cased by an exceedingly tliin layer of enamel, not much more than -gi^ of an inch in thickness in our common English viper : thus the utmost sharpness is secured, without loss of elasticity, which would have ensued had its point been made up of brittle enamel only. Enamel covers the whole exterior of the tooth but does not extend into the poison canal in the viperine snakes ; in Hydrophis I believe that it does. As the point is simple, the tooth germ of a poison-fang only becomes distinguishable from that of another ophidian tooth after the tip of the tooth has been formed, when a groove appears in its side (see 8 and 9, in Fig. 108). It being the habit of poisonous snakes to make use of these weapons to kill their prey, which they consequently do not swallow alive, it would obviously subject them to no little inconvenience to be without these weapons for any considerable length of time, while from their habit of striking living prey the long fangs must be very liable to being broken off by the jumping away of the creature struck, to say nothing of the great force with which the blow is given. In the most typical (viperine) poisonous snakes the succession of teeth is conducted upon a plan which is unique, and which is excellently adapted to save loss of time in the replacement of a lost poison fang. Upon the movable maxillary bones there is space enough for two poison fangs, side by side ; only one, however, is fully anchylosed to the bone at a time, and occupies a place to the extreme right or extreme left of the bone, leaving vacant space for another by its side. When the tooth in use falls, it will be succeeded by a tooth upon the vacant spot by its side, not upon the spot upon which itself stood, so that the places on the right and the left of the bone are occupied alternately by the tooth 254 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. in use. Thus, in Fig.' 105, the poison [fang of the snake's right side is seen occupying a position on the extreme out- side of the maxillary bone, while its left poison fang is fixed on the inside of the maxillary bone. The upper boundary of Fig. 108 is formed by the flap of mucous membrane which covers in the poison feng when at rest. Isos. 1 and 2 lie in the pouch formed by it, the Fia. 108 ('). ^' -.0 section happening to be tal-jju fiuiu a specimen in which the tooth was about to be changed. In most specimens one tooth only, the tooth actually in use, is seen in this position. A Hap hanging free across this space serves apparently to (') Ti-ansverse section of the reserve poison fangs of a Viper. 1. Tootli at present in use, in its recumbent position ; were it erect, it would be witiidrawn from view, or else seen in longitudinal section. 2. Tooth which will next succeed to No. 1. 3, 4, 5, &c. Tooth -sacs numbered in the order in which thev will succeed. THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 255 keep teeth of the oue series from getting over to the other side, and probably serves to hold in place the reserve tooth when the older tooth is erected for biting. The reserve poison fangs, as many as ten in nnmber in the Rattlesnake, are likewise arranged in two parallel series, in which the teeth exist in pairs of almost equal age ; the tooth in use is thus derived alternately from the one and the other series, as is indicated by the consecutive numbers in the figure, a septum of connective tissue keeping the two series of teeth distinct from one another. The teeth being arranged in pairs of almost equal age, suggest that the succession is both rapid and regular. All the reserve teeth lie recumbent in and behind the sheath of mucous membrane which covers in the functional tooth. This arrangement of the successional teeth in a paired series does not exist in the Cobra, in which the successional teeth form but a single series ; perhaps this may serve to explain the preference of the snake charmers for the Cobra, which would probably take longer to replace a removed poison fang than a viperine snake would. But in the colubrine venomous snakes the successional poison fang sometimes makes its way to a spot a little to the side of its predecessor, so that there may possibly be no loss of time : and notwithstanding that they are in a measure transitional forms between the harmless and the viperine snakes, some of them are most virulently poisonous and deadly in their bite {'). This arrangement of hro distinct chains of younger de- veloping organs, all destined to keep the creature always supplied with one organ in a state of efficiency, is, so far as I know, without parallel. Like other ophidian teeth the poison fangs become an- (1) I have given a more detailed account of the suecession of poison fangs in the Philos; Trans., 1876, Part i. 256 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. chylosed to the bone which carries them, their secure fixation being aided by the base of the tooth being fluted, as well as by a sort of buttress work of new bone being thrown out to secure each new poison fang as it comes into place. The poison is secreted by a salivary gland homologous with the parotid ; by an especial arrangement of the muscles and fascia about it the erection of the poison fang and the infliction of the bite cause a copious stream of poison to be Fig. 109 ('). ejected. The duct terminates in a sort of papilla, close to the superior orifice of the tube in the fang : the passage of a considerable portion of the poison down the tube is secured by the close apposition of a shield of mucous membrane, which is strained over the erected tooth. In Crocodilia tlie teeth are confined to the margins of (') Jaws of the Crocodile. Tlie first, fourth, and eleventh teeth in the lower jaw, and the third and ninth in the upper, arc seen to attain to a larger size than the others. THE TEETH OF REPTILES. the jaws, where they are very formidable in size and shar])- ness. The individual teeth are generally conical, sharply pointed, and often a little compressed from side to side, so as to possess sharp edges ; but they vary much in form in different species. The teeth are lodged in distinct tubular alveolar cavities, to the walls of which they do not become anchylosed, and they are tolerably constant in number in the same species. In parts of the mouth certain teeth are developed to a greater length than those nearest to them ; thus, in the Crocodile proper, the first and fourth lower teeth are spe- FiG. 110 (1). ^/ cially large, while in the extinct African Galesaurus the diflPerence is so marked that both in the upper and lower (') Transverse section of tlie lower jaw of a yonng Alligator, a. Oral epithelium, h. Bone of socket, d. Dentine of old tooth. 2. Tooth next in order of succession, which is causing absorption of one side of the base of the older tooth. 3. Young tooth a;erm. 268 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. jaws the teeth might be grouped as incisors and canines, so far as size and probable function go in such a classification. In structure the teeth of crocodiles consist of hard, fine tubed dentine, with an investing cap of enamel, and in addition a coating of cementum on their implanted por- tions. As already mentioned, they are implanted in tubu- lar sockets ; new successional teeth are being continually developed at the inner side of their bases, and as these at- tain to a certain size, absorption attacks the base of the older tooth, and its successor moves into the space so gained, so that it comes to be situated vertically beneath the older tooth. In its further growth it causes yet more absorption of the older tooth, which it ultimately pushes out in front of it, sometimes carrying the remains of the old tooth like a cap upon its own apex when it first emerges. Each new tooth vertically succeeds its predecessor ; hence no additional teeth are added, but the young newly hatched crocodile has as many teeth as a full grown one. In the extinct Ichthyosaurus the teeth, while forming an armatu^re not unlike that of some of the crocodiles, were not implanted in distinct sockets, but were lodged in a continuous shallow groove, with but slight indications of transverse divisions. The huge Dinosauria, some of which must have been thirty feet in length, had teeth implanted in imperfect sockets, the outer alveolar wall being considerably higher than the inner, and the transverse septa not very complete. The I'oots of the teeth were more or less perfectly cylindrical, and the enamelled crowns compressed and expanded, with trenchant edges. The tooth of the Iguanodon will sen-e as a fair example of a Dinosaurian tooth : the crown is greatly ex- panded, and presents anterior and posterior sharp notched margins ; the enamel is laid over the ou^ter surface of upper teeth, and the inner of lower teeth. The enamelled surface is ridged, so that- as it wears down a notched edge is main- THE TEETH OF REPTILES. 259 tained. Moreover the maintenance of a sharp edge is further secured by the dentine on the enamelled side of the crown being of the hard unvasciilar variety, that on the inner being vaso-dentine and therefore softer. The remnant of the pnlp ossifies, and comes into use, as these teeth remained at work until worn quite to a flat surface. The root portion was smooth, round, and curved. Professor Marsh (American Journal of Science, March, 1880) has described and figured a pecuHar Diuosaurian den- tition, in a reptile to which he gives the name of Stegosaurus ; the teeth are slightly compressed transversely, and are covered with a thin enamel ; the roots are long and slender, implanted weakly in separate sockets. But at the inner side of the roots of the teeth in use were no less than five suc- cessional teeth, in graduated stages of development, ready to ultimately take its place ; so large a number of successional teeth has uot hitherto been met with in a Dinosaur. A very remarkable carnivorous reptile as large as a lion has been described by Professor Owen (Quart. Journal Geolog. Society, 1876,) under the name of Cynodraco major for the reception of which he proposes a new reptilian order, that of Theriodontia. Its dentition is not completely known, but it possessed in the lower jaw eight incisors, of Avhich the first is the smallest, and a canine of moderate size. The upper incisors are not known, but there were a pair of upper cabines of such size that they extended down along the outside of flattened poi'tion of the lower jaw, like the canine teeth of Machairodus. The hinder margins of these canines were trenchant, and finely serrated. The Pterosauria, or flying reptiles, have, since the discovery of toothed birds, become of special interest to the odontologist. The wings were stretched membranes, like those of a bat, and the measurement across their tips in some of the largest must have been twenty-five feet ; but most of those known were much smaller, from 260 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. 10 to 15 inches iu total length of body. In the Pterodactyls the jaws are furnished with long, slender, sharp teeth in their whole length : but in Ramphorhynchus the anterior extremities of the jaws are without teeth, and it has been con- jectured that tliese portions were sheathed in horny beaks. And Prof. Marsh (American Journal of Science, 1876,) has discovered, in the same formation in which he found the toothed birds, several species of Pterodactyls wholly without teeth, for which the generic name Pteranodon is proposed. The jaws, which are more like those of birds than those of any known reptile, show no traces of teeth, and the pre- maxillaries seern to have been encased in a horny covering. The Teeth of Biiids. Piior to the discovery by Professor Marsh of Yale College, in 1870, of the remains of birds with teeth in the cretaceous formations of Western Kansas, little was with certainty known about the existence of teeth in any bird, although one or two fossils, leading to the suspicion that birds might have possessed teeth, were known. The state of knowledge up to that time has been clearly summarised by Mr. Wood- ward (Popular Science Review, 1875,) to this effect : that it had been long supposed that no examples of teeth were to be met with amongst the birds, although some, such as the Merganser, have the margins of the bill serrated, so that the functions of teeth are discharged by this horny armature of the jaws. It is noteworthy that the margin of the bone of the jaws is also serrated, each serration corresponding to a similar serration in the bill. In the fossil bird described by Pro- fessor Owen, from the London clay, under the name of Odontopteryx toliapicus, the form of the bill is not known, but the margins of the jaws are furnished with strong bony prominences, far more conspicuous than those of the THE TEETH OF BIRDS. 261 Merganser. And GeofFroy St. Hilaire had described a series of vascular pulps as existing on the margin of the jaw of parroquets just about to be hatched, which, though destined to form a horny bill, and not to be calcified into teeth, yet strikingly recalled dental pulps. Then there is also the famous fossil Ai'chseopteryx, an anomalous oolitic bird, with a long and jointed tail, which is by many zoologists believed to have possessed teeth. There is a flaw in the evidence, however, inasmuch as the toothed jaw is not in situ, and therefore may possibly have belonged to some other animal than that perpetuated in the rest of the fossil impression, though i:)robability is altogether in favour of its really belonging to the Archseopteryx. In successive expeditions, conducted under great ditiiculties owing to the extremes of heat and cold, and to the hostility of the Indians, the remains of no less than one hundred and fifty diflFerent individuals referable to the sub-class Odontornithes have been obtained by Prof. Marsh ; they are classified under nine genera, and twenty species. They are referable to two widely different types, one group consisting of comparatively small birds, with great power of flight, and having their teeth implanted in distinct sockets (Odontotoruse, illustrated by the genus Ichthyornis as a type) ; the other group consisting of very large swimming- birds, without wings, and having teeth in grooves (Odontolca;, type genus Hesperornis). In Ichthyornis the teeth were about twenty-one in num-ber in each ramus, all sharp and pointed, and recurved ; the crowns were coated with enamel, and the front and back edges sharp but not serrated. They are implanted in distinct though shallow sockets, and the maxillary teeth are a little larger than those opposing them ; the premaxillaries were probably edentulous, and perhaps covered with a horny bill. In the lower jaw the largest teeth occur about the middle A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of the I'iimus, those at its posteiior end being materially smaller ; and the sockets are deeper and stronger than in the upper jaw. The succession takes place vertically, as in Crocodiles and Dinosaurs. The genus Hesperoruis, probably diving birds, includes species 6 feet in length : as has already been mentioned the teeth are not implanted in distinct sockets, but lie in a continuous groove like those of Ichthyosaurus ; slight pro- jections from the lateral walls indicate a partitioning off into sockets, but nothing more than this is attained, and after the perishing of the soft parts the teeth were easily displaced, and had often fallen out of the jaws. The pre- maxillary is edentulous, but the teeth extend (piite to the anterior extremity of the lower jaw : in one specimen there arc fourteen sockets in the max- illary bone, and thirty-three in the corresponding lower ramus. The successional tooth germs were formed at the side of the base of the old ones, and causing absorption of the old roots, migrated into the excavations ., grew large, and ultimately expelled their prede- cessors, as is seen in the accompanying figure. In structure these teeth consist of hard dentine, invested with a rather thin layer of enamel, and having a large axial pulp cavity. The basal portion of the roots consists of osteodentine. so formed, Q) Mandible of Ichfcliyornis (after Prof. Marsh). A. Side view, show- ing the teeth in situ. B. View of upper surface, showing the sockets in which tlie teeth were implanted. THE TEETH OF BIRDS. The outer side of the crown is nearly flat, the inner strongly convex : the junction of these surfaces is marked by a sharp ridge, not serrated. In form the teeth of Hesperornis present a close resem- blance to those of Mosasaiu'us, a great extinct lizard. Indeed, as Prof. Marsh observes, "in all their main Fig. 1]2(1). features the teeth of Hesperornis are essentially reptilian, and no anatomist v/ould hesitate to refer them to that class, had they been found alone. Combined with the other reptilian characters of Hesperornis .... they clearly indicate a genetic connection with that group." In the dentine contour lines are abundant ; the enamel is so dense as to appear structureless, and there is no coronal cementum. The foregoing account is condensed from the magnificent volume published by the United States Government Geo- logical Exploration. (Odontornithes, a monograph, ikc, by O. C. Marsh, Prof, of Palaeontology, Yale College.) With these notable exceptions, the jaws of all known birds are toothless, the horny cases forming their beaks taking the places and fulfilling the functions of teeth. (0 (After Prof Marsh.) A. Hesperornis regalis, with successional tooth in an excavation at its base ; enlarged eight diameters. B. Tooth of Mos- isauriis princeiJS, half natural size. CHAPTER VIII. THE TEETH OP MAMMALS. The class Mammalia is divided into three groups : — I. Ornlthodclphla. Animals with a common genito-ui-inaiy chamber, and separate coracoid bones ; no vagina ; no teats ; comprises a single order, Monntrriinita, which contains only two genera, the Ornithorhynchus and the Echidna. II. Didrlphia. Animals with a vagina, &c. ; of which the young are bom in an exceedingly early condition, probably without the formation of any placenta, and are transferred to the nipple of the mother, where, in almost all, they are protected by a fold of the abdominal integu- ment, which forms the marsupium, or pouch ; comprises the single order J/(cr.'idla — Cats, Dogs, and Bears, kc. Carnivora jiinnipcilia — Seals, Wabus, &c. Cefacra — WTialebone \\Tiales, Sperm "WTiales, Porpoises, &c. Sircnia {Ilcrhivoroiis Cctacra) — Manatee, Dugong, &c. Cngiihita (Hoofed Mammals) — (i.) Perissodactyla, or odd-toed — Horse. Tapir, Rhinoceros, &c. (ii.) Artiodactyla, or those with an even number of toes — Pigs and their allies. Camels, Ruminants, &c. Dinoccrata — Gigantic Fossil Mammals, somewhat intermediate be- tween Perissodactyl Ungulata, and Proboscidea. Hyracoidca — The anomalous Hyrax (Biblical " Cony ") alone. P/"oJf«ce rudimentary. 288 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. merely rudimentary, as in Man or the C'arnivora ; or the investment -with enamel may be only partial, as upon the front of a Rodent incisor; or a tooth may be composed solely of a mass of hard vinvascular dentine, as in the teeth of the Wrasses. And just as endless varieties of teeth may be produced by the suppression, or partial svippression, of certain of the tissues, so differences may be brought about by the occvir- rence of other than the three usual tissiies. Thus the remains of the central pulp cavity often becomes occupied by calcified pulp, forming " osteodentine ; " this, which occurs in man as an almost pathological condition, is per- fectly normal in many animals ; in the sperm whale, for instance, or in the constantly growing teeth of the sloth, the central axes of which are occupied by dentine permeated by medullary canals. It is not so much the complexities induced by variation in minute structure that concerns ns here, as those brought about by the arrangement of the different tissues. If we take a simple conical tooth with one cusp, such as a canine, and grind or wear down its apex till the terminal portion of enamel is removed, its blunted end will present a more or less circular area of dentine, surrounded by a rim of enamel. If Ave imagine a tooth with four long similar cusps, we shall at a certain stage of wear have four such areas, while eventually, as the tooth gets worn down below the level of the basis of the cusps, there will come to be a single larger area of dentine surrounded by enamel. Thus in those teeth the grinding surfaces of which are rendered complex in pattern by the presence of several cusps, the pattern changes from time to time as the tooth wears down ; while the addition of thick cementum filling up the inter- spaces of the cusps, adds a further element of complexity, as is seen in the teeth of most herbivorous creatures. The change of pattern induced by the wearing down of the surface THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. to a lower level is well and sim])ly illustrated by the " mark " of the incisor teeth of a horse. Ill an uncut, and therefore perfectly unworn tooth, such as is represented in the figure, the condition of the apex may be compared to the fii^ger of a glove, the tip of which Fig. 118 Q). has been pushed in or invagiiiated. The depression so formed is, like the rest of the sin-face, coated with enamel, and with a thin layer of cementum. When the tooth is worn down to a considerable extent, we have a field of dentine, in the centre of which is an oval ring of enamel; within this a space filled with the debris of food, tfcc. This constitutes the mark (see next jjage), and as the tooth becomes further worn down, below the level of the bottom of the pit, the mark disappears, and a plain area of dentine results. Not only may inflections of the surface and of the enamel take place from the grinding surface, but they also abun- dantly occur upon the sides of the tooth. The inflection of the surface, which in the incisors of the horse is of the simplest possible form, may be crucifoi-m, or variously waved and broken up, thus leading to all sorts of com- plications of surface. As the tooth becomes worn, the longitudinal inflections, running in from the sides, may also be oblique, or variously waved, or they may extend through the entire width of tlie tooth, thus cutting it into Q) Apex of crown of an upper incisor of a Horse, not yet completely formed. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of plates of dentine and enamel, fused into one tooth by the cementum (sec fig. 12-")). Interestinf? as liave been the discoveries made of late Fio. 119 (' Fig. 120 (-). years n\ Mammalian paleontology, it is not as yet by any means possible to determine from what common pattern or patterns all complex mammalian teeth may be considered to have been derived ; though the pattern of some, for example, of the molars of the horse, may be traced back in increasing simplicity through a number of parent forms. Enough has, however, been done to indicate that by careful study many complexities of pattern may be referred to a few particular types, and thus may be simplified by a com- parison with other allied forms, in which essential charac- teristics are not masked by minor complications. Starting (') Horse incisor, in longitudinal section. (-) Horse's incisors, showing the mark at various ages. THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. 291 from the human tooth, as being familiar to us all, a quadrate crown, with four cusps at its corners, is common to many animals ; the oblique ridge, present in some apes, not in others, is met with also in some Insectivora, e.g. the Hedge- hog. Ax'ound the neck of many teeth runs a pronounced ridge, the " cingulum," and tliis may be produced up into additional cusps. A very instructive series of comparisons of the molar teeth of Insectivora has been made by Mr. jMivart (Journal of Anat. and Physiol.: 1868); pointing out that within the limits of this group a great variety of patterns is met with, the several modifications being connected by transi- tional forms. It would appear that upon the molar teeth (npper) of Insectivora there are four principal cusps (lettered a, b, c, d, in the figure) which are more or less connected by ridges ; such simple teeth are met with in the elephant mice (Macroscelides), and hedgehog. The cingulum is well developed in most of the group, and the further complexity of the crowns, which often bristle with sharp points, is brought about by the elevation of the cingulum into long sharp points, equalling, or exceeding in length, the principal cusps of the tooth. Thus in Urotrichus, a Japanese creature having affinities with the mole, the external cingulum is elevated into thi-ee distinct pointed cusps, united by ridges with the two prin- cipal cusps, an aiTangemeut which gives a sort of W pattei'n to the sm-face, while to the inner side the cingulum forms another cusp, so that there ai-e in all eight cusps; the common mole has the third cusp developed from the outer cingulum, but its two inner principal cusps are fused together and lose their distinctives. The suppression and fusion of cusps is carried to a much greater extent in the compressed teeth of the iridescent mole (Chrysochloris), but there are intermediate forms which render it easy to identify its x; 2 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. reversed part with those corresponding- to tlicni in the mole or in Urotrichns. Speaking generally, it may be said that new cnsps are added to the number already existing, by tlie cingulum Fig. 121 ■>*1f becoming elevated into points ; it is not very unusual to see subsidiary cusps, obviously originating in this way, upon human molars. Ridges may variously connect the cusps ; and the coales- cence of two or more cusps to form an exceedingly elevated point is illustrated by the Carnassial tooth of carnivora ; to this transformation certain marsupial teeth form the clue, as they afford unquestionable evidence of such coalescence by a gradational series of small modifications in this direction occurring in allied creatures. A simple j^attern of tooth is formed by the junction of the two anterior and two posterior cusj)s by simple ridges ; and the cingulum may connect the outer ends of tliese two ridges ; sucli a tooth is seen in the Tapir and in the Palseotherium. By the varied obliquity of these ridges, C) Upper molar teeth of (A) Urotriclm.s ; (IJ) Mole ; and (C) Chryso- cliloris. The four principal cusps are lettered a, b, c, d, in each of the figures. In A the cingulum has been elevated so as to form four additional cusps on the exterior of the tooth, and one additional cusp on the interior. B and C show the fusion of certain of these cusps, and the consequent diminution in their number. (From Mivart. ) THE TEETH OF 21 AM MA LS. and by the introduction of secondary inflections, patterns apparently dissimilar are arrived at. In the molar tooth of the horse, arrived at hy a modifi- cation of the Palseotherium type, we have a surface con- stantly kept rough by the varying hardness of its difterent constituents. In a worn tooth, we have upon a general field of dentine Fi(?. 122 fix two islands of cementum, Iiouuilcd by tortuous lines of enamel, and on the inner side a sort of promontory of dentine, bounded by enamel. The tortuous lines of enamel by virtue of their hardness will, at all stages of wear, be more prominent than the dentine or the cementum, and will hence maintain the efficiency of teeth as grinders. The patterns of grinding sm-face thus produced, are very constant for allied species, so that an individual tooth of a herbivore may sometimes be correctly referred to its genus, and always to its family. But as it will be necessary to recur to this subject from time to time, it will suffice for the present to point out that such correspondences do exist, and that all the complexities of pattern found, may, in practice, be reduced to some few types. (') Molaf tooth of Horse, showing the cliaract eristic pattern of its grinding surface. 294 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Tlic development of additional cusps from up-growths of the cingulum, and the suppression or fusion of pre-existing cusps, may be traced b}' a comparison of the teeth of allied animals, and thus connecting links are foimd between jjatterns at first sight very dissimilai-. The order Proboscidea affords, however, so instructive an example of the manner in which an exceedingly complex tooth lias l)een derived from a simple one, that it may l)e mentioned in this place us an exam]>le. The tooth of the elephant is so strikingly unlike other teeth tliat it might at first sight be supposed that it is more essentially different than is really the case. The clue Fig. 123 ('). bed e to its nature is afforded by the teeth of an extinct Pro- boscidian, the Mastodon. If we take as our starting point the second true molar of one of the Mastodons (Tetralo- phodon) Ave find its crown to be made up of four sti'ongly pronounced transverse ridges, the summits of which are made up of rounded eminences (whence the name Mastodon, (') Second ujiper molar of IMastudon (longirostri.s), from Falconer. About one-eighth natural size. The four transverse ridges, h, c, d, c, are seen to be, to some extent, divided into outer and inner divisions by a longitudinal cleft, much less deep than the transverse indentation. At the front there is a slight elevation of cingulum into a " talon " (a), and a similar one at the back of the tooth ; by its further elevation additional ridges or cusjis would be formed. THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. 295 from /Aaaros, ix nipple). The three transverse ridges coalesce at their bases, and the crown is siipportcd upon a number of roots corresjionding to the ridges. If we take the next tooth, or the third true molar, the general character remains the same, save that there are five ridges, and indications of as many roots ; still the general correspondence of the ridges with the cusps of less aberrant teeth is obvious. The crown is coated by enamel, over which there is a thin layer of cement, which does not fill up the whole interval between the ridges. Thus the tooth is not a very aberrant one ; it is obviously nothing more than a tooth in which the somewhat numerous cusps are connected bj- transverse ridges, and are very long and strongly pronounced. To convert the tooth of a mastodon into that of an elephant, we should have to multiply the number of ridges, to further increase their depth, to fill up solidly the inter- spaces between them with cementum, and to stunt the roots. The completed tooth of an elephant is a squarish or rather oblong mass, from the base of which sjDring con- tracted and stunted roots. It consists of a common pulp cavity, small in proportion to the bulk of the tooth, and (') Molar tooth of an Asiatic Eleiihant, sliowiiig the transverse plates of Jentiue borJereil by enamel. 296 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. deep down in the mass, from which many thin laminee are sent up towards the surface, each consisting of an oblong area of dentine enclosed by enamel ; and the interspaces of these exaggerated cusps are solidly lillcd in by cementum. Between the Mastodon and the Indian Elej)bant are a number of transitional forms in which we are able to trace the gradual modification of the not excessively aberrant tooth of the Mastodon into the very peculiar huge molar of the Indian Elephant. The numerous transverse })lates of the elephant's grinder."* are united by dentine at their bases, and a common pulp cavity and truncate roots are formed ; but in this last respect the molar teeth of the ca})ybara depart still farther from the ordinary type, for Ijcing molars of persistent Fig. 125 ('). growth, their numerous transverse plates of dentine and enamel do not become continuous, and there is no common pulp cavity. It is as though in an elephant's grinder the plates, which are for a long time distinct, never coalesced, but continued to grow on separately, being united with their fellows by cementum only. It has been suggested (J. A. ilyder, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Philadelphia, 1878), that the pattern of the molar teeth of herbivora is the result of the extent and direction of the excursions of the mandible when it is in use, and so depends upon the form of the glenoid cavity and of the condyle, and that hence the greatest modification is to be i}) Molar of CajDybara, sliowing the transverse plates of dentiue and enamel united to one another by cementum. THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. 297 found nearest to the articulation, where the greatest force is exei'ted. Thus "bunodont" animals, z'.e. those that have rounded conical cusps ujjon their short-rooted teeth, have a cylindrical condyle ; selenodouts, or those with crescentic ridges on the molars, have a condyle which is expanded and plane, while lophodonts, or those with transversely ridged teeth, have a globular condyle. This correspondence pointed out between the condyle, the movements of the jaw, and the form of the teeth does exist, but it is less easy to see how it is brought about. The simple mechanical explanation that the teeth are drawn out into these forms, hardly conveys much information, seeing that the tooth before it is subjected to these influences, is quite finished, and its form, such as it is, is unalterable : while to effect an alteration in the form of a masticating surface an influence must be brought to bear iipon the tooth germs at an exceedingly early period. It might with equal justice be said that the crown of the tooth being foi'med thus had influenced the excursions of the jaw, and so modified the condyle. THE JIILK DEXTITIOX. Some thirty years ago Professor Owen called attention tc> the fact that those mammals in whom thd teeth situated in different parts of the mouth were alike in form (homodonts), developed only one set of teeth, and to indicate this charac- teristic he proposed for them the term " monophyodonts." Those, which, on the contrary, had teeth of different size and form in various parts of the mouth (heterodonts), de- veloped two sets of teeth ; a " milk " set, which was dis- placed by a permanent set, and this peculiarity he expressed by the term " diphyodonts." As originally set forth, the terms homodont and monophyodont were interchangeable. A MAXUAL OF DENTAL AXATOMY. for they designated the same groups of animals ; in the same way heterodont was an equivalent for diphyodont. But although this is true of a large number of animals, it is not true of all, and it becomes necessary to note some of the exceptions. The nine-banded armadillo (Tatusia puba) is a true homo- dont : its teeth are all very nearly alike, they are simple in form, and they grow from persistent pulps. Yet it has been shown by Rapp, Gervais, and Professor Flower, to have a well developed set of milk teeth, retained until the animal is of nearly full size. Thus it is a true diphyodont, at the same time that it is a true homodont mammal. But no milk dentition has been observed in the sloths, uor indeed at present has it been seen in any other armadillo (except the doubtfully distinct T. Klapperi) ; nor have milk teeth been found in any ceta- cean, so that the rest of the homodont animals are, so far as we know, really monophyodont. Nor is it absolutely true that monopliyodonts are all homodont : thus the rudimentary teeth of balfcnoptera are heterodont (see p. 311). Upon the whole, our information respecting the " milk " or deciduous dentition is defective ; but much light has been thrown upon the subject by the investigations of Professor Flower (Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 1869, and Transactions Odontological Society, 1871), of whose papers I have made free use in this chapter. The perpetual replacement of teeth lost, or shed in regular course, which characterises the dentition offish and reptiles, finds no parallel in the case of mammals, none of whom develop more than two sets of teeth. Just as homodont mammals as a rule develop but one set of teeth, so heterodont mammals as a rule develop two sets of teeth, though exceptions to this rule may be found. The deciduous or milk set of teeth may be of any degree THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. 299 of completeness ; the milk teeth in man answer the require- ments of the child up to the age of seven years, and in the Ungulata they commonly remain until the animal has assumed its adult proportions. On the other hand, in many " diphyodont " animals the milk teeth disapjiear very early indeed, as in the mole (see Fig. 117) ; whilst there are many instances of the milk teeth being absorbed in utero. fSo that in the extent to which the milk teeth are developed, the greatest variability is found to exist. A perfectly typical milk dentition represents, upon a reduced scale, the adult dentition of the animal, with the exception only that sexual differences are but feelily marked, if indeed the}- are at all present. Thus, as a general rule, the hindmost of the milk teeth bear more resemblance to the true molars which come up behind them, than they do to the premolars which come up from below to displace them, which latter are generallj^ of simpler form. In what may be termed the normal arrangement, each tooth of the milk series is vertically displaced b}^ a tooth of the permanent series ; but plenty of examples may be found of particular milk teeth which have no successors, and, on the contrary, individual permanent teeth which have never had a deciduous predecessor. It has already l^een mentioned that amongst homodonts no succession of teeth has been observed in the Cetacea, nor in any other of the Edentata, save the armadillo ; amongst heterodonts there are several Rodents which have no deciduous teeth, e.g., the rat ; the dugong has probably deciduous incisors, but no other milk teeth ; the elephant has no vertical succession, save in the incisors. Among Marsupials, which are true heterodonts, there is only one milk molar on each side in each jaw; this is always displaced by the third or last premolar ; but the milk tooth varies in the extent to which it is developed from being A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. rudimentary in Thylacinus, probably absent altogether in Dasyurus, and Phascolarctus, to being a large tooth retained in full use till the animal is nearly full grown in Hypsiprymnus. Within the group Carnivora, the dog and many others Fig. 126 (i). Fiti. 127 (2). have a thoroughly well developed set of milk teeth, which do service for some time ; in the l)ear the milk teeth are relatively smaller, and are shed very early ; in the seal the milk teeth arc rudimentary, functionless, and are absorbed before birth, so that in the specimen figured the milk incisors had already disappeared (see Fig. 127). Q) Permaneut and milk dentitions of a Dug ; tlic iatter was well de- veloped. Nat. size. (-) Permanent and milk dentition of a seal (Plioca Greeulandia). Nat. size. THE TEETH OF MAMMALS. 301 In the elephant seal the milk teeth are yet more rudi- mentary, and the difference between its dentition and that of the monophyodont homodont cetacean (Grampus) is not Fig. 128 ('). ■5 ncd P.IZO Fir.. 129 (-) iial size gi-eat ; an observation which is the more interesting, inas- much as this seal in other characters than its teeth ap- proaches towards the cetacean group. From these facts, which are well indicated in the accompanying figures, Pro- fessor Flower arg-ues that the permanent set of teeth of (') Permanent aiul milk ilentition of an Elephant Seal (Cystophora proboscidea). (-) Teeth of the truly moiioiihyoilal (jrampiis (Orca capensis). (These four figures are copied from Prof. Flower's paper). 302 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. diphyodonts correspond to the single set of monophyodonts, so that the milk dentition, when it exists at all, is some- thing superadded. Whether this 1)e so is a question difficult to determine ; from the facts advanced by Professor Flower, while they stood alone, most people would, with little hesitation, concur Avith his conclusions ; but the history of the development of the teeth interposes a fresh difficidty. The tooth germ of the milk tooth is first f(jrmed, and the tooth germ of the permanent tooth is derived from a portion (the neck of the enamel germ) of the formative organ of the milk tooth (see Fig. 67). Again, in most of those animals in which there is an endless succession of teeth, such as the snake, the newt, or the shark, each successive tooth germ is derived from a similar part of its predecessor, the natural inference from which would be that the permanent set, being derived from the other, was the thing added in the diphyodonts. The question cannot be finally settled imtil we know more of the development of the teeth of the monophyodont cetacea : thus it might turn out that in them also there ai-e abortive germs of milk teeth formed, which do not go on so far as calcification, but which do bud off, as it were, germs or per- manent teeth ; if such should prove to be the case, this would bring their teeth into close correspondence with those of the elephant seal. The investigation of these questions is further complicated by the fact that there are quite numerous instances of " per- manent " teeth, that is teeth unquestionably belonging to the second set, which are shed off early, and do not remain in place through the lifetime of the animal ; an example of this is to be found in the Wart Hog (Phacochserus), which loses successively all its premolars and the first and second true molars, the last true molar alone being truly persistent. Sometimes nothing but a careful comparison of the teeth THE TEETH OF JL-LUMALS. 303 of allied creatures will eiial)le us to decide whether a parti- cular tooth is to be referred to the milk or to the permanent series ; as occasionally teeth of the latter set are cut very early, at a time when the milk teeth are all in place, and are shed during adult life. Professor Flower gives as an example of this, the first premolar of the hippopotamus. CuviER. Dents des Mammiferes. De Blaixville. Osteographie. 1839 — lSr)4. Owen. Odontography. 184.5. G-IEBEL. Odontographie. 18.i.>. Flower. Lectures on Odontology (British Med. Journal, 187 1). CHAPTER IX. THE TEETH OF MONOTREMATA, EDENTATA, AND CETACEA. :monotremata. The Echidna, or Spiny Ant-eater has no teeth whatever, and the strange Ornithorhyncus (duck-ljilled Platypus) is also destitute of true calcified teeth. In the place of teeth its flattened hill is furnished with eight horny plates, two on each side of each jaw. We may therefore pass at once to the orders Edentata and Cetacea, which it is convenient to take first, as their dentitions are of that simple form designated by the term "Homodont." THE TEETH OF EDENTATA (BrUTa). Sloths, Armadillos, Ant-eaters. The term Edentata was applied to the animals of this order to indicate the absence of incisors (teeth in the inter- maxillary bone) : though this is true of most of them, a few have some upper incisors, but the central incisors are in all cases wanting. Some of them are quite edentulous ; this is the case in the Mutica, or South American Ant-eaters (Myrmecophaga and Cyclothurus), in which the excessively elongated jaws cannot be separated to any considerable extent, the mouth being a small slit at the end of the elongated muzzle. Food is taken in by the protrusion of an excessively long, whip-like tongue, which is covered by the viscid secretion THE TEETH OF EDEXTATA. 305 of the great sub-maxillary glands, and is wielded with much dexterity. The Mauis, or Scaly Ant-eater is also edentulous. The Edentata belong to the monoj^hyodont or homodont section of Mammalia ; but, in some, certain teeth are more largely developed than others, so that we have teeth which might be termed canines ; and it has already been mentioned that one armadillo, at all events, is diphyodont. The teeth are of simple form, and do not in any marked degree differ in the different parts of the mouth, except only by their size (to this the canine-like tooth of the two- toed sloth is an exception). They are all of persistent growth, and therefore no division of parts into crown, neck, and root is possible : they consist generally of dentine and cement, with sometimes the addition of vaso-dentine, into which latter tissue the central axis of the pulp is converted ; while in some members of the order other peculiarities of structure exist : thus in the Orycteropus (Cape Ant-eater), dentine like that of Myliobates is found ; and in the Megathe- rium hard dentine, a peculiar vaso-dentine, and richly vascular cementum co-exist (see Fig. 4.3). I am not aware that enamel has been seen upon the teeth of any Edentate animal, but I found some years ago that the tooth germs of the nine-banded armadillo were provided with enamel organs ; this, however, proves nothing, for (Philos. Trans., 1876) I believe the presence of enamel organs to be uniA-ersal and quite independent of any after formation of enamel. The teeth of the nine-banded armadillo (T. peba), will serve to illustrate the character of the dentition of the class. They are seven in number on each side of the jaw, of roundish form on section, and those of the upper and lower jaws alternate, so that by wear they come to terminate in wedge-shaped grinding surfaces : before they are at all X 306 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. worn they are bilobed, as may be seen in sections of the tooth germs. In the accompanying figure the milk teeth are represented, and beneath them their permanent successors : the divari- cated bases of the milk teeth are due to the absorption set up by the approach of their successors, and not to the X2 I\.S. formation of any definite roots. Successional teeth have been detected in this armadillo only (except also in T, kappleri, which is perhaps a mere variety) ; but material does not exist in our museums which would enable us to positively deny their occm-rence in other forms. Professor Flower has failed to discover any succession of teeth in the sloths, and I have myself, through the kindness'of the late Professor Garrod, examined microscopically the jaws of a foetal Choloepus, in which the teeth were but little calcified, and failed to detect any indication of a second set of tooth germs. The probability is, therefore, that they are truly Monophyodont. In the armadillos the teeth are always of simple form and about thirty-two in number, except in Priodon, which has as many as a hundred teeth, a number altogether exceptional among mammals. Sloths have fewer teeth than armadillos, and these softer in character, the axis of vaso-dentine entering more largely (1) Lower jaw of a young Armadillo (Tatusia peba), showing the milk- teeth (a) in place, and their successors (h) beneath them. From a specimen in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. THE TEETH OF CETACEA. 307 into their composition, and foimiug as much as half the biilk of the tooth. The Orycteropus, or Cape Ant-eater, the pecu]iarities of ■whose teeth have ah-eady been alluded to, has about twenty- six teeth in all ; the true ant-eaters are edentulous. The teeth of some of the gigantic extinct Edentates -were a little more complex in foi'm and structure ; thus the teeth of the Glyptodon were divided by longitudinal grooves, which in section rendered it trilobed ; and the teeth of the Mega- therium were likewise marked by a longitudinal furrow. In their persistent growth, uniformity of shape, and absence from the inter-maxiUary bone, they strictly con- formed with the teeth of recent Edentata. THE TEETH OF CETACEA. No cetacean is known to develop more than one set of teeth, and these, when present in any considerable numbers, closely resemble one another in form. They are usually composed of hai'd dentine, with an in- vestment of cement ; after the attainment of the full dimensions of the tooth what remains of the pulp is very commonly converted into secondary dentine ; tips, and even entire investments ' '- ■■":.• ''■ 1> ~^KJ'-^ ^vJ^ ^'^ c d crucial depression separating the cusps ; in the Hippopot- amus the same pattena is repeated, though not quite so simply, as each cusp is fluted in a definite manner. In Rhinoceros the two external cusps are united by a (1) Grinding surfaces of upper molar series of a Rhinoceros, a. Posterior sinus, which at a' has become an island, c. Posterior ridge, d. Anterior ridse. 318 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. longitudinal ridge, possibly the ciugulum, and the transverse ridges become oblique ; consequently the valley between the ridges c and d is also oblique in direction, and a second valley "a" behind the posterior ridge is introduced (Fig. 134). The simplicity of the pattern is also departed from by the margins of the ridges, and therefore the boundaries of the depressions, being waved and irregular. The lower molars of the Rhinoceros are made up of two crescentic ridges, one in front of the other, with the hollows turned inwards. It is less obvious how this pattern is derived from that of the Tapir, but it may be that the trans- verse ridges of the Tapir type of tooth may have become ciirved and crescentic, so that the original outer edge of the posterior ridge abuts against the exterior of the ridge in front of it. The valleys between the processes of enamel and dentine of the tooth of the Rhinoceros, termed " sinuses," are not filled up solidly with cementum. The more complex pattern which characterises the molar of the Horse may be derived from a further modification of the Rhinoceros molar. To use the words of Professor Huxley : " Deepen the valley, increase the curvature of the (outer) wall and laminse (transverse ridges), give the latter a more directly backward slope ; cause them to develop accessory ridges and pillars ; and the upper molar of the Tapir will pass thi'ough the structure of that of the Rhinoceros to that of the Horse." By a further increase in the obliquity of the ridges and in their curvature (c and d), they become parallel to the external or antero-posterior ridge (wall), and bend round until they again touch it, thus arching round and completely encircling the sinuses {a and the space between c and d) in the Rhinoceros tooth. In this way the unsymmetrical pattern of the Rhinoceros tooth may be supposed to become trans- foi-med into the comparatively symmetrical one of the Horse or of the ruminant. THE TEETH OF PERISSODACTYLE VXQULATA. 319 The outer ridge or wall is in the upper molar of the horse doubly bent, the concavities looking outwards. The trans- verse ridges start inwards from its anterior end and from its middle, and they ciu've backwards as they go to such an extent as to include crescentic spaces (between themselves Fig. 135 ('). and the outer wall). To this we must add a vertical pillar, which is slightly connected with the posterior end of each crescentic edge (this pillar is in Hippariou quite detached). The lower molars of the horse present the double crescent, just like those of the rhinoceros, save that vertical pillars are attached to the posterior end of each crescent, thus slightly complicating the pattern of the worn sxirface. The interspaces of the ridges and pillar are in the horse solidly filled in with cementum. The extinct ancestors of the horse have the molar pattern considerably simphfied, but yet recognisable as being built up on the same model. But in an elementary handbook such as this it will only serve to perplex the reader to enter into a discussion of the relative probabilities of the various and incompatible explanations given of the homologies of the parts of the ungulate molar : suffice it that such coiTespondences do exist, and if we had before us perfect chains of molars from eveiT (1) Ivlolar tooth of a Horse, stowing tlie pattern of its grinding surface. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. ungulate which ever lived, there would be no doubt as to the relationship of the various patterns : as it is, we are em- barrassed by the lack of the material, which leaves gaps too great to bridge over without some amount of speculation. As it is, Professor Flower divides the principal varieties (Phil. Trans., 1874,) into three :— (i.) That in which the outer wall is feebly develoi:)ed, and transverse ridges become the prominent features, as in the tapir. (ii.) That in which the outer wall is gi-eatly developed and more or less smooth, the transverse ridges being oblique, as in the rhinoceros. (iii.) That in which the outer surface and edge of the outer wall is zigzagged, or bicrescentic, as in the horse and palceotherium. Equus. — The horse is furnished with the full mammalian number of teeth, the dental formula being — .3 1 4 .3 The canines, however, are rudimentary in the female, whilst in the male they are well developed (in the gelding they are of the same size as in the entire horse) ; and the first pre- molai', which has no predecessor, is also rudimentary, and is lost early. A considerable interval exists between the incisors and the premolars and molars, which latter are very similar to one another, both in shape, size, and in the pattern of the grinding surface. The incisors of the horse are large, strong teeth, set in close contact with one another ; the teeth of the upper and lower jaws meet with an " edge to edge bite," an arrange- ment which, while it is eminently adapted for grazing, leads to great wearing down of the crowns. An incisor of a horse or other animal of the genus may be at once recognized by that peculiarity which is known as the ''mark. " THE TEETH OF PERISSODACTYLE UXGULATA. 321 From the grinding surface of the crown there dips in a fold of enamel, forming a cid cle sac. As this pit does not extend the whole depth of the crown, and the in- cisors of a horse are submitted to severe wear, the fold eventually gets worn away entirely, and the worn surface of the dentine presents no great peculiarity. But as this wearing down of the crown takes places at something like a regular rate, horse dealers are enabled to judge of a horse's age by the appearance of the mark upon the diffei-ent incisors. The " mark " exists in Hippariou, but not in the earlier progenitors of the horse. FiQ. 136 (1). FiG.137('). A horse attains to its adult dentition very slowly ; the first permanent incisors appear about the end of the third year, and the other two pairs follow at intervals of about (1) Incisors of the Horse, showing the marks at various stages of wear. 322 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. six mouths. As the rate of wear is equal, the mark gets worn out soonest upon the central incisors (about the sixth year) ; in the middle incisors next (about the seventh), while it has totally disappeared by about the eighth year. After the " mark " is worn away the centre of the tooth is marked by a difference of colour, due to the presence of secondary dentine, into which the remains of the pulp has been converted. Fig. 138 ('). The molars of the horse are remarkable for their great length ; they do not grow from persistent pulps, but never- theless they do go on growing until a great length of crown of uniform diameter is made, subsequently to which the short and irregular roots are formed. As the upper working surface of the crown becomes worn, the tooth rises bodily in its socket, and when by an accident its antagonist has been lost, it rises far above the level of its neighbours. This elevation of the tooth takes place quite independently of (1) Side view of the dentition of a Stallion. At a short interval behind the incisors are seen the canines ; then, after a considerable interval, the premolar and molar series. THE TEETH OF PERISSODACTYLE VNGVLATA. 323 growth from a persistent pulp, and, in fact, happens after the formation of its roots. The pattern of the horse's molar has been already de- scribed ; it should be added that the last molar differs from the rest in its posterior moiety being less developed than in the other teeth. As each ridge and each pillar of the tooth consists of den- tine bordered by enamel, and the arrangement of the ridges and pillars is complex ; as, moreover, cementum fills up the interspaces, it will be obvious that an efficient rough grinding surface will be preserved by the unequal wear of the several tissues. When a bit is put into a horse's mouth it rests in the intei-val, or diastema, which exist between the incisors and the commencement of the molar series, and the great con- venience of the existence of such a space has led many authors to assume that the horse was moulded in accordance with man's special requirements, so that it might be suited for its subserviency to his wants. But the wide diastema appeared in the remote ancestors of the horse long ages before man's appearance on the earth, and the advocates of this theory of design would, as Professor Huxley suggests, have to tell us what manner of animal rode the Hipparion. The milk teeth of all the Ungulata are very complete, and are retained late ; they resemble the permanent teeth in general character, but the canines of the horse, as might have been expected, their greater development in the male being a sexual character, are rudimentary in the milk dentition. To the Perissodactyle Ungulates which are specially inte- resting on account of their dentition, must be added Homa- lodontotherium, a tertiary mammal, the remains of which were described by Professor Flower (Phil. Trans., 1874). It had highly generalised characters ; its teeth were Y 2 324 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. arranged without any diastema, and the transition in form from the front to the back of the mouth was exceedingly gradual, so that no tooth diifered much ft-om those on either side of it. Taking the pattern of its molar teeth alone into account, it would have been without hesitation declared to be very nearly allied to rhinoceros, on which type they are formed, but the resemblance fails in the canine and incisor region, and it must be considered to be one of those generalised ij\)Q'& related to rhinoceros, to Hyracodon and perhaps connecting them with such aberrant forms as Toxodon, The largest of Perissodactyles equalled the elephant in size, and have been named by Prof. Marsh Brontotheridce. The dental formula was .21 43 1 ^ c - pm - m - . The incisors were small and sometimes deciduous, and the canines short and stout, the lower being the more conspicuous owing to its being separated by a slight diastema from the premolars, which is not the case in the upper jaw. The premolars in both jaws increase in size from before backwards, and do not differ from the molars next them. In the lower jaw the premolars and molars all consist of two crescents, save the last, which have three crescentic cusps. The molar teeth stand apart from those of any recent peris- sodactyles in their huge size, the squarish last upper molar, for example, measuring four inches antero-posteriorly and more than three transversely (Prof. Marsh, American Journal of Science and Arts, 1876). THE TEETH OF ARTIODACTYLE UNGULATA. 325 THE TEETH OF ARTIODACTYLE UNGULATA. Artiodactyle, or even-toed Ungiilata, comprise pigs, hippo- potami, camels, sheep, oxen, &c., amongst living animals. They are divided into Ruminant and Non-ruminating animals : the latter gxoup, equivalent to the "Suina" of the table on page 265, includes the Pigs (Siud(i'), Ilipixijwtamkhc, and Anu- j)lot?itrld(P. The Ruminants are divided into three groups : (i.) The Tvurfu- lidte (small deer of Southern Asia), which foiTu a connecting link between the Anoplotherium (itself a link between the Pigs and the true Ruminants) and the Pccura ; (ii.) Pccora (sheep, oxen, &c.) ; (iii.) Cumdida. In Artiodactyle Ungulata the premolars differ markedly both in size and pattern fi-om the true molars. Of those Artiodactyle Ungulates which are not ruminants the common pig may be taken as an example. 3 13 3 The dental formula is i_c— p — m— . 3 1^3 3 The position of the upper incisors is peculiar, the two central upper incisors, separated at their bases, being inclined towards one another so that their apices are in contact ; the third pair are widely separated from the inner two pairs of incisors. The lower incisors are straight, and are implanted in an almost horizontal position : in both upper and lower jaws the third or outermost incisors are much smaller than the others. The lower incisors are peculiar in having upon their upper surfaces a strongly pronounced sharp longitudinal ridge of enamel, which gets obliterated by wear. An interval separates the incisors from the canines, which latter are very much larger in the male than in the female, and in the wild boar than in the domesticated animal. Castration arrests the further development of the tusks ; the peculiarities as to size and direction which characterise the 326 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. tusks of the adult animal are not represented in the canines of the milk dentition, al)out which there is not much that 4 is noteworthy, save that the yoimg pig has dec. m — , of which the first remains in place till the permanent dentition is nearly complete, and then falls out without having any successor ; or it may perhaps be regarded as a permanent tooth which has had no predecessor. The form and direction of the canines are alike peculiar ; Fig. 139 ('). ^NM. Size the upper canine, which in its curvature describes more than a semicircle, leaves its socket in a nearly horizontal direction, with an incHnation forwards and outwards. After rounding past the upper lip its terminal point is directed upwards and inwards. The enamel upon the lower surface of the tusk is deeply ribbed : it does not uniformly cover the tooth, but is disposed in three bands. The lower canines are more slender, of much greater length, and by wear become more sharply pointed than the upper ones : they pass in front of the latter, and the worn faces of the twO' correspond. The lower canine is in section triangular, one edge being (') Upper and lower teeth of Wikl Boar (Sus scrofa). In tliis specimen the tusks are not so largely developed as they sometimes may be seen to be. THE TEETH OF ARTIODACTYLE UXGULATA. 327 directed forwards, and its sides being nearly flat. Enamel is confined to the internal and external anterior snrfaces ; the posterior surface, which plays against the upper canine, is devoid of enamel ; the tooth is kept constantly pointed by the obliquity with which its posterior surface is worn away. The tusks of a boar are most formidable weapons, and are capable of disembowelling a dog at a single stroke, but they are greatly exceeded by those of the African w^art-hog (Phaco- choerus), which attain to an immense size. In the domestic races the tusks of the boars are much smaller than in the wild animal, and it is a curious fact that, in domestic races which have again become wild the tusks of the boars increase in size, at the same time that the bristles become more strongly pronounced. Mr. Darwin suggests that the renewed growth of the teeth may perhaps be accounted for on the principle of correlation of growth, external agencies acting upon the skin and so indirectly influencing the teeth. As in most artiodactyles, the teeth of the molar series increase in size from before backw^ards : thus the first pre- molar or milk molar has a simple wedge-shaped crown, and two roots ; the second and third by ti'ansitional characters lead to the fourth premolar, which has a broad crown with two principal cusps, and has foiu- roots. The first true molar has four cusps divided from one another by a crucial depression ; and the cingulum in front, and yet more markedly at the back, is elevated into a posterior transverse ridge. In the second molar the trans- verse ridge is more strongly developed, and the four cusps are themselves somewhat divided up into smaller accessory tubercles. The last molar measures, from front to l)ack, nearly twice as much as the second ; and this great increase in size is referable to a gi-eat development of the part corresponding to the posterior ridge or cingulum of the second molar, 328 A JfANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. which has become transformed into a great many subsidiary tubercles. That such is a correct interpretation of its nature is indi- cated by our being able to trace the four principal cusps, though modified and not divided off, in the front part of the tooth, of which, however, they do not constitute more than a small part. Those Ungulates in which the surfaces of the molar teeth are covered by rounded or conical cusps, are termed " bunodonts," in contradistinction to those which present crescentic ridges on the masticating surface of their molars, and which go by the name of " selenodonts." In the Wart-hog (Phacochoerus), the genus with very large Fig. 140 C). ^cO canines, the disproportion between the last true molar and the other teeth is yet more striking. (^) Upper and lower teeth of Phacochoerus. In the upper jaw, the last two premolars, and the much- worn fii-st true molar remain. In the lower all have been shed off, save the last two true molars. From a specimen in the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons. TRE TEETH OF ARTIODJGTYLE VNQVLATA. 329 In antero-posterior extent the third molar equals the first and second true molars and the third and fourth premolars (the -whole number of teeth of the molar series possessed by the animal) together. "Wlien a little worn its surface presents about thirty islands of dentine, surrounded by rings of enamel, the interspaces and the exterior of the whole being occupied by cementum. Of course, prior to the commencement of wear, each of these islands was an enamel-coated cusp. The Wart-hog's dentition has, however, another instructive peculiarity ; the first true molar is in place early, and be- comes much worn down (this is true, in a less degree, of the common pig, and indeed^of most Ungulata). Eventually it is actually shed ; the same fate later befalls the third pre- molar and second true molar, so that the dentition in an aged specimen is reduced to the fourth premolar and the third true molar alone, and eventually to the last true molai's alone. Thus, both in the great complexity of the back molars and the fact that the anterior teeth are worn out and then discarded, the Wart-hog affords a parallel to the anomalous dentition of the elephant. As has already been noticed, the upper canines in the boar turn outwards and finally iipwards, so as to pass out- side the upper lip ; this peculiarity in direction, yet more marked in Phacochoerus, attains its maximum in the Sus babirussa. This creature, strictly confined to the Malay Archipelago, where it frequents woody places, has (in the male) the upper and lower canines developed to an enormous extent. The upper canines are turned upwards so abiaiptly that they pierce the upper lip, instead of passing outside it as in other Suidce, preserve a nearly upright direction for some little distance, and then curve backwards, so that their points are directed almost towards the eyes. The lower canines are less aberrant in direction and in 330 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. shape, being somewhat triangular in section, but they also are of very great length, and pass upwards, far above the level of the snout ; their points are also directed backwards, FtG. 141 {'). iNat.Siz, but have in addition an outward inclination. The canines are devoid of enamel, and grow from persistent pulps, a fact which sometimes has a disastrous result, for the tip of the tooth, occasionally taking a wrong direction, re-enters the head or the jaws of the animal. Their length is very great ; the animal is smaller than the domesticated pig, but its canines attain a length of eight or ten inches. Their use is a matter of conjecture; the position of the upper tusks has suggested the idea that they may serve as a protection to the creature's eyes, as it seeks its food, consisting of fallen fruits, amongst the brushwood. But were that the case the female also would probably have them, which is not the case ; and although {}) Skull of Sus babirussa (male). The upper incisor.s have been lost from the specimen figured : they are much like those of a pig. THE TEETH OF AETIODACTYLE UXGULATA. 331 in old animals they are often broken ott", it is not certain that they are mucli employed in fighting. Its other teeth are in no resj^ects remarkable. Hippopotamus. — The dental characters, as well as others, indicate the athnity of the Hippopotamus to the SuidcB. .2 1 4 3 1 e — p m — . ■1 1^4 3 The incisors are tusk-like, and bear but little resemblance to those of most other mamuialia ; they are nearly cylindrical, blimtly pointed at their apices by the direction of wear, which is in some measm-e determined by the partial distri- bution of the enamel, which is laid on in longitudinal bands in the upper teeth, but merely forms a terminal cap on the lower incisors. The upper, standing widely apart, are implanted nearly vertically : the lower incisors, of which the median pair are exceedingly lai'ge, are implanted horizontally. The canines are enormous teeth ; the lower, as in the Hog, is trihedral, and is kept pointed in the same manner ; the upper canines are not so long, and the portion exposed above the gum is but short. The incisors and canines are all alike teeth of persistent growth. The premolars, of which the first is lost early (being perhaps a milk molar like the similar tooth in the pig) are smaller and simpler teeth built up on the same type as the ti'ue molars. These latter, especially when worn, have a very charac- teristic double trefoil pattern ; the four cusps, in the first instance, were separated by a deep longitudinal and a still deeper transverse groove ; each cusp was, moreover, tri- lobed; the first resiilt of wear is to bring out the appear- ance of four trefoils ; next, when the longitudinal furrow is worn away, two four-lobed figures result ; and finally all A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. pattern becomes obliterated, and a plain field of dentine snrrounded by enamel alone remains. The teeth of the Hippopotamus are subject to a great amount of attrition, as is well shown by a specimen pre- sented to the museum of the Odontological Society, in which the molar teeth are all excessively worn. The Hippopotami use their incisors and canine tusks for the purpose of up- rooting aquatic plants, of which their food mainly consists : the roots of these are of course mixed up with much sand, which wears down the teeth with great rapidity. The larger incisors and the canines are, and for centuries have been, articles of commerce, the ivory being of very dense substance and useful for the manufacture of small objects. Anoplotheridse are an extinct (Eocene and Miocene) family, linking together the Pigs and the Pecora. Fig. 142 {'). Anoplotherium is a genus of interest to the odontologist because jt possessed the full typical mammalian dentition, as far as the number of the teeth went ; the teeth were of nearly uniform height, none strongly differentiated from those nearest to them ; and they were set in close contiguity with one another, so that there was no "diastema." The lower molar teeth of the anoplotherium are built up ^) Side view of the dentition of Anoplotherium (after Owen). THE TEETH OF ARTIODACTYLE UNGULATA. 333 on the same type as those of the rhinoceros (page 317), and present the double crescent ; the upper molars are also referable to the same fundamental forms, though the dif- ference is greater. The lamiute (transverse ridges) oblique in the rhinoceros, are in anoplotherium still more oblique, so that they become more nearly parallel with the outer wall, and an accessory pillar is developed at the inside of the anterior laminte. Not very widely removed from the anoplotherium is the Oreodon, an Ung-ulate of Eocene age. Fig. 145 (-). Like a good muny tertiary Ungulates (both artiodactyle and perissodactyle) it had the full typical number of teeth, forty -four ; but its interest to the odontologist is enhanced by the co- existence of strongly marked canines with molars very much like those of ruminants, a gToup almost always devoid of canines. In the upper jaw oieodon had .31 4 3 1 — c pm — m — i.e. the typical numljer of each kind of teeth. But in the lower jaw the fii"st four teeth are like incisors, and the tooth which is like a canine is not the tooth cori'esponding to the upper canine, but to the small upper fii'st premolar. C) Upper and lower teeth of Oreodou Culbertsonii after Leidy (Smith- oniau Coutributions, 1852). 334 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. This is a fair illustration of the fact that although in nature it is generally the same tooth which is modified to perform the function of a canine, it is not invariably the same ; for here in the same animal are two different teeth in the upper and lower jaw thus respectively modified. And as they are diff'erent teeth, it happens that the upper canine closes in front of the lower. There is reason to believe that there was some difierence in the size of canines between the male and female oreodon. The hollow-horned ruminants (sheep and oxen and ante- lopes), and likewise almost all the solid homed ruminant (deer) have the following dental formula : — .00 3 .3 '■6' 1?P 3-^3' The lower incisors are antagonised not by teeth, but by a dense gum w^hich clothes the fore part of the upper jaw ; if a sheep is watched as it feeds, it will be seen to grasp the blades of grass between the lower teeth and the gum, and then to tear them off" by an abrupt movement of the head, as it would be impossible for it to, strictly speaking, bite it ofl:: The anomaly of the entire absence of upper incisors w^as held to have been diminished by the statement of Goodsir, who believed that uncalcified tooth germs were to be found in the fojtuses of many species. As this was precisely what might have been expected, it has since that time passed current as an established fact ; but recently M. Pietkewickz, working in the lalioratory of M. Ch. Robin, has absolutely denied the occurrence of even the earliest rudiments of tooth germs in this situation, after an examination of a series of foetuses of the sheep and cow, ranging even from the earliest periods. (Journal d' Anatomic, par C. H. Robin, 1873, p. 452.) Since meeting with this statement I have had no opportunity of vei'ifying this matter myself. THE TEETH OF ARTIODACTYLE UNGULATA. 335 Grouped with the six incisors of the lower jaw, and in no respect differing from them, rise the pair of teeth which are very arbitrarily termed " canines." As I cannot attempt to do more in these pages than give the most bare outline of generally well-known facts, I have retained the usual dental Q formula, i -^ ^ ~Y ' ^^^^^^ under protest, as I do not con- sider the " canine " to have any such distinct existence as would justify our calling a tooth which is so obviously refer- able to the incisors by any distinctive name. Although the absence of upper canine teeth is a very general characteristic of ruminants, rudimentary canines exist in some deer, and I am indebted to the kindness of Sir Victor Brooke, a high authority iipon the Cerriche, for the following : — " The upper canines are present in both sexes in all the species of cervidce, with the exception of Alces, Rangifer, Dama, some smaller species of Rusa, Axis, Capreolus, Caria- cus, Blastocerus, Coassus, and Pudu. The upper canines, when present, are with the notable exception of Moschus, Elaphodus, Cervulus, and Hydropotes, small laterally com- pressed rudimentary teeth. Their crowns are in about the same stage of reduction as the crowns of horses' canines, but their roots are relatively much more reduced." Hence they are often lost in dried skidls, and it has generally been supposed that but few deer possessed canines at all. The hornless musk deer possesses iipper canines of most formidable dimensions, while the female has very small subcylindrical canines. The male pigmy musk deer (Tragulus) has large canines of persistent growth, the female small canines with closed roots. The Indian Muntjac deer (Cervulus) has somewhat small horns, which are perched upon persistent bony pedicles, and it has upper canines which are curved outwards from 336 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. beneath the upper lip, much as are the tusks of a boar ; they do not, however, grow from persistent pulps, and are absent in the female. Cuvier first pointed out that there was a relation between the presence of horns and the absence of canine teeth ; the latter, serving as weapons for sexual combat solely, and Fig. 144 (i). being, probably, in no other way of service to the animal, are not required by an animal provided with powerful antlers or horns, whereas the absolutely hornless musk deer would be totally unprovided with weapons of offence w^ere it not for his canines. To the musk deer and the muntjac must be added Swinhoe's water deer, Hydropotes inermis, and Michie's deer, Elaphodus cephalopus, another small hornless species, of which the males are furnished with formidable canine teeth. Although, with the foregoing exceptions, all the deer, oxen, sheep, antelopes, and the giraffe, animals constituting the greater number of the " Ruminautia," are without canine teeth, yet in the remaining family, the Camelidce, tusk-like canines are met with. It is a character of the Artiodactyle Uugulata that the (') Cranium of male Musk Deer (Mosclius moschiferus). THE TEETH OF ART WD ACT YLE UNGULATA. 337 premolar teeth are of decidedly simpler form than the molars ; indeed in the ruminants the premolars may be said each to correspond to one half of a true molar. The dentition of the ordinary ruminant having been more or less illustrated by the example of the musk deer (minus its great canines), the Camel may be selected as illustrating the peculiarities of the molar series. The Camel is possessed of an upper incisor, and, as has already been noticed, of canines. 113 3 c n — m — . 3 1^2 3 The first two pairs of upper incisors are absent, but the Fig. 145 (i). imt.si=, third or outermost pair ai'e preseiit, and are rather caniniform in shape. In quite young skulls six upper incisors are present, but the two inner pairs are lost very early. The canines are strong pointed teeth, and the lower canine stands well apart from the three incisors of the lower jaw, unlike the fourth tooth in front of the mandible of typical pecora (see Fig. 115). (') Upper and lower teeth of a Camel, 338 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. The first premolars are absent altogether ; the second premolars, following the canines after an interval, ax*e pointed caniniform teeth. The third premolar is some- times lost early, but the fourth persists. The molars of the Camel are of the " Selenodont " type ; their derivation from forms already alluded to will be sufficiently obvious to the reader who has mastered the descriptions, and their double crescentic crowns, may be taken as fair examples of simple ruminant patterns, accessory pillars, etc., being added in some of the other groups. In all true Ruminants the last true molar of the lower jaw has a third lobe ('), and the line of the outer surface of the row of teeth is rendered irregular by the anterior edge of each tooth projecting outwards slightly more than the posterior border of the one in front of it. And the devia- tions in the patterns of the surfaces of the molar teeth are so constant and so characteristic that, although the common ruminant pattern is preserved in all, it is often possible to refer an individual tooth to its right genus. The Paiminants all have a well-developed milk dentition, which serves the animal for a long time, indeed iintil after it has attained to its adult dimensions ; thus a sheep has not completed the changing of its teeth till the fifth year, and a calf till the fourth year. But the first permanent molar is in them, as in so many other animals, the first of the permanent set to be cut, and comes up in its place at the sixth month (in the lamb), and hence has a long period of wear before any of the other second teeth are cut. Conse- quently the first permanent molar is, as is seen in Fig. 145, invariably worn down to a much greater extent than the other permanent teeth ; in the specimen figured it has been (') Sir Victor Brooke informs nie that Neotragus liemprichii, a small Abyssinian antelope, has only two lobes to the third lower molar. TOXODONTIA. 339 worn down below the inflections of enamel, so that it has lost its roughened grinding sm-face, and is reduced to a smooth area of dentine. Not much is known of the structure of the dentul tissues of the Ungulata which calls for mention in an elementary work. The thick cement of the crown of the teeth of the Horse, and indeed of most of the group which possess thick cement, contains many " encapsuled lacunee," and is developed from a distinct cement organ of cartilaginous consistence (see page 144). TOXODOXTIA. The existing ungulate animals form only a small propor- tion of those once peopling the earth, and many extinct forms have been discovered, which while having afl&nities with the Ungulata, can yet hardly be classified under any existing order. For example, Toxodon, a creature equalling the Hippopotamus in size, which was discovered by !Mr. Darwin in late tertiaiy deposits of Soiith America, has a dentition recalling in some respects the Bruta, in others the Rodents. It possessed in the upper jaw two pairs of incisors, the median pair small, the outer exceedingly large, with per- sistent pulps, and long curved sockets extending back to the region of the molars, just as in existing Rodents. In the lower jaw there were three pairs of incisors, sub- equal in size, and gi'owing from persistent pulps ; they resemble the incisors of Rodents in haviug a partial invest- ment with enamel, but differ from them in being prismatic in section, and in having the enamel disposed on two sides of the prism. The molai's were also very remarkable ; they grew from persistent pulps, and had curved sockets, but the cmwature of these was in the reverse dnection to that which obtains z 2 340 A MANUAL 01' DENTAL ANATOMY. in Rodents, i.e., the convexity was outwards, and the apices of their roots almost met in the middle line of the palate ; it was this peculiarity that suggested the name. Another peculiarity in the molar teeth, in which they stand quite alone, is that, like incisors, they have a partial investment with enamel ; those refeiTed to the premolar series having it confined to their outer surfaces, while the three back teeth of the molar series had a plate also laid on to their inner surfaces ; there were seven molar teeth above, and six below. In the interval between the incisor and molar series canines have been found in the lower jaw ; they were sharp edged, and had a pai'tial distribution of enamel over their surface. In an upper jaw alveoli for canines were found, but the teeth themselves are not known. DINOCERATA. In the same region which yielded the toothed birds (Eocene formations of Wyoming), the remains of many huge animals have been discovered, for which new orders have been proposed by Prof. Marsh (" American Journal of Science and Art," 1876), it being impossible to classify them under any existing order. The Dinocerata were creatures nearly as large as Elephants, and presenting some general resemblance to them in general form ; they were remarkable for the relative smallness of their brains, which coidd aj^pai-ently have been drawn through the canal of the vertebral column. They present points of resemblance to the Perissodactyle Ungulata, and also to the Proboscidea, to which they were at first referred, though their affinities are rather with the former. The dental formula was .01 33 x_c-prm-m-^. DINOCERATA. 341 In Prof. Marsh's words " The superior caniues are loug, decurved, trenchant tusks. They are covered with enamel, and their fangs extend upwards into the base of the maxil- lary horn-core. There is some evidence that these tusks were smaller in the females. Behind the canines there is a moderate diastema. The molar teeth are very small. The crowns of the superior molars are formed of two transverse crests, separated externally, and meeting at their inner extremity. . The first true molar is smaller in this specimen than the two preceding premolars. The last upper molar is mvich the largest of the series. " The lower jaw in Dinoceras is as remarkable as the skull. Fig. 116 ('). Its most peculiar features are the posterior direction of the Q) Upper and lower jaws of Dinoceras (Marsh). A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. condyles, hitherto unknown in Ungulata, and a massive decxirved process on each ramus extending downward and outward below the diastema. "The position of the condyles was necessitated by the long upper tusks, as, with the ordinary ungulate articidation, the mouth could not have been fully opened. The low position of the condyle, but little above the line of the teeth, is also a noteworth}^ character. The long pendant processes were apparently to protect the tusks, which otherwise would be very liable to be bix»ken. Indications of similar processes are seen in Smilodon and other Carnivores Avith long upper canines. With the exception of these processes the lower jaw of Dinoceras is small and slender. The symphysis i& completely ossified. The six incisors were contiguous, and all directed well forward. Just behind these, and not separated from them, were the small canines, which had a similar direction. The crowns of the large molars have transverse crests, and the last of the series is the largest." It would appear possible that the eminences shown in the figure, and spoken of as " maxillary horn-cores," may be merely the extended sockets of the teeth, which w^ould other- wise have had an implantation inadequate to their length ■. they are, however, described as solid, except at their bases, where they are perforated for the fang of the canine tusk, which wotdd look as though they were truly horn-cores ; moreover the Brontotheridse had horn-cores equally peculiar in position {i.e., on the maxillary bones). Yet another new oi'der, Tillodoxtia, comprising several genera, has been proposed by Prof. Marsh for the Wyoming fossil remains, to receive forms which, though not amongst the biggest, are " amongst the most remai'kable yet discovered in American strata, and seem to combine characters of several distinct groups; viz., Carnivora, Ungulata, and Rodentia, In Tillotherium, Marsh, the type of the order, the skull has the same general form as in the Bear, but in its structure DINOCERATA. 343 resembles that of the Ungulata. Its molar teeth are of the ungulate type, the canines are small, and in each jaw there is a pair of large scalpriform incisors, faced with enamel and gi-owing from persistent pulps, as in the Rodents. The second pair of incisors are small, and have not persistent pulps. The adult dentition is as follows — 1 3 3 -pmi— m " There are two distinct families, Tillotheridce (perhaps identical with Ancldppodontidce), in which the large incisors Fig. 147 (')• grew from persistent pulps, while the molars had roots ; and the Styli7iodontid(e, in which all the teeth have persistent pulps. One genus (Dryptodon), known only by the lower jaw, had six teeth, described as " clearly incisors," the two inner pairs of which are small and cylindrical, the outer of enormous size, faced in front only with enamel, and with persistent pulps carried back under the premolars. (') Upper and lower jaws of Tillotherium (Marsli). CHAPTER XI. THE TEETH OF SIRENIA, HYRACOIDEA, PROBOSCIDEA, AND RODENTIA. THE TEETH OF SIRENIA. More nearly connected with the Unguhita than with any other order, but still rather widely removed from them, stands the limited order of Sirenia, aquatic mammals formerly termed Herbivorous Cetacea, a term rather ob- jectionable, as they are not very nearly allied to the true Cetacea. The order is now represented by two genera only, the Dugongs (Halicore) and the Manatees (Manatus), but a third gemis (Rhytina) has only become extinct within about a century. Their teeth, and other points in their organiza- tion indicate that they are more nearly allied to the Ungu- lata than to any other group, though their peculiarities are such as to elevate them to the rank of a distinct order. They are of large size, and frequent shallow water, such as the mouths of great rivers, their food consisting of sea- weed and aquatic plants. The dentition of the Dugong is in several respects a very interesting one : the front part of the upjjer jaw, consisting in the main of the intermaxillary bones, bends abruptly downwards, forming an angle with the rest of the jaw. This deflected end of the jaw carries two tusks, of each of which the greater part is buried within the alveolus. The tusk has an investment of enamel over its front and sides, but on the posterior surface of cementum only, so that in THE TEETH OF SIRENIA. 345 the disposition of the three structures it recalls the charac- teristics of a Rodent incisor, like which it is worn away obliquely so as to keep a constantly sharp edge, and like which it gi-ows from a persistent pulp. In the female, the tusks (incisors) do not project from the Fig. 148 ('). gum, their pulp cavities are closed, and the investment of enamel is complete over the crown of the tooth. The sloping surface of the upper jaw is opposed b}- the region of the symphysis of the lower jaw, which is of un- usual depth. In this deflected part of the lower jaw there are eight, or ten (four or five on each side) shallow and rather irregularly-shaped sockets, in which curved distorted (') Side view of cranium and lower jaw of a Dugong (Halicore Indicus). From a specimen in the ^Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The surface of the deflected portion of the lower jaw, with its sockets for rudimentary teeth, shown both in front and in profile view, is indicated hy the letter a ; the con-esponding surface of the upper jaw by the letter h. 346 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. teeth may be fouud in a fresh specimen, but it must not be from too aged an animal, as they become eventually eaten away by a process of absorption. These abortive teeth are excellent examples of rudi- mentary teeth, as not only are they stunted, and even ultimately removed by absorption, but they are actually covered in by a dense horny plate which clothes this part of the jaw, and so are absolutely functionless ('). These horny plates, in their structure analogous to whale- bone, are possessed also by the Manatee and Rhytina ; on the free surface they are beset with stiff bristles, and are throughout built up of hair-like bodies welded together by epithelium. Behind the region covered in by the horny plates, the Dugong has five molar teeth on each side, of simple form, like those of the Edentata, and consisting of dentine and cementum only. By the time the last molar is ready to come into place, the first of the series is being removed by absorption of its root and of its socket. In aged specimens only two molars remain on each side of the jaws. The Dugong is also peculiar as having a single deciduous tooth : namely, a predecessor to the incisive tusks ; but it has been doubted whether it be not rather a rudimentary incisor than a milk tooth. The molar teeth of the Manatee are much more nume- rous and more complex in form, and they approach to the configuration of the teeth of the Tapir very closely. The Manatee has as many as forty-four molars, which are not, however, all in place at one time, the anterior ones being shed l)cfore the posterior are come into place ; no (1) Similar rudimentary teeth are found in the corresponding deflected part of the jaw of the young Manatee, to the number of twelve. (Gervais, "Histoire Nat. des Mammiferes," vol. ii., p. 312.) THE TEETH OF SIEENIA. vertical succession is known to occur among them. There are no incisors nor canines, but there are horny plates in the front of the mouth like those of the Dugong. The extinct Rhytina, formerly abundant about Behring's Straits, was altogether without teeth. It has been mentioned that the teeth of the Manatee are tapiroid in external form ; they also possess peculiarities in minute structure, which are unusual in mammalian teeth, but which are common to them and to the Tapirs. In examining some teeth, I found that the dentine, to all intents and pur- poses, of the hard unvascular variety, was pemieated by a system of larger, or " vascular " canals, which were ar- ranged with miich regularity, and passed out from the pulp cavity to the periphery of the dentine, where they commu- nicated with one another. The dentinal tubes did not radiate from these vascular canals ; they, so to speak, take no notice of them, so that there is an ordinaiy unvascular dentine with a system of capillary- conveying channels as well. It is interesting to find that the primd facie external resemblance of the teeth of the Tapir is fully borne out by minute histological structure, and it certainly suggests that the resemblance is not accidental, but has some deeper significance. The enamel of the Manatee is also somewhat remarkable for the absolute straightness of its enamel prisms in many parts of the tooth. The molar teeth of the Dugong consist of a central axis of vaso-dentine, a much lai'ger mass of ordinary unvascular dentine, and a thick layer of cementum, but they do not share the peculiarities of the jManatee's tooth. 348 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. THE TEETH OF HYRACOIDEA. The Biblical coney (Hyrax), an animal as large as a rabbit, must not be passed over without mention, as its dentition has been indirectly the source of much contro- Fid. 149 (1). versy. So far as the pattern of its molar teeth goes, it corresponds closely with Rhinoceros, and was hence classed in close proximity to that genus by Cuvier. But a more extended sui'vey of its characters has led to its being placed in a separate order; it is a good example of the danger which attends relying upon any single character, such as the pattern of the teeth, as being alone a sufficient basis for classification. Q) Skull of the Hyrax. THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. 349 All observers, however, are not agreed as to its position ; it certainly presents affinities -with Perissodactyla, and also with the Rodents, also, perhaps, with the Insectivora, The dental formula is i — c — prm — m — . Seen from the side, the dentition bears some resemblance to that of a Rodent, because the large size of its central incisors, which grow fi-om persistent pulps, are chisel-edged, and are fui-nished with a very thick coat of enamel on their anterior faces : the second pair of incisors, which are small, are soon lost. But Hyi-ax has the full typical number, pre- molars and molars, and the patterns of the teeth are closely similar to those of the Rhinoceros. In the lower jaw the middle incisors are small, and the outer ones largely developed, and all persist : their crowns are in a manner trilobed, and they pass in ordinary closure of the mouth behind the upper incisors, where they are met by a dense pad of gum. THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. At the present day the Elephant stands alone, removed by many striking peculiarities from the Ungulata, to which it is more nearly allied than to other orders ; but in former days the order Proboscidea was represented by a good many genera, was widely distributed over the globe, and tran- sitional forms linking, the elephant with somewhat less aberrant mammalia were not wanting. In this group the incisors grow from persistent pulps, and form conspicuous tusks ; the Elephant has i — , the Mastodon has i _, the ^ 1 Dinotherium i — 1 Two striking features characterise the dentition of the A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Elephant ; the enormous length of the incisor tusks, and the peculiar displacement from behind forwards of the molar teeth, by which it results that not more than one whole molar, or portions of two, are in place at any one time. The upper tusks are preceded by small deciduous teeth ; this is well established, though it has been recently denied by Sanderson ("Wild Beasts of India" ). When first cut they are tipped with enamel, but the enamel cap is soon worn off, and the remainder of the tusk consists of that modification of dentine known as " ivory," and of a thin external layer of cement. In the Indian elephant the tusks are not so large as in the African species : and the tusks of the female are rery much shorter than those of the male. In the African elephant, no such difference in size has been established ; and amongst In- dian elephants males are sometimes met with which have tusks no larger than the females of corresponding size ; they go by the name of " Mucknas." This peculiarity is not always transmitted, and it is known that in Ceylon tuskless sires sometimes beget " tuskers." Amongst the Ceylon elephants the possession of large tusks by the male is an exceptional thing, Sanderson stating that only one in three hundred has them, while amongst 51 Indian elephants only five were tuskless. The tusks are formidable weapons, and great dread of a " tusker," is shown by elephants less well armed. A male makes use of his tusks for all soi-ts of piu-poses ; thus when a tamed one is given a rope to pull, he will, by way of getting a good purchase upon it, pass it over one tusk and grasp it between his molar teeth. The largest tusks were possessed by the Mammoth, the remains of which are so abundant in Siberia ; these, which were strongly curved, and fonned a considerable segment of a circle with an outward inclination, so as to well clear the sides of the head, attained the lengih of 13 feet, and a weight of 200 lbs. each. THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. A pair of African tusks exhibited at the Great Exliibition of 1851 weighed 325 lbs., and measured eight feet sis inches in length, and 22 inches in circumference, but the average tusks imported from Africa do not exceed from 20 lbs. to 50 lbs. weight. Indian elephants seldom have tusks attain- ing very large dimensions ; one was, however, shot by Sir Victor Brooke with a tusk 8 feet long, weighing 90 lbs. The surfaces of the tusks of the female are often deeply excavated about the level of the edge of the gum, and are sometimes so weakened from this cause that they break off. My friend Mr. Moseley tells me that he was informed by the late Major Rossall, who as a sportsman had great knowledge of Indian elephants, that the tusks of all the females he has ever seen are so affected, and that the larva) or pupse of a dipterous insect are often found bedded in the gum, and attached to the surface of the tusk. There is a specimen of a female elephant's tusk with the pupre attached in the Museum of the Ro3-al College of Surgeons. It would be a matter of interest to ascertain whether the larva really eats away the tusk, or whether the wasting of the tusk be due to absorption set up by the irritated gum. The tusks of the elephant are implanted in long and stout sockets, and grow from persistent pulps throughout the lifetime of the animal. In the Indian elephant about one half of the length of the tusk is implanted, and in young animals the pulp cavity extends beyond the implanted portion, but in older animals it does not extend nearly so far. A knowledge of its extent is necessary, seeing that the tusks of captive elephants have to be shortened from time to time ; this operation is by some done frequently, by others only at long intervals, such as ten years, in which case a large and valuable segment of ivory is cut off, and the end of the tusk bound with metal to prevent it from splitting. Tusks sometimes exemplify on a large scale the results of J MANUAL OF DENTAL ANA TOM V. injury to the growing pulj), as it is of no unfrequent oc- currence that elephants which have been shot at and wounded escape. The thin walls of the tusk near to its open end do not offer very much resistance to the entrance of a bullet ; the result of such an injury is not, as might have been expected, the death of the pulp, but in some cases abscess cavities become formed in the neighbourhood of the injury, while in others less disturbance is set up, the bullet becomes enclosed in a thin shell of secondary dentine, or sometimes lies loose in an irregular cavity, and round this the normal *' ivory " is deposited ; upon the outside of the tusk no indi- cation of anything unusual is to be seen, so that the bullets thus enclosed are found by ivory turners only when sawing up the tusk for use. As the tusk grows, that which was once in the pulp cavity, and within the alveolus, comes to be at a distance from the head, and in the midst of solid ivory. As an example of the extent of injury from which a tooth pulp is capable of recovery, may be cited a specimen now deposited in the museum of the Odontological Society, by Mr. Bennett, to whom I am indebted for permission to figure it. It is to be presumed that a trap was sot with a heavily loaded spear, or that it was dropped by a native from a tree, with the intention of its entering the brain of the elephant as it was going to water, both of these methods of killing elephants being practised in Africa. But in this case the spear penetrated the open base of the growing tusk, which looks almost vertically upwards (see fig. 150), and then the iron point appears to have broken off". This did not destroy the pulp, but the tooth continued to grow, and the iron point, measuring no less than 7i by 1-J- inches, became so completely enclosed that there was nothing upon the exterior of the tusk to indicate its presence. THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. 353 I am told by Mr. Erxleben that he is acquainted with another instance in which a spear head had become com- pletely enveloped in ivory. Fig. 150('). There is also a specimen of a javelin head solidly im- ,bedded in ivory in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Ivory is one of the most perfectly elastic substances known, and it is on this account that it is used for billiard balls ; it owes its elasticity to the very small size of the dentinal tubes and the frequent bends (secondary curva- tures) which they make ; to the aiTangement of the tubes the peculiar engine-turning pattern of ivory is due. It diflfers from other dentine in its containing from 40 to 43 per cent, of organic matter (human dentine contains only about 25), and in the abundant concentric rows of inter- globular spaces. Along these ivory -when it decomposes breaks up, so that a disintegrated segment of a tusk con- sists of detached concentric rings ; in this condition many mammoth teeth are found, although sometimes where they have remained frozen and protected from the air until the time of their discovery they are hardly affected by the lapse {}) Iron spear-head, irremovably fixed in the interior of a tusk, believed to be from an African Ele^jhant. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. Bennett. 354 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. of the thousands of years which haA'e gone by since their possessors perished. The trade in ivory is quite an important one, the Boaixl of Trade returns for 1879, giving 9,414 cwts., of the value of ^406,927, as the quantity brought to this coiuitry. The best ivory is that which comes from equatorial Africa ; Indian ivory is not so highly esteemed, and Mam- moth ivory is so uncertain in its degree of preservation that it does not find a ready sale, even though some samples almost attain the quality of recent ivory. The last remains of the pulp are converted into dentine in which a few vascular canals persist ; this of ct)urse occu- pies the centre of the task, and is small in amount. Six molar teeth are developed on each side of the jaw by the elephant, and, arguing from analogy, they are some- 3 3 times classified thus — milk molars - true molars - ; 3 3 occasionally a rudimentary tooth in front brings up the number to seven on each side. But the peculiarity of their mode of succession renders such a classification merely arbitraiy, so far as the elephant itself is concerned, and it depends upon analogy with the teeth of the mastodon. Though the elephant has, during the course of its life, twenty-four molars, they are not all in place, nor indeed are they all actually in existence at the same time. Only one whole tooth on each side, or portions of two (when the front one of the two is nearly worn out), are in use at the same time. After a tooth has been in use for some time, and is worn down, a new tooth comes up to take its place from behind it, and absori;)tion in the old tooth being set up, it is shed off, and the new tooth pushes forward into its place (see fig. 151). Each successive tooth is of greater size than its predecessor ; thus in the Indian elephant the first tooth having, on an average, four transverse plates ; the second eight, the third twelve, the fourth twelve, the THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. 355 fifth sixteen, the sixth from tweuty-four to twenty-seven- In the African elephant, in which the individual plates are much broader, they arc fewer in number (sec page 361). Fig. 151 ('). 10 \at Size A reference to the accompanying figure will indicate how the succession takes place. The tooth in reserve occupies a position at an angle to that in use ; as it moves forwards (') Side view of skull of young Indian Elephant. The teeth in use are the second and third of the molars whicli displace one another from be- hind forwards ; the anterior of these, corresponding to a milk molar in other animals, is nearly worn out ; the residiial fragment is separately re- presented on the left. The tusk, of which only a short piece can be shown, is indicated within the socket by dotted lines, by which also the form of the pulp cavity is majiped out. A A 2 356 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. and (in the iipper jaw) downwards its track forms almost the segment of a circle. Thus its anterior corner is the first to come into use, at a time when the position of the "whole tooth is still exceedingly oblique, and the greater part of it is still within the socket. The teeth as first formed consist of detached plates of identine coated with enamel, the tops of which are mammil- lated ; these only coalesce after a considerable portion of their depth has been formed, and that portion of the tooth has lieen reached in which there is a common pulp cavity ; here dentine is continuous from end to end of the tooth. Just as the cusps of a human molar are separate when first calcified, so these exaggerated cusps or plates of an elephant's tooth are separate from one another till a great part of their length is completed, and they only coalesce when they reach the level of the common pulp chamber ; in point of fact the elephant's tooth is mainly made up of its cusps, the remaining portion being insignificant. Several of these detached plates, such as the one here figured, are to be found at the back of the largest teeth even at a time when the front corner has been erupted and has come into wear. That the tooth is thus being built up only as it is required is of obvious advantage to the animal in diminishing the weight to be carried, and is also an economy of space. The teeth when they begin to be erupted do not at once come into use over their whole surface, but they come for- ward in an oblique position so that the front of the tooth has been in use for some time, and its plates have been con- siderably worn down, before the back of the tooth has become exposed at all. Nay more, in the case of the larger molars the front of the tooth is actually in use at a time when its back is not yet completed. In the elephant there is no vertical succession of teeth ■whatever; the manner of succession usual amongst mammals THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. 357 has in them given place to a succession from behind, the older teeth being pushed out forwards. Had the elephant always been as isolated a form as it now appears to be, it would have been very uncertain how its six molars shoidd be classified. But it happens that proboscideans formerly existed in which this pecular succession from behind was to be found, at the same time that the ordinary vertical suc- cession was not quite lost, and amongst these creatures (the mastodons) we are able to say with certainty which of the teeth are milk molars, which are pre-molars, and which are true molars. And as the mastodons pass by insensible gra- dations into the elephants, so that the line of demarcation between the tv/o genera is an arbitrary one, we can tell which of the mastodon's teeth correspond to each one of the six molars of the elephant. Mastodon. — In the later tertiary .periods this genus, ap- proximating in its dental and other characters to the true (') Isolated plate (= exaggerated cusp) of an Elephant's tooth, prior to its coalescence with neighbouring jjlates ; at the top are seen its terminal mammillated processes, one of which has been ciit ofi' to show the central .irea of dentine, surrounded by enamel ; at the base would be the open I)ulp cavity, not shown in the figure. 358 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. elephant, was widely distributed over the world. The dental formula is not quite the same for all the genus, for in some no premolars existed. 10 2 3 3 i. _ c. - prm. - milk molars - m. - 1 0^ 2 3 3 The upper incisors formed nearly straight tusks, seven or eight feet in length ; the lower incisors also grew out hori- zontally from the front of the jaw, but in some species the lower tusks are rudimentary, are lost early, or are altogether absent, thus more nearly approaching to the condition met with in the elephant. The several molar teeth of the Mastodon increased in size from before backwards. The crowns were built up of deep and strongly pronounced transverse ridges, of which the last molar had the largest number. The apices of the ridges, before being at all worn, were divided up into several blunt nipple-like (mastoid) processes, upon which the enamel was thick and dense, but the cement was thin, so that the interspaces of the processes were not filled up level by the latter tissue, as in the elephant. Very definite roots were formed to the molars, the wear- ing down of the teeth being met by the worn teeth being shed oflP altogetlier from the front of the series, whilst new teeth were added to the back. Thus, just as in the elephant, the whole number of teeth were not in place at one time. jSTot more than three were in use at one time, and by the time the last and largest molar was cut, there was but one tooth remaining in front of it, and even this Avas soon lost, the dentition thus being reduced to a single molar on each side. As the succession of the molars in the Mastodon affords a clue to the nature of the grinders of the elephant, it is necessary to add a few words about it. Some Mastodons had three milk molars, of which the last two were vertically displaced by premolars, just as in most other mammals, THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. 359 but the first milk molar was not so replaced (Mastodon angustidens). There ajjpear to have been Mastodons in which no vertical succession at all took place, i.e., in which there were no j^remolars, and others in which there was but one. No doubt can be entertained as to the homologies of the teeth, even in those Mastodons which are not known to have any vertical succession, because analogy with those other species in which the second and third molai's, counted from the front, were vertically displaced by nearly func- tionless premolars, tells us that the three front molars ai"e milk molars. Now elephants develop six molar teeth on each side ; the elephant is in the same case, quoad its molars, as the Mastodon Ohioticus, which had do vertical succes- sion, so that we thus know the elephant's grinders to be , 3 3 dm. - m. - 3 3 Dr, Falconer mentions an elephant from the Sewalik Hills (E. planifrons) in which two rudimentary pre-molars, of no functional importance, actually existed, and so the deter- mination of the elephant's working teeth as , 3 3 dm. _ m. - 3 3 rests not only upon analogy, but upon actual observation. The Dinotherimu, a large animal, not unlike the Sirenia in the character of its cranium, which was probably of aqiiatic habits, was remarkable for possessing large tusks, by analogy known to be incisors, in its lower jaw, none being present in the upper jaw. The tusks projected do waiwards at right angles with the body of the jaw, and were curved backwards. The portion of jaw about the symphysis was ). h c R c Other Mastodons have more numerous ridges upon the teeth, and the African elephant has as many as ten upon (') Molar tootli of Mastodon. THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. S61 i-\is. Fir,. 156 (^'). (') Molar of African Elephant. E. Enamel. D. Dentine. C. Cementuni. (-) Molar tooth of African Elephant, showing the form of its roots, &c. n. Dentine, c. Cementum. e. Enamel. (•*) Molar tooth of an Asiatic Elephant, showing the transverse plates of dentine bordered by enamel. 362 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. its last 01- larger molar, although in it the ridges are in- dividually wide and strongly pronounced. In the Indian elephant the ridges or plates are still more numerous, the roots very inconspicuous and the whole formed into a solid block by cementura. The gradual increase in complexity in the " ridge formula" (or number of ridges in each tooth), of the molars, is well seen in the following table, from Prof. Flower's Hunterian lecture ("Nature," March 2, 1876); it is a corrected table taken from Dr, Falconer's " Pahcontological Memoirs." Milk Molars. TnieMolars. Total. I. II. III. I. II. III. Dinotherium giganteum . . 1 2 3 3 2 2 13 Mastodon (Trilophodoii) americanus . . 1 2 3 3 3 4 16 ,, (Tetralophodon) arvemensis . 2 3 4 4 4 5 22 (Pentalophodon) sivalensis . . 8 4 .5 .5 .0 6 28 Elephas (Stegodon) insignis . . 2 5 7 7 8 10 39 ,, (Loxodon) africanus . :i fi 7 7 8 10 41 ,, „ raeridionalis . 3 (i 8 8 9 12 46 ,, (Euelephas) antiquus . 3 10 10 12 16 57 ., ., primigenius . i S 12 12 16 24 76 „ ,. indicus . 4 « 12 12 16 24 76 Some variability exists in the number of ridges, especially when they are very numerous, but the above may be taken as averages ; and some species intermediate in the " ridge formula " have been since discovered, thus M. pentelici and M. andium bridge the distinction between Trilophodon and Tetralophodon, and Elephas melitensis comes between Loxodon and Euelephas (Flower). It remains to describe, somewhat more in detail, the structure of an elephant's tooth, and this has been deferred till the last, because it can be the more easily understood when the manner of its origin has been mastered. In the Mastodon the molar consists of a crown with strong cusps, standing apart, and with marked roots ; in the African elephant that part which consists of cusps has become the THE TEETH OF PROBOSCIDEA. greater bulk of the tooth, the roots are comparatively in- significaut, and the interspaces of the cusps are filled up with cementum. The molar of the Indiau elephant con- sists of a larger number of yet more elongated and flattened cusps, so that the greater i)art of the tooth is made up of these flattened plates, fused together with cementum, and so forming a strong and solid mass ; the roots are compara- tively inconspicuous. When the tooth is a little worn each plate consists of an area of dentine sm-rounded by enamel. The interspaces of the series of plates are wholly filled up by cementum ; the summits of each plate Avere originally mammillated, and divided up into moi'c numerous blunt processes than the corresponding pai-ts of the tooth of a Mastodon ; when the tooth comes into use tlie rounded tips are soon worn ofi', and the grinding surface of the tooth then consists of narrow transverse bands of dentine, suiTounded by enamel, and of cementum in their interspaces. The difference in hardness between these three tissues preserves a constant rough surface, owing to their unequal rate of wear. In their wild condition elej^hants eat trees with succulent juicy stems, and oftentimes grass torn up by the roots, from which they roiighly shake out the adherent earth. In con- finement, the food containing less that is gritty, the teeth become polished by working against one another, but the rate of wear is insufficient to keep their surfaces rough ; for the softer cementum does not get worn down in the inter- spaces of the plates of dentine and enamel, but remains on a level with them. Great though the size of the Proboscideans be, they have some points of affinity with the Eodents in the great development of the incisors, the vacant interval between these and the molar teeth, and, as was pointed out by the late Professor Rolleston, the enamel of the elephant's molar having, in its inner portions, a pattern produced hy the 364 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. decussation of the prisms which is very similar to that de- scribed by my father as characteristic of all the Rodents save the Leporidse (Hares) and Hystricid^o (Porcupines). THE TEETH OF RODENTIA. The animals belonging to this order, which is sharply defined, are scattered almost all over the world ; the island of ]\Iadagascar is, however, remarkable for being almost without indigenous Rodents, as is the case also with Aus trulia, two facts which are of no small interest to the student of odontology. For in each of these areas, out of the creatures which are there (in the one Lemurs, in the other Marsupials), there has ai'isen a form so modified as to mimic the dentition of the true Rodents, viz., the Cheiromys in Madagascar, and the Wombat in Australia. The species of Rodents are exceedingly numerous, and the great majority of them are of small size ; the aquatic Capybara is far the largest of recent Rodents. In general features the dentitions of the numerous species comprising this order are very uniform ; the incisors, (save in the halves and rabbits, in which there is an ac- cessory small pair immediately behind the large ones) are reduced to four in number, are of very large size, and grow from persistent pulps. The jaws for some little distance behind the incisors are devoid of teeth, while beyond the interval the back teeth, generally not more than four in number, are arranged in lines which diverge slightly as they pass backward. The large scalpriform, or chisel-like incisors, extend far back into the jaws, and are much curved, the upper incisors, in the words of Professor Owen, forming a larger segment of a smaller circle than the lower, which are less curved. The length and curvature of these incisors THE TEETH OF RODENT I A. 365 relieve from direct pressiire their growing jDulps, which come to be situated far back in the jaw, the open end of the lower incisor, for example, being in many species actually behind the last of the molar teeth. The nerve going to supply the persistent pulps is of very large size, and, owing to the open end of tlie tooth having formerly occupied a more anterior position in the jaw, runs forward beneath the Fi3 157 ('). tooth, and then bends abruptly backwards to reach the tooth-pulp. In many Rodents the enamel of the front of the large incisors is stained of a deep orange colour ; this colour is situated in the substance of the enamel itself. The scalpriform incisors terminate by cutting edges, the sharpness of which is constantly maintained b}" the peculiar disposition of the tissues of the tooth. The investment of enamel, instead of being continued round the whole circumference of the tooth, is confined to its anterior and lateral surfaces, on the former of which it is thickest. It is said by Hilgendorff (Berlin Akad. d. Wiss. Monats- bericht, 1865), that the incisors of Hares differ from those of ') Side view of skull of a Rodent, giving a general idea of tlie denti- tion of the order. 366 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. all other Rodents in having enamel all round them, although it is veiy thin at the back. I have not been able to satisfy myself that the thin clear layer at the back of the tooth is enamel, and am disposed to regard it as cementum, the more so as it seems to be continued a little way upon the enamel, and in very young teeth the enamel organ is confined to the anterior surface. When a rodent incisor has been exposed to -weai-, the anterior layer of enamel is left projecting beyond the level of the dentine, and this an-angement results in a very sharp edge being constantly maintained. The dentine also is harder near to the front of the tooth than towards the back of the tooth. A thin external coat of cement is found upon the back of the tooth, but is not continued far over the face of the enamel. In the marsupial wombat this layer of cement is contiimed over the whole anterior surface of the scalpriform incisors. The molar teeth are not very numerous; the mouse 3 family have usually - ; the porcupines have constantly 4 G -, and the hares - ; the Australian water-rat CHx- 4 5 dromys) is altogether exceptional in having so few as ^. Observation has established that the last three of these teeth are always true molars, and that when there are more than three, the rest are premolars, and have had deciduous predecessors. But the extent to which the milk teeth are developed varies much. Mr, Waterhouse (Nat. Hist, of Mammalia — Rodents, p. 4), has found the milk molar still in place in the skull of a half-grown beaver, while in the hares they are shed about the eighteenth day after birth, and in the guinea-pig disappear before birth. Deciduous incisors have THE TEETH OF EODENTIA. 367 not been found in any of the group, save in the hares and rabbits. In the hares and rabbits there are four incisors in the upper jaw, a small and apparently functionless pair being placed close behind the large rodent incisors ; but in A'ery young specimens there are six incisors, of which the one pair are soon lost. Prof. Huxley (Nature, vol. 23, p. 228) has recently written that " the deciduous molars and the posterior deciduous upper incisors of the rabbit have been long known. But I have recently found that unborn rabbits possess, in addi- tion, two anterior upper and two lower deciduous incisora. Both are simple conical teeth, the sacs of which are merely embedded in the gum. The upper is not more than one- hundredth of an inch long, the lower rather lai-gcr. It would be interesting to examine foetal guinea-pigs in rela- tion to this point ; at present they are known to possess only the hindmost deciduous molars, so far agi'eeing with the Marsupials." Hares and rabbits have six milk molars in the upper and four in the lower jaw, which come into use, but differ from their successors in forming definite roots and not growing from persistent pulps. Other rodents, such as the rat, which has only three teeth of the molar series on each side, and the Australian water-rat (Ilydromys) have no milk teeth, and are hence truly Monophyodont. Moz-e diversity exists in the premolar and molar teeth ; in rodents of mixed diet, such as the common rat, the back teeth are coated over the crown with enamel, which nowhere forms deep folds, and have distinct I'oots, i.e., are not of persistent growth ; the molars of the rat have some sort of i-esemblance to minute human molars. In aged specimens the enamel is consequently worn off the grinding surface of 368 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the crown, -which comes to be an area of dentine, surrounded by a ring of enamel. But in those whose food is of a more refractory nature, the molars, like the incisors, grow from persistent pulps (as is exemplified in the Capybara here figured), and their working surfaces are kept constantly rough by the enamel dipping in deeply from the side of the tooth, as may also be seen in the common water-rat. The inflection of enamel may be so deep as to divide the areas of dentine completely np, the result being a tooth like that of the Capybara, which Fig. 158 ('). is composed of a series of plates of dentine, or ' denticles,' surrounded by layers of enamel, and all fused together by the ccmentum. The result of this disposition of the struc- tures is that the working surface is made up of enamel, dentine, and cementum, three tissues of diftercnt hardness, which will consequently wear down at different rates, and so maintain its roughness. Various intermediate forms of the molar teeth are met with ; thus there are some in which complexity of the surface is maintained by folds of enamel dipping in for a little distance, but which never- theless after a time form roots and cease to grow. When the molar teeth grow from persistent pulps, they are always curved, like the incisors, with the eff'ect of relieving the pulps from direct pressure during mastication ; and the last (') Molar of Capybara, showing the transverse plates of dentine and ' united to one another by cementum. THE TEETH OF llOBENTIA. remains of the jiulps are converted into secondary or osteo- dentine, which thus forms the central axis of the incisors, or molars, as the case may be. In this tissue vascular tracts sometimes exist, but it is altoofcther small in amount, the (^)- formation of true dentine going on till the pulp at that jiarticular point is almost obliterated. As has already been mentioned, when the molar series consists of more than three teeth, those anterior to the three true molars are jDrcmolars, which have disjilaced milk teeth ; but they do not differ materially in size or form from the true molars. The form of the condyle and of the glenoid cavity in Rodents are characteristic ; they arc much elongated in an autero-posterior direction, so tliat the range of backward (') Condyle and glenoid cavity of the Capybara, showing their longitu- dinal direction. A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. and forward motion, made use of in gnawing, is very con- siderable. The Lepariihjd are exceptional in having more lateral play than most Rodents. And the power of the teeth is mai-vcllons ; rats will sometimes gnaw holes in water-pipes, or in gas-pipes, in which they have heard water bubbling. The general character of a llodcnt's dentition may be illustrated by a description of that of the Capylnira. ■iKat.^izc^ The incisor teeth are squarish. They are wider than they are deep, and are slightly grooved on their anterior .surface. There are four grinding teeth on each side, of which the first three are small, and with few cross plates of dentine and enamel, but the fourth is a very complex tooth, with twelve or more such plates, which are fused into a solid mass by cementum. The tooth being one of persistent growth, there is no common pulp cavity, but each jilate has its own. It has already been mentioned (page 160) that the den- (') Cranium of CapyLara. THE TEETH OF IIUDEXTIA. 371 tiual tubes at that part of the liodent't> incisor which has •come into use are much smaller than those near to its growing base, thereby proving that they have undergone a diminution in calibre at a time subsequent to their original formation. Near to the surflxce actually in wear they become cut off from the pulp cavity by the conversion of what remains of the pulp into a laminated granular mass, so that the dentine exposed on the surface of a Rodent's tooth must be devoid of sensitiveness, and the contents of the dentinal tubes must have presumably undergone some change. But what the nature of the change in the contents of dentinal tubes which have ceased to be in continuity with a vascular living pulp may be, there are, so far as I know, no observations to indicate. As Avas shown by my fother (Phil. Trans. 1850), the enamel of Rodents is peculiar, and some little diversity in the arrangement of the prisms exists in different families of the order^ their character being in many cases so marked, that it is often possible to con-ectly refer a tooth to a par- ticular family of Rodents after simple inspection of its enamel. In general terms it may be said that the enamel is divided into two portions, an outer and an inner portion (this is true of all save the hares and rabbits), and that the enamel prisms pursue different com-ses in these two portions. Thus in the enamel of the beaver, in the inner half, nearest to the dentine, the prisms of contiguous layers cross each other at right angles, whereas in the outer portion they are all parallel with one another. In the genera Soiurus, Pteromys, Tamias, and Spermo- philus the enamel fibres, as seen in longitudinal section, start from the dentine at right angles to its surface ; in Castor they incline upwards at an angle of G0°, but preserve the distinction between the outer and inner layers very distinctlv. 372 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. In tlie MuriclcB the decussation of the layers in the inner part, and their parallelism in the outer part of the enamel Frr,. \a\ (1). are also found, but in addition to this the borders of the individual prisms are slightly serrated, the serrations of contiguous fibres interlocking. In the porcupine suborder the fibres of the inner portion of the enamel pm-sue a serpentine course, nevertheless showing indications of a division into layers ; they become parallel in the outer portions as in other Rodents. Small interspaces are found amongst the enamel fibres of the Porcupines. In the hares {Leporidcn) the lamelliform arrangement, and the division into outer and inner layers, alike disappear. The peculiarities in the disposition of the enamel fibres, which are so marked in the incisors, do not generally exist in the molars of the same species. Many minor differences in the arrangement of the enamel prisms exist, for a description of which I must refer the reader to the original paper, but in general terms it may be said that the " enamel lamelke have a different and distinc- (') Transverse section of an incisor of a Eeaver (Castor fiber). The enamel jirisms of suiierimposed layers cross each other at right angles in the inner portion of the euaniel, but all becoize parallel in the outer. THE TEETH OF RODENT I A. 373 tive character in each of the larger groups, and that the variety of structure is constant throughout the membci's of the same grouj) ; we may take, for example, the Sciuriche, the Muridoe, and the Hystricidce, in each of which the structure of the enamel is different ; and in each is highly distinctive." And further, that the varieties in the struc- ture of the dental tissue, so far as they are known, with a few isolated exceptions, justify and accord with the classifi- cation of the members of the order given by Mr. Waterhouse in his Natural Historv of the ]\Iammalia. CHAPTER XII. THE TEETH OF CARXIVORA. The auiinals grouped together under the name of Carnivora are divided into two sections, the Aquatic and the Terrestrial Carnivora. The teiTestrial Carnivora were fomierly classed as •• digitigrade " and " plantigi-ade," a classification exceedingly inconvenient, as ifc left the greater number of the animals to be classified in the de- bateable ground between the two extreme types. As a linear classification is impossible, tliey are now grouped around three centres : the Q^luroidea, or cat-like ; the Cynoidea, or dog-like ; and the Ai'ctoidea, or bear-like Carnivora ; and, instead of taking the Felidaj, or Cats, as the tyi^e of the group, it is generally con- sidered that the Dog tribe are the most generalised foi-m, and that the Cats are an extreme modification in one dnection, the Bears in another. The Cynoidea comprise the Dog. and its immediate allies, the "Wolves and Foxes. The OEluroidea, or cat-like Carnivora, comprise the Yiven-idaj (Civets), Hya3nas, and Cats. The Arctoidea, or bear-like Carnivora, comprise the Mustelidaj (Weasels), Procyonidaj (Eacoons), and the true Bears. The order Carnivora is a very natural one, and its name is. upon the whole, fairly descriptive of the habits of the majority of its members ; though there are some creatures included in it which are mixed feeders, and others which are purely vegetarian. In carnivorous animals one tooth on each side of both upjDer and lower jaws is of considerable length, is sharply pointed, and is called a canine ; the upper canine is sepa- rated by an interval from the incisors, the lower canine THE TEETH OF CAIINIVUIIA. 375- being received into the vacant space or " diastema " so formed. The incisors are short, almost always six in number, and stand nearly in a straight line, transversely across the front of the jaw, the outermost upper incisor being sometimees- large and pointed so as to be like a small canine. The incisors and canines may, on the whole, be said to be tolerably uniform throughout the order, but the variations in the premolar and molar teeth are both numerous and interesting. In the most purely carnivorous members of the order^ the Felidce, the true molars are reduced to a minimum, and the back teeth ai'e thin edged, " sectorial " teeth ; in the bears, on the otlier hand, some of which are purely her- bivorous, the molars are little short of the full typical mam- malian number, and are furnished with obtuse and broad gi'iuding surfaces. The accompanying figi;re will serve to give the general aspect of the teeth and jaws of a typically carnivorous {') Side view of the cranium of a Tiger, with the mouth slightly opened to show the relative position of the great canines. 376 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. animiil, and to show the great development of the processes for the attachment of muscles, and the stout wide arch of the zygoma. To a particular tooth in the upper jaw, and to its antago- nist in the lower jaw, Cuvier gave the name of " carnassial ;" these, conspicuous in the true flesh-feeders, become less dif- ferentiated in the Arctoidea or bear-like Carnivora, and in the bears themselves are indistinguishable from the other teeth, save by a determination of their homologies by a process of compai'ison with the teeth of intermediate forms. The sectorial or carnassial tooth in the upper jaw is always the fourth premolar ; its crown is divisible into two parts, the one a thin sharp-edged blade, which runs in an iuitero-posterior direction, and is more or less divided by one or two notches into a corresponding number of cusps ; the other part, the "tubercle," is a shorter and blunter cusp, situated to the inner side of the anterior end of the blade (see fig. 16G). In those which arc most purely flesh-feeders, the " blade " is well developed, and the tubercle of small size ; an increase in the tul)ercular character of the tooth is traceable through those genera which are mixed feeders. The lower tooth which antagonises the upper carnassial, passing a little behind it, is the first true molar; in the Felidce it consists solely of the blade, which is divided into two large cusps, behind which is a very small and rudimen- tary third division (which in the Hya;nidce, for example, is of conspicuous dimensions). In existing Carnivora but one " sectorial " tooth is to be found on each side of the jaws, but in the Hysenodon and some other extinct tertiary mannuals there were three teeth partaking of this character. In a general sense we may say that the characters which indicate a pure flesh diet are : the small size of the incisors as compared with the canines, and their arrangement in a straight line across the jaw ; the large size, deep implanta- tion, and wide separation from one another of the canines ; THE TEETH OF CARNIVORA. 377 the reduction in number of the molar scries, those that remcain being without broad crushing surfaces, in the phacc of which a pointed or sharp-edged form prevails. Thus the more numerous the teeth of the molar series, and the broader their crowns, the more likely it is that the creature subsists upon a mixed diet ; and a gradation may be traced even in individual teeth, such as the carnassials, in which a gradual increase in relative size of the internal tubercular cusps of the upper, and of the posterior tubercles of the lower teeth, may be traced as we pass from the ex- amination of the teeth of Felidce, to those of mixed feeders, such as the Arctoidea. It is a familiar observation that immature animals differ less from their allies than do the respective adults, and this is exemplified by the milk dentition of the present order. With the exception of the Felidce, which have only two lower milk molars, the teiTestrial caruivora, so far as is known, all have the same milk dentition. .31 .3 1 _ c _ m - . 3 13 Cynoidea. — The dog presents almost the full typical number of teeth, one upper molar (present in an extinct dog-like animal, the Amphicyon) alone being wanting. .31 4 2 1 _ c - pm _ m _ . 3 1^-1: 3 The incisors are small, the outermost being the largest ; the upper incisors have, as in a great many Caniivora, a tri-lobed shape, the surface of the crown being marked by a transverse groove into which the apex of the lower tooth fits, and the anterior of the lobes thus formed being notched so as to divide it into two. The canines, large and conical, are somewhat compressed 378 A MANUAL OF DEXTAL AXATOMY. from side to side, and have an anterior and a posterior sharp ridge ; they arc also slightly flattened on their inner surfaces. The premolars are flattened from side to side, pointed, Fig. 1(3:3 (•). #2Vr«i .b'z^c Fig. 164 (-) r> p' / V^v ^A /•* \j increasing in size from before backwards, and have small basal accessory cusps (see fig. 163). The fourth upper pre- molar is the sectorial tooth, and is very much larger than the third premolar ; the blade is well pronounced, and the (') Dentition of Australian Dog (Canis dingo). ('-) Milk and permanent teeth of Dog (after Prof. Flower). THE TEETH OF CAENIVOUA. 37& tubercle small. The fourth lower premolar does not greatly (lifter from the third. The two upper true molars are blunt, broad-crowned tuberculated teeth, but the second is very small. In the lower jaw the first true molar or carnassial tooth, lias a well-marked blade, which ai-ticulates with the blade of the upper carnassial tooth ; but towards the posterior border there is a somewhat thick and blunt tuberculate portion, barely represented in the corresponding tooth of the Felidce ; the tubercular jiortion articulates with the bi'oad flat first upper molar. The second lower molar is smaller, not being one-fourth the size of the first ; the third smaller still; both are blunt-crowned tuberculated teeth (the third lower molar, rudimentary in all dogs, is alto- gether absent in the Canis primsevus). The dentition of the dog, closely similar as it is to that of the wolves and foxes, is such as to allow of a considerable i-ange of diet, there being tubercular molar teeth in addition to a full armament of such sharply-pointed teeth as are characteristic of flesh-feeding animals. Thus the Canidce, uniform as they are in dentition, have somewhat different habits ; the Arctic fox, a flesh-feeder purely, has a dentition indistinguishable from the North Italian fox, which is reputed to be vegetarian in its diet ; the Canis cancrivorus of Guiana eats small mammals, crabs, and also fruit. Hence it is necessary to be very careful in deducing from the character of the teeth what may pro- bably have been the diet of the animal ; an approxi- mate idea may often be reached, but the sources of fallacy are sufficiently numerous to render the conclusion uncei-tain. Amongst the various breeds of dogs some slight differ- ences exist. Thus in the long-muzzled races considerable intervals exist between the premolars, as is to some extent seen in C. Dingo (fig. 163), while in the short-muzzled races 380 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the teeth are in contact, and set somewhat obliquely, so as to be almost imbricated. On the whole it may be said that the teeth are less easily susceptible of modification in size than are the jaws, so that crowding of the teeth is induced by selective breeding aiming at the production of short-nuizzled varieties. In some long-muzzled races supernumerary teeth arc sometimes found ; thus De Blainville (Ost^ographie, Canidce) figures two examples, the supernumerary tooth being in one case a premolar, in the other a true molar. CEluroidea. — With a dental formula not differing much from the dog (and not all from Canis primpovus) the ViverridcB (Civet cats, Ichneumons, &c.) approach the more typical carnivores in such points as the thinner and sharper blades of the premolar teeth and the greater relative length and sharpness of the canines. The dental formula is .31 4 2 1 _ c - 1) - m - . 3 1 W 2 At the same time the lower carnassial tooth has no less than six sharply pointed cusps, and it lacks the typical character of a sectorial tooth, while the long pointed cusps of the molars of some Viverridce recall the characters of insectivorous dentitions rather than those of true flesh- feeders ; furthermore, there are other Viverridcn which are not at all savage, and which subsist on a diet of fruits, eggs, etc., such as the Binturong or the Paradoxurus, the teeth of which have almost lost the carnivorous character. Little use can therefore be made of the Viverridce as illus- trating the transition between the dental characters of the other families of the order ; they rather serve to exemplify how, within the limits of a single family, with an identical ■dental formula, the form and size of the teeth may vary so THE TEETH OF CARXIVOEA. 381 as to adapt its members to different forms of food and habits of life. Hycenida'. — lu the Hyroua the jaw is short and stont ; the canines are set far apart, and the teetli of tlie mohir series are reduced in number. .314 1 1 _ c - ]i - m - . o I ^ \ 1 The incisors are short and stout, but the outermost upper incisor is somewhat caniniform ; the canines are very strong, but are not so long relatively to the other teeth as in the Felidce. The premolars are all stout pointed teeth, with a very Fig. 165 {}). well pronounced basal ridge or cingulum, serviceable in protecting the gxims when the creature is crushing up (') t-'l'liei- and lower teeth of Hy^na. The strongly marked cingulum is seen upon the lower teeth. In the upjjer jaw the fourth premolar (carnassial tootli) has a strong Made, divided into three cusps, and a small tubercle opposite to and within the anterior cusp ; it is a good typical carnassial tooth. yi MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. bones ; they increase in size from before backwards in the upper jaw, tlie fom-th npper premohir being a well marked carnassial tooth witti its blade and tubercle. The lower cai-nassial or first molar consists of little more than the notched blade ; but the little posterior tubercle so strongly pronounced in the dog, is in the hya;na distinctly more marked than in the Felidce (cf figs. 1G5 and 16G). The only upper true molar is the rudimentary tooth, placed inside the back of the fourth premolar. The main featm-e of the dentition of the hysena is the great stoutness and strength of the teeth ; they are admir- ably adapted to the habits of the animal, which feeds rather upon the portions of carcasses left by the fiercer carnivora than upon those which it kills for itself, and consequently bones form a large proportion of its food. There is a curious hya)na-like animal found at the Cape (of which there are often specimens at the Zoological Gardens) called Proteles or Aardwolf, in which the teeth of the molar series are quite rudimentary. The incisors (much worn in old animals) and the canines are iaivXy well developed ; the molars and premolars quite stunted. The deciduous dentition ( dm. _. j is similar to the adult, as respects the teeth being stunted. It is a cowardly animal, and is siipposed to feed on putrid flesh ; it is said to eat young lambs, and to bite the large tails of the Cape sheep, which are remarkal)le for containing an abundance of semi-fluid fat, Felidce. — The dentition of this fomily is singularly uniform. .3131 1 _ c - p - m _ . Thus the molar series is reduced below that of hysena THE TEETH OF CARXIVORA. 383 by the loss of a premolar in both jaws. The iucisors are very short, the cauines very large, -widely apart, aud sharply pointed, with a pronounced longitudinal ridge very charac- teristic of the Felidce ; the premolars nearest to them are quite short, so that they stand practically alone, and so can penetrate the flesh of living prey more readily. The first upper (really the second of the typical mam- malian dentition) premolar is almost a rudimentary tooth ; Fio. 166 (1). the second, a far larger tooth, is sharply pointed ; the third is a well pronounced carnassial tooth, of which the " blade " is divided by two notches into three sharp lobes, with the middle one of which the " tubercle " is connected by a slight ridge. The solitary true molar is a small touth, placed trans- versely, aud within the back of the premolar, so that looking from the outside it is not visible at all. In the lower jaw the carnassial (first molar) is reduced to (') Side view of lower, and p;datal aspect of upper jaw (Leopard). 38-1 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. the " blade " only ; it is divided by a V-shaped notch into two lobes, and the posterior tubercle is hardly represented. In an extinct feline animal, the ^lachairodus, found in tertiary strata, and very widely distributed (in France, Italy, India, Brazil, Buenos Ayres) the first of the pre^ molars left in the upper jaw of Felis, and there almost rudimentary (see fig. 166), has disappeared; the dental formula is thus : . 3 The upper canines are of immense length, and the ridge of enamel which runs down the front and back surface of the teeth is distinctly serrated ; hence the name of saw- toothed Tiger which has been given to the animal. Fig. 167 ('). The lower canines were quite small, and ranged with the incisors. The enoi'mous length of the upper canine renders it difficult to sec in what manner it was made use of, as the {}) Side view of the jaws and cranium of Macliairodus (Drepanodon) after Owen. TEE TEETH OF CAnXIVOllA. SSf. mouth could hardly have been opened to an extent sufficient to enable its point to do more than clear the lower jaw. The extinct Hyajnodon had feline affinities, but diffi)red in that it presented the typical mammalian formula of .3 1 4 3 1 _ c - 11 - m - , 3 1^4 b' its gi-eat peculiarity l)eing tliat one and all of these teeth were of "carnassial" form. Yet the elongated form of its jaw is, so far as it goes, opposed to the idea of its having been highly carnivorous ; its food at all events must probably have consisted of animals very much smaller than itself. Arctoidea. — Amongst the Carnivora grouped together by many characteristics as ' bear-lilce,' a tolerably complete gradation of character in the matter of dentition may be traced. Some of the group, such as the stoats and martins, are very carnivorous ; others are mainly herbivorous. Of the Mustelida) the dental formula is .3 1 4 1 1 _ c _ 1) _ m - 3 1^4 2 There is a sort of primd facie resemblance to the feline dentition, for the sectorials are very much like those of the Felidae, but the last tooth in each jaw is a broad topped tubercular molar, even in the most carnivox-ous members of the group, while in those which are less so, such as the badger, the molar teeth are very broad and obtuse, the lower sectorial having a very small blade and a very large tubercular posterior talon, so that, without having really lost its typical formation, it comes practically to l)e a broad grinding tootlu In the Procyonidtc (Racoons and Coatimundis, ifcc), we c c A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. have a further departure from the carnivorous character, in the increased development of the molar series : the dental formula is 3 14 2 - c _ 1) _ m _ 3 14 2 In the Coatimundi, for cxam^ile, the upper sectorial Ai.^iiyjCx^[^ has a very large ' tubei-cle,' and posteriorly to this there is a small additional tubercle ; the ' blade ' has no large or conspicuous thin, flat, sharp edge, but presents two pro- nounced cusps. The lower sectorial is no longer recognisable as a car- nassial tooth, but all the true molars are broad teeth with four or five cusps. The canines are very peculiar, those of the upper jaw being very straight and much flattened from side to side ; those of the loAvor jaw strongly curved, and marked by a deep groove near the front of their anterior surface. (') Upper and lower tooth of a Coatimmuli (Xasua socialis). The fourth upper premolar (carnassial tooth) has lost its sectorial character Ly tlie T)lade heing much less, and the tubercle much more developed than in the Qilluroidea ; there is an additional internal tubercle at the back of the tooth. THE TEETH OF CARXIVOnA. 387 In the Bears the teeth are yet further modified to suit the requirements of mixed or vegetable feedei-s. The dental formula is generally 1 4 2 _ m _ 4 3 The incisors of tiie upper jaw present the notch across the crown, so common in caruivora, and the outermost is large and not iinlike a canine; the canines are, relatively to the other teeth, not so large as iu dogs or Felidtc ; never- theless they are stout strong teeth, upon which the anterior and posterior ridges of enamel are well marked. Tlio first three premolars are small dwarfed teeth; the Fi«. 169 ('). first premolar is very close to the canine, and has a crown of peculiar form, produced out towards the canine. All four of the premolars seldom persist through the life- (') Teeth of a Bear (Ursus tluljetanus). Tlie figure is drawn from a young speciiden, in which the canines have liariUy attained to their full length. In this bear the fooi- ijremolars are ail persistent. 388 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. time of the animal ; the first premolar, however, is rarely (if ever in recent sj^ecies) lost, the second being the first to foil out, and then the third. As the fourth is never lost, in most adult bears the first and fourth premolars are foiuid, with a wide interval between them. The i)remolars of bears thus form an exception- to the rule that when a tooth is lost from the premolars, the loss takes idace from the front of the scries. The fourth ui.jjcr premolar (carnassial tooth) retains something of its carnassial character ; the first lower molar very little, save that it is a narrower and more elongated tooth than the other true molars. The true molars are squarish or oblong teeth, raised into blunt tubercular cusps ; they vary in difierent species. In the sloth bear (Ursus labiatus) the incisors are small and the median pair are lost early ; it is varioiisly stated to be frugivorous and to feed on ants, the latter jirobably being the more truthful account. Carxivora Pinxipedia (seals). The aquatic Caniivora are divided into three families : — I. Tlie Otariida3. or Eared Seals, comprising- the single genus Otaria known as Sea Lions, or Sea Bears. These are the " fur Seals,'" from which seal skin is jirocured, and they are less removed from tlie terrestrial camivora than are the other seals : the limbs are better adapted for walking, there ai'e external ears, kc. II. The Phocidte, to which familj' the Seals of our own coasts (Phoca greenlandica, kc.) and the Great Proboscis Seals of the southern seas (Cystophora) belong. III. The Trichechidfe, or Walruses, an aberrant Arctic family con- sisting of one genus only. The dentition of the seals is less highly specialised than that of other carnivora, in some cases approximating to that of homodont cetaceans. The canines are generally well marked by being larger THE TEETH UF CARXIVORA. than tlie other teeth, but the molars and premolars are very similar to each other, and are simple in pattern. Tlie milk dentition is very feebly developed in the seals ; in the Otaria (fur seal), which of all the seals most approaches to Fig. 170 ('). the terrestrial caniivora in other characters, the milk teeth iu-e retained for a few weeks, but in most others they arc (') Jaws of Otaria, in wliicli tlie tectli are afiectt'cl !iy tbe fona of erosion alluiletl to in the text. After Dr. Minie. Odciit. Suc.[Traii!^., 1870. 300 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. shed about the time of birth (of. page 300). Thus Pro- fcsaor Flower tells us that in a l*hoca greenlandica a week old .scarcely a trace of the milk teeth was left. The teeth of Otaria and of some other seals become much M'orn down, and they also seem to become eroded at the level of the gums, as they are often deeply excavated at jjoints which seem unlikely to have been exposed to friction, but the nature of this erosion has not been adequately in- vestigated. The common seals (Phoca) have a dental formula . n 1 4 1 1 _ c _]) _ m - . ;i 1 M 1 The incisors are of simple form, and the outer are the larger. The canine is a strong recurved tooth, with a large root ; behind it follows a series of molars, each of Fifl. 171 ('). which (with the exception of the iirst) bears a central principal cusp, with a smaller accessory cusp before and behind it. The forms of the crowns vary a good deal in different genera, in some the cusps being much lai-ger, more deeply separated from one another and recurved ; and in others the accessoiy cusps being multiplied, so that the Q) Teeth of Plioca greenlandica. THE TEETH OF CARXIVORA. 391 name of ' saw-toothed seal ' has been given to their pos- sessors. In the Hooded seals (Cjstophora) the incisors are i*e- duced to one in the lower jaw and two in the upper ; the Fig. 172 ('). -£)jat iiizo canines are of great size, hut the molars are small and simple in form, so as to approximate to the teeth of true Cctacea. The walrus (Trichechus rosmarus), an aberrant Arctic form, is possessed of enormous upper canines, which pass down outside the lower lip, and are of such dimensions as to materially modify the foi-m of cranium by the size of their sockets ; they grow from persistent pulps, and are composed of dentine with a thin investment of cement. The great tusks are employed to tear up marine plants and tu turn over obstacles, the walrus feeding upon Crus- tacea, and also upon seaweed, &c. ; they are also used to assist the animal in clambering over ice : as they are of almost equal size in the female, they cannot be regarded as weapons of sexual offence, but tliey are undoubtedly used in the combats of the males. ") Permanent and milk teetli of Elei)l)aut Seal (Cystopboraproboscidea). A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. In addition to the great tusks the walrus ordinai-ily has a row of four or five short simple teeth, worn down to the level of the gums ; of these, the one placed innnediatcly within the base of the great canine is in the inter-maxillaiy bone, and is an incisor : the ordinary dental formula is given by Professor Flower as . 1 1 1 _ c - 1 But there is some difficulty in assigni Fig. 173 ('). a definite dental formula : for in front of the sulitu)y incisor are often the (') Siilc view of ujiper ami lowei- jaws of a Waliiis (Tricheclius rosmarus). The ujiper jaw has been tilted a little to one side, in order to bring into view the molar teeth at the same time with the long tusks. The deter- mination of the teeth being open to question, they have been simply umbered. THE TEETH OF CAllNIVORA. sockets (or even the teeth themselves) or two others, which are for various reasons rather to be regarded as noii-per- sistcut teeth of the permanent set than as milk teeth ; and there are also small teeth sometimes to be met with behind the molars, which seem to be rudimentary permanent teeth. The teeth above alluded to may persist through life, and probably often do ; but they arc sure to be lost in macerated skulls, as they have but little socket. Of the milk den- tition four teeth have been traced in each jaw ; they are rudimentary, are lost about the time of birth, and corres- pond in position to the more largely developed teeth of the adult. Hence tlie question if those small rudimentary teeth above alluded to are to be regarded also as milk teeth which are long retained, or as rudimentary permanent teeth ; ,it present this requires further elucidation. CHAPTER XIII. THE TEETH OF IXSECTIVORA, CHIROrTEi:A, AND PRIMATES. The insectivora fonn rather a heterogeneous order of Mammals. aud embrace very various forms. All of them are of rather small size, and some are very small indeed. Their diet consists for the most part of insects, aud their teeth are generally adapted for this by being furnished with many points. The best known animals in the order are the Hedgehogs, the Shrews, and the Moles ; to these are to be added the Galeopithecus, or " Flying Lemi^r," and the Macroscelidaj (Elephant mice). Insectivora are more abundant in Africa. Asia, and South America than in Europe. The Shrews approximate in some measm-e towards the Rodents, and the Tupaia is very lemurine in its characters. The common English Hedgehog (Erinacens)hasthe dental foimula . 3 4 3 In the upper jaw there is a wide interval between the fii'rit pair of incisors, -which are much the largest, and are caniniform in shape. The next two teeth (incisors) are quite small, and resemble premolars in their form. The next tooth has two roots, and a crown with one cusp, and is also like the premolars behind it. This tooth, the root of which shows indications of division, is sometimes called a canine, because it comes next behind the intermaxillary suture ; behind this come two small premolars. The fourth upper premolar is totally different in size and form from the third : its crown is large, squarish, and THE TEETH OF IXSECTIVOEA. 395 furnished with fo\ir cusps, of which the antero-cxtei'nal one is far tlie longest and sharpest. The first upper true molar has a square crown, upon which are four sharp cusps : it is implanted by four roots. Fig. 17J('). .-' -€^^®)^ ^ V>- ^..^ - \rU. The second true molar is also square, quadricusjjid, and luis four roots ; but it is nuich smaller than the first, while the third upper true molar is quite a small, compressed, double-rooted tooth, with a thin-edged crown. In the lower jaw the first incisors, less widely separated than the iipper, are also the largest ; then follows another tooth termed incisor, on account of its relation to the upper incisors when the mouth is closed. The third tooth is much larger, and of peculiar form. The fourth tooth from the front is a small single tooth, like the third, but upon a smaller scale. Xext behind it, comes a tooth which is very much larger, and its crown carries two principal cusj^s with a small subsidiary cusp. The next tooth (first true molar) has an oblong crown beset with five sharp cusj^s, of Avhich four are arranged at the corners of a square, while the fifth, obviously an elevation of the cingulum, lies a little in front and towards the inside of the tooth. In the second true molar the fifth cusp is but little indicated, while the last (') Upper and lower teeth of the Iledgohog. A MANUAL OF DEXTAL ANATOMY. true molar is a dwarfed tooth with but ouc cusp. Several dental formula) have been assigned to the Hedgehog : there is little room for difierence of opinion as to the nomen- clature of its upper teeth : though some authors {e.g.. Professor Mivart) prefer to call the Hrst premolar a canine. But in the lower jaw some :uithors give i -c-pm-, others i _ c - pm -, and othci's again, i - pm -. 'I'he last given seems the least artificial, and corresponds liest with the relations between the ui)})er and lower teeth wlien the mouth is closed. Rousseau describes the existence of twenty-four rnilk teeth, which he classifies thus: (i - dm _) : that is to say, ' 4 1 ■^ all the teetli in front of the true molars had deciduous pre- decessors, but his grouping of them into incisors and molars is quite arbitrary. The milk teeth are not shed and replaced until the animal has attained to almost its full dimensions, and all three true molars are in place. The teeth of the Hedgehog fairly represents some of the features of Insectivorous dentitions, for the forcep-like in- cisors, the stunted or non -developed canines, and the molars bristling with pointed cusi)S, are conmion to very many Insectivora. The Sln-ews have nimierous sharply-pointed teeth, the points interdigitating and fitting veiy^ closely together when the mouth is shut. There is no tooth either in the upper or lower jaw which is so elongated as to deserve the name of canine ; but between the hicisors and the true molars are several small teeth which, by analogy, are called premolars. The true molars are not very different in pattern from those of the mole (B in Fig. 176), and present the W-contour so common in the molars of Insectivora. 1'he most marked ])GCuliai-ity in the dentition of the THE TEETH OF INSECTIVORA. 397 Shrews lies in the form of their incisors. The first upper iucisor is alwuys very large indeed : it looks vertically downwards, is a little hooked, and has a notch, and a second low cusp behind the principal long pointed cusp. The tip of the lower incisor fits into this notch. The lower incisor is also very large ; it lies nearly horizontally, though the point is bent a little upwards. Along its upper edge there are, in most species, three or four small cusps, while its lower border is curiously prolonged outside the bone of the jaw, so as to in some measure encase this latter. The lower iucisor is at least one-third as long as the whole alveolar border. The incisor teeth of the Sln-ew would appear to form a very efficient pair of i)incers, with which to pick up the minute creatures on which it feeds. Of the milk teeth of Shrews little is known : they are said to be absorbed before birth, but accurate observations upon them arc miicli needed, their very existence being doubtful. The dentition of the Mole (Talpa) has been the subject of much controversy, the determination of its canines, kc, presenting such difficulty that no less than five different dental formuke have been assigned to it. In the front of the upper jaw come three small teeth, the first being somewhat the largest, which are well within the limits of the intermaxillary bone, and are doubtless incisors. But the next tooth, which is very big, also appears to be implanted in the intermaxillary bone, the suture passing across its socket close, to the back of its posterior root. According to its implantation it therefore would be au incisor (') but it is very unlike an incisor ; and it is two- (') I confess I cannot fdllo.v ilr. Fpenoe Bute when, in liis vahialile paper on the milk teeth of tlie mole, lie says, " This tooth is implanteil within the limits of the premaxillary bones, the suture separating them from the maxillary, passing through the posterior portion of its alveolus : thus demonstrdt'uuj that this deciduous tooth is the true honiolocjue of that of the mnine in the mammalian ti/pc." Surely it would go to prove the (.ontrar}', if accepted as evidence at all upon this point. 398 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. rooted, a thing anomalous either in an incisor or a canine, though found in the canine of (ijnuun-a, which is l)eyond (juestion in the maxiUary bone. Next come three minute premolars, and a fourth, which is much larger than the others : these all have single crowns, consisting of little more than a single sharply-pointed cusp. The first two upper molars are large teeth bristling with cusps : the third is much reduced in size and siiiiplifiod ~ NaV. Size. in pattern, in the lower jaw tiie four fruut teeth are all small, but the fourth or outermost of these incisors is called by some writers the lower canine, because, when the teeth are closed, it passes in front of the upper caniniform tooth. Nevertheless the tooth which does the work of a canine in the lower jaw is the fifth counting from the front : this is a two-rooted tooth, and conforms so closely with the thi'ce teeth behind it in configuration, that it is obviously only one of these premolars developed to a greater length than the others. It closes hehind the caniniform upper tooth, so cannot on this ground be called a canine by those who attach importance to the term. Q) Upper and lower teeth of the common Mole. The functionless milk teeth (after Spence Bate) are p'aced above the permanent teeth which dis- place them. THE TEETH OF IXSECTIVORA. 399 The remcaiuing three premolars are rather small and single ; the true molars are of considerable size, and their points are very long and sharp. I have purposely avoided giving any dental formula for the Mole : everything turns upon the value which we attach to the term canine ; and I have already given reasons (p. 284r) for attaching but little homological importance to its determination. Mr. Spence Bate's paper (Trans. Odontol. Society, 1867), valuable as it is in contribiiting to our whole knowledge of the milk dentition of the creature, does not appear to me to help us much in the matter of determining the homologies of the canine. In a Mole 3| inches long he found eight milk teeth on each side of both upper and lower jaws, as is indicated in Fig. 175. The milk incisors were about one-twentieth of an inch in length, :uid one two-hundredth in diameter, and were rudimentary in form, consisting of long thin c\'lindrical tubes surmounted by slightly expanded crowns. All the milk teeth were of this simple form, save only the last in each jaw, which presented crowns with two cusps, and had their roots to some little extent divided into two. At the time when these teeth are present the intermaxil- lary suture is very distinct, and there is no doubt that the fom-th upper milk tooth, the predecessor of the caniniform tooth, is in the intermaxillary bone. The teeth had not fairly cut the gum, and the advanced state of the permanent teeth beneath them make it doubtful whether they ever do become erupted. At all events, they can be of no use. In many of the order Insectivora the milk dentition is xmkuown, but we have exemplified amongst them cveiy grade of completeness in its development. Thus in the Hedgehog and Ccntctos (an allic>l animal from Madagascar) // MANUAL OF UENTAL ANATOMY. the milk dentition is tolerably complete, while in the Shrews it has all bnt, or quite, disappeared. The W-patteni characterising the molars of Insectivora has already been alluded to ; it is well exemplified in the molar of Urotrichus. In this tooth, as has been clearly shown by Prof. Mivart (Osteology of Insectivoi-a, Joimi. of Anat., 1868), the four cusps of the typical teeth [a, h, c, d) have been added to by the elevation of the cingulum into three or four external, and one internal cusp, making up the total number to nine. Thus it is that the molars of this order often fairly bristle with cusps. In the Mule the number of cusps is diminished by the coalescence of h and d into a ridge, and tlic disappearance of Fig. n 1 2 3 i^c-p_m-; As an example the Macaque monkey may be taken. The upper and lower incisors, but especially the former, are directed obliquely forwards, and the lateral incisors are very much smaller than the centrals. In the upper jaw a con- siderable interval separates the incisors from the canine, 408 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. whicli is a veiy large tooth, somewhat triangular in section, with a sharp edge directed l)ackwards, and with a deep groove on its anterior surface. The upper premolars are implanted by three distinct roots, as arc also the true molars ; the latter are quadri- cuspid, but lack the oblique ridge. Nal. S'fzc The lower canine is a sharp and powerful tooth, though it is very much smaller than the upper ; the first lower premolar, by its front surface, articulates with the upper canine, and is of curious form. It is implanted by two roots, but the anterior root is produced forwards, so that the antero-posterior extent of the tooth is much increased. The apex of the cusp of the tooth is almost over the posterior root, and from this point the crown of the tooth slopes obliquely forwards down to its anterior root. This peculiarity in the form of the first lower premolar is eminently (') Upper and lowor teeth of a Monkey (Macacus neiiiestiinus, male). The length and sharpness of the canines, and the peculiar form of tho anterior lower premolar, contrasts with the aspect of the coiresponding teeth in the Anthropoid Apes or in Man. THE TEETH OF PIHMATES. 409 characteristic of the baboons. There is nothing to note of the second premolar save that it is implanted by two roots, like the true molars, which are quadricuspid ; of them the thu'd is lai'ger than the first two, and is quinquicuspid. There is considerable difterence in the size of the canine in the two sexes, that of the male being very much the larger ; this ditterence does not exist in the deciduous den- tition, in which the canines are relatively small. The Anthropoid Apes are the Gibbons (Hylobate.s), the Chimpanzee (Simla Troglodytes, or Troglodytes niger), the Orang (Simla or Pithccus Satyius), and the Gorilla (Troglo- dytes Gorilla). Upon the whole the gibbons are the lowest, and the gorilla the highest of the anthropoid apes, which arc all confined to tropical areas. Thus the gorilla and chimpanzee are confined to tropical Africa, and the orang is limited to a part of the Malay archipelago. The gibbons are more widely distributed over the Malay archipelago and tropical Asia. Although upon the whole the gorilla approaches most nearly to man, this can hardly be said to be the case Avith its dentition. The jaws are veiy square, and there is a large diastema in front of the upjier canine, which in the male gorilla is of great size and strength, its top descending far below the level of the aheolar border of the lower jaw when the mouth is shut. In the lower jaw there is no diastema, but the teeth are all in contact with one another ; the first of the pre-molai-s is a very strong pointed cone, showing plainly the close relationship between canines and premolars alluded to at a previous page (p. 17). The molars increase in size from before backwards, the third molars attaining to a very large size. Nevertheless, though the teeth are coarser and stronger, there is a general resemblance to those of man. 410 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. It has been pointed out by the late Professor lioUeston that the canine tooth of the male anthropoid apes is a little later in coming into place than in the female. Thus in the male chimpanzee and orang, it is not cut initil after the third molars (wisdom teeth) are in place, whereas in the female it follows the second, but precedes the third molars. The sexual difference in the canine teeth is very well marked in all the anthropoid apes, and its later eruption in the males sxVol Si-f is explicable both upon the ground that, being a sexual weapon, it is not needed prior to the attainment of sexual maturity, and also that being of very large size its formation might be expected to take a longer time. No such difference pertains to the milk dentition, in which the order of eruption is exactly that met with in man. Dr. Magitot (Bulletin de la Societc d'Anthropologie de Paris, 1869) combats the idea that there is any difference in the order of the eruption of the permanent teeth between man and the anthropoid apes, but, while his observations have been both careful and widely extended, he lays much (') Upper and lower teeth of an Antln-(ipoi Orang Outan). Ape (Siniia Satyi-us, or THE TEETH OF PMIMATES. 411 stress upon an observation made upon a female gorilla skull, in which, as has just been mentioned, the order of succession is not quite the same as in the male. The dentition of the orang approaches tolo-ably closely to tliat of man, and the points of resemblance and of difference may be fairly well seen in the accompanying figure. The central upper incisors are similar to those of man, but are larger ; the laterals are, relatively to the centrals, much smaller, and are very caniniform in shajje, both inner and outer angles of their cutting edge being sloped off" to such an extent that a central pointed ciisp remains, in place of a thin cutting edge. The canines are strong, pointed teeth, the cinguluni and the ridge joining it with the apex of the cusp being well marked upon their imrer sides. In the female the upper canine is about half as long again as any of the other teeth ; in the male it is longer. The first Incuspid is a little more caniniform than that of man : its outer cusp is long and pointed, and a i-idge unites it with the anterior part of the inner cusp, which is feebly pronounced; the second is a blunter and broader tooth. The premolars are implanted by three roots. The molars are not unlike the human teeth in pattern. In the lower jaw the incisors are large and stout ; the canines sharply pointed, with a well marked cingulum, and a well marked median ridge on the inner side of the crown. The first premolar is a shorter, stouter, and lilunter copy of the canine, and can hardly be said to liavc an inner cusp. In the second premolar the inner cusp is as high as the outer, and the cingulum is elevated both before and behind till it almost forms two additional cusps. Indeed, [ am not acquainted with any dentition which exemplifies the transition from incisors to canines, from 412 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. canines to premolars, and from premolars to true molars, better than that of the oranf'. Fig. 181 Q Fig. 182 {-). Fig. ] 83 C'}. The lower molars resemble those of man, save that their (') Skull of a .young male Orang. The ujipcr canine dues not nearly reach to the lower alveolar border. (-) Skull of adult male Orang, in which the canine is largely developed . (•') Side view of skull of an idiot. THE TEETH OF PRIMATES. surface is marked by that finely wrinkled pattern -wliicli is common to all the unworn teeth of the orang. One is struck b}'- the great backward elongation of tlie jaws, by their squareness, by the parallelism of the two sides which converge slightly at the back, and by the large size of the teeth in proportion to the bulk of the whole animal. The large size of the canines being in a measure a sexual cliaracter, is, as is so often the case, not very noticeable in the young animal : the two acompanying illustrations of a young and an adult male orang may serve to show this, as well as some other differences developed by age. The differences which serve to distinguish the dentition y Mr. Mummery may be adiled the mound builders of North America, whose teeth were ah^ays worn down to au excessive extent. E E 418 A MANUAL ni< DEXTAL AXATOMT. very likely due to the admixture of earth aud other foreign matter with the food. And, furthermore, that the occurrence of dental irrcgiilarities, due to an insufficient size of the arches, was comparatively speaking unknown among the ruder races, whilst it has been common amongst peoples of more luxurious habits for a long period of time. The range of variation in the size of the jaws of healthy, otherwise well-developed adults is great : thus the smallest jaw (occurring in a man of stout build, above middle height) with which I am acquainted measures in width only 1| inch, and in length from back to front 1^ inch ; whilst the largest (occurring in a gentleman of lesser stature ; of Basque ex- traction, moreover, which makes it the more striking) (') measures no less than 2^ inches in width and 2i inches in length : and even larger dimensions are recorded in the " Dental Cosmos " of September, 1876 ; the width being taken between the centre of the alveolar borders at the position of the wisdom teeth, and the length being measured on a line drawn from the incisors to another line joining the two wisdom teeth. On the whole, it must be said that tliero are fewer constant differences between the teeth of the various races of mankind than might have been a priori expected ; in fact, we may almost say that the teeth of savage man are pretty much what we should look upon as an exceedingly perfectly formed set of teeth if we were to see them in the mouth of an European. (1) Magitot (Bullet, de la Soc. Anthropol. de Paris, 1869) says :— " Los Basques, par exemple, remarqiiables par la petitesse extreme de leurs ilents." CHAPTER XIY. THE TEETH OF MARSUPIALIA. The great sub-class of Marsupials, consisting of animals very sharply marked off from placental Mammals by many striking peculiarities, and amongst others, by the very helpless condition in which the foetus is born, was once very widely distributed over the globe. Xow. however. Marsupials are numerous only in Australia, where they are almost the sole representatives of the Mammalian class : there are a few Marsupials elsewhere, as in America (Opossums) and Xew Guinea : but there are no Marsupials in Europe, most parts of Asia, and Africa. The Marsupials of America are all Opossums (I)ulr7j)litd(p'), and this family is not represented in Australia. There is evidence to indicate that the Marsupials of Anierica have nothing at all to do with the Australian Marsupials, but were derived from a different source, at the time when Marsupials abounded all over Eiu'ope. The Marsupials of Australia almost monopolise that country ; thus Mr. Wallace says of it : '• The Australian region is broadly distinguished from all the rest of the globe by the entire absence of all the orders of non-aquatic mammalia that abound in the old world, except two — the Winged Bats (^C/iirnjifcrii), and the equally cosmopolite Rodents. Of these latter, however, only one family is represented — the Murida3 — (comprising the Rats and Mice), and the Australian representatives of these are all of small or moderate size — a suggestive fact in appreciating the true character of the Australian fauna. " In place of the Quadrumana. Camivora. and Ungulates, which abound in endless variety in all the other zoological regions under equally favourable conditions, Australia possesses two new orders or sub-classes, Marsupialia and Monotremata, found nowhere else in the globe, except a single family of the former in America, •• The Marsupials are wonderfully developed in Australia, where they exist in the mo - ni - = 44 3 K 4 3 as the typical or parent dental formula, so to the Marsupials we must ascribe the follov/ing — .313 4 ,, i_ c-p-m- = 44. 3 K 3 4 THE TEETH OF MAltSUPIALlJ That is to say, tliongh the total number of teeth is the same, the marsupial has ouly three premolars and has four true molars. The premolars (false molars) differ from the true molars in the greater simplicity of their crowns, just as in most placental mammals ; but, although, looking at the complete adult dentitions, no hesitation woiild be felt in classing the teeth under the heads of premolars and true molars, yet there is a curious anomaly in the succession of the teeth which applies to the whole of the sub-class Mar- supialia, and to some extent im-alidates the definition of •'premolar" as applied to their teeth. Only one of the premolars (the hindmost) has vertically displaced a milk tooth ; indeed, the whole milk dentition of Marsupials con- sists of four milk molars (one on each side of each jaw), there being no milk incisors nor canines in any known marsupial. It is further pointed ovit by Professor Flower, who was the first to fully describe these peculiarities in the succession of marsupial teeth (" Phil. Trans.," 1867), that the extent to which the solitary milk molar is developed varies much in the different families ; no trace of any succession has been observed in the Wombat ; m tlie Thylacine (a dog- like creature) tlie small milk molar is calcified, but is absorbed or shed prior to any other teeth being eruj)ted, whilst in the Kangaroos it is retained till a much later period (see page 430), and in the Kangaroo Rat (Hyp- siprymnus) the milk molar has not yet given place to its successor at the time when tlie last permanent molar has come into place, so that it for a long time ranges with the other teeth and does work. It is difficult to obtain veiy young Marsupials, and material for the complete elucidation of the subject is wanting ; but I have had the opportunity (jf making sections of the jaws of several young specimens ( Perameles and Halmaturus), taken from the pouch by my friend Prof. Moseley, and I liave not so far succeeded in 422 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. Fig. ISO ('). K 111111! Ik Wm (') Enamel and dentine of a Kangaroo (Macroiius major). The dentinal tubes in the dentine (A) are furnished with numerous short branches at the line of juncture with the enamel ; they are dilated, and a little bent out of their course, while beyond the dilatation they pass on through about two-thirds of the thickness of the enamel in a straight course and without branches. Only a part of the whole thickness of the enamel is shown in the figure. 1!. Enamel penetrated by the tubes. C. Individual dentinal tube. TUE TEETH OF MARSUPIALIA. 423 finding any uncalcified germs or other indications of any of the missing teeth of the milk dentition. A furtlier peculiarity of the Marsnpials is the structure of Fill. 1S7 ('). their enamel, which is penetrated by the dentinal tubes. (') Upper and lower teeth of tlie Tliylaciiic. The rudimentary milk molar, which is absorbed before birth, has been placed over the third or last of the premolars, which succeeds to it vertically. (-) Upper and lower teeth of a Dog, which are placed side by side with those of the Thylacine to show the many points of resemblance between the two dentitions. 42i A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. My father, some years ago, described and figured the teeth of a large number of Marsupial genera (" Philos. Transac.," 1850), and found that although in the different families the tube system of the enamel varied in its richness and in the depth to -which the tubes penetrated, yet it was con- spicuously present in the whole class, with the sole exception of the Wombats, in whom nothing of the kind is to be found. Prof. Moselcy's specimens have aftbrded to me the opportu- nity of studying the development of this tubular enamel, and the result of my investigations vvill be detailed elsewhere : but it may be mentioned that the formation of the enamel tube appears to be precisely analogous to that of a dentine tube, and at a certain period the enamel cells have appended to them long processes like the dentinal fibres. The dila- tation noticeable at the boundary line of the enamel and the dentine (see Fig. 186) is a kind of clumsy joint brought about by the coalescence at this point of the tube-forming cells — on the one side odontoblasts, on the other enamel cells. There exists one genus of flesh-eating marsupials whose ferocity is such as to have gained for them the names of wolf and tiger, wdiile the resemblance of the head to that of a dog has given origin to the popular name of " dog-headed opossums." (') The resemblance to the dog is in dentition even more close than in external form : whilst retaining certain mar- supial attributes, the teeth of the Thylacine are, so far as their working capabilities go, almost exactly like those of the dog. The dental formula is — . 4 1 ■^ 4 1 _ c - 1) - m _. 3 1 .3 4 The incisors are small, close set, and sharp edged, the (') It lias of course no real relationshii) to the true opossums, which are not found in Australia. THE TEETH OF MAllSUl'IALIA. 425 outermost being somewhat cuuiniform. The canines are stout, pointed teeth, not quite so long relatively as those of the dog. The premolars are conical teeth, implanted by two root«, and very similar to those of the dog ; they are followed in the upper jaw by four molars, increasing in size from the first to the third, but the last true molar is again a smaller tooth. The uj^per molars ai-c all of the " carnassial " pattern ; there is a " blade " elevated into subsidiary cusps, and internally to this a " tubercle," supported by a third root. The lower molars also bear some resemblance to the car- nassial teeth of the dog, consisting of a strong, sharp-edged blade, with anterior and posterior subsidiary ciisps, the latter being somewhat broad and tubercular. An allied animal (Dasyurus ursinixs), though smaller than the Thylacine, and having teeth of a less sectoi'ial character, is so destructive to sheep, and so fierce and untamable, that it has earned the name of " Tasmanian Devil." AVithin the limits of the same genus, a species (Dasyurus viverrinus) is to be found in which the molar teeth are studded over with long sliarp cusps, like the teeth of Insectivora, a group which it resembles both in its habits and food. A number of smaller ^larsupials approximate in their dentition more or less to the Insectivorous type, whilst a tolerably complete chain of existing forms serves to bridge over the gap between the rapacious Dasyurida; and the herbivorous Kangaroos and Wombats. Amongst the Opossums the larger species have large canines, and a dentition iu its general features approxi- mating to the Dasyuridie ; they feed upon birds and small mammals, as well as upon reptiles and insects, while the smaller species are more purely insectivorous. Myx-mecobius, a small Australian Marsupial of insectivo- rous habits and dentition, is remarkable as having teeth in 426 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. excess of the number of tlie typicul mamraaliau dentition, having . 4 1 :'. G 1 _ C - p _ 111 _. In the Phalangers, nocturnal arboreal animals found in Australia and a part of the ^lalay Archipelago, tlic canines, though present, are feeble ; an interspace also sei)arates the incisors from the molar series. The lower incisors, reduced to a single pair, are procum- bent, and grow from persistent pulps ; and a slight exagge- ration of the peculiarities of the dentition of the Phalangers brings us to that of the Kangai'oo Kats. The name " Kangaroo Rats" (Hypsiprymnus) is applied to a genus consisting of about a dozen species ; they are all small creatures, not much larger than rabbits, but having the general proportions of kangaroos. They are quiet, gentle little creatures, of strictly herbivorous habits, and they are interesting to the odontologist as possessing a dentition which throws some light upon several anomalous extinct forms, whose habits and affinities have been the subject of much controversy. The dental formula is .3 1 1 4 1 0^1 4 The first })air of upper incisors are sharply })ointed, are directed nearly vertically downwards, and grow from per- sistent pulps. The second and third do not grow from persistent pulps, and their worn crowns do not attain to the same level as those of the first pair. All three pairs are antagonised by the single pair of large procumbent lower incisors, of -which the sharp points meet the first pair of upper incisors, while the oldiquely-worn surface behind the cutting edges impinges against the second and third upper incisors. The arrangement of the incisors, and the sharpness of THE TEETH OF MARSUPIALIA. 427 the'r cutting edges, ayg calculated to effect the same objects as those attained by the iucisors of a rodent ; a still closer resemblance would be brought about by the dwindling (which occurs in other genera) and final disappearance of the second and third upper incisor.s, and a compensating extra development of the first pair. The canines are not large ; yet they are not so small as s\al Sf=e^ to be termed rudimentary ; in the lower jaw they are absent. Only one premolar exists in the adult, and this is a very peculiar tooth ; its crown is very long from back to front (at least twice as long as any of the molars, and in some species as long as three of the molars), and consists of a finely furrowed blade with a sharp edge ; the blades of the upper and lower teeth slide over one another. Behind this there are four true molars, with square quadricuspid crowns, which become much worn down by use. The third premolar, the tooth to which attention has (') Upper and lower teeth of Hypsiprymnus (Bettongia) (Graii ?). Tbe flentition represented is that of the adult animal, the permanent premolar {pm 3) being already in place. 423 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. already been drawn on account of its size and other pecu- liarities, by virtue of its great size displaces not only the milk molar, to which it is the legitimate successor, but also turns out the second premolar, a tooth belonging to the " permanent " series. In this particular the succession of the teeth in the Hyj)siprymnus is the same as that of the true kangaroos, which may be understood by a reference to fig. 190. There are two extinct Marsupials, known only by their jaws, which have been the subject of much controversy. Professor Owen, basing his arguments largely upon the presence of premolars which possessed elongated and sharp- edged blades, held that Plagiaulax and Thylacoleo were carnivorous, saying of the latter that it possessed the simplest and most effective dental machinery for predatory life known among Mammalia ; Dr. Falconer, in the case of the first, and Professor Flower in the case of the Thylacoleo, having shown this view to be untenable, or at least unsupported by adequate evidence. The clue to the nature of the great blade-shaped teeth of these two extinct creatures is afforded by the form of the premolar of the herbivorous HyjDsiprymnus (see fig. 189). The incisors were reduced in numl^er and were large ; the teeth between them and the large premolar were stunted ; but both these points are true of the herbivorous kangaroos. The Thylacoleo differs, however, from all known animals by the immense size of the thin-edged premolar (worn fiat in aged animals), and by the rudimentary condition of its true molars. But its incisors, lying forwards and closely ap- proximated in the middle line, are particularly imsuitable for catching and holding anything alive and struggling, whilst the nearest resemblance to the blade-shaped tooth is to be found in harmless herbivorous creatures, so that the balance of evidence is much against Professor Owen's vicAv. It has been cited here merely as an instance of how the evidence afforded by teeth alone may bo misleading. THE TEETH OF JUESUFIALIJ. 429 The Kangaroos, comprising many species of very varying size, are all docile creatures ( with the exception of a few old males), of herbivorous habits ; they in some particulars recall the ruminants. Their dental formula is () 1 4 0^1 4 The three pairs of upper incisors are more equal in size . 3 1 - 1 Fig. 190 (' A'irl Sizf^ than in the Hypsiprymnus, and the central pair do not grow from persistent pulps. The lower incisors are very peculiar teeth : they grow from persistent pulps, are pro- €ambent, projecting forwards almost horizontally, and arc very much flattened from side to side, their outer surfaces being but slightly convex, and their inner surfiices flat, with a median ridge. Their margins are almost sharp. There is an unusual amoimt of moliilitv between the two halves of the (') Upper and lower teeth of Hahnaturns ualabatus. The penuancnt premolar is not yet ernxjted, and is sho\vn in its crypt : when it comes into its place it will displace the milk molar, and one of the anterior pre- molars as well. In the upper jaw a rudimentary canine is shown. The point of the lower incisor wouhl lit, in closure of the mouth, behind the long anterior upper incisor, but the width of the page did not admit of the teeth being placed in their true relative positions without reduction in 430 A MAXVAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. lower jaw, so that these two teeth can be to a slight extent separated from one another. The upper canine is often present as a very minute rudiment, but in no kangaroo does it attain to a greater size. The dentition of the Kangaroo is somewhat pei-plexing to the student, for two reasons : the one, that the L\st or third permanent j)remolar not only displaces the solitary milk molar, but also, as in Hypsiprymnus, on account of its gi'cater size, the second permanent premolar, which was in front of the milk molar ; and, besides this, in animals past adult age, teeth are shed off from the front of the molar series till at last only the last two true molars on each side remain. Thus the dentition of the kangaroo at successive ages may be thus represented : .3 111 4 1 _- c - p - dm - ni _, 1 0^1 1 4 or, in all, six molar teeth. Then the third premolar dis- places the second true permanent premolar as well as the milk molar, and we have .301, ,4 1 _ c - p - (a new one) m -, or, in all, only five molar teeth. Then, one after another, teeth are shed off from the front of the molar series, just as in the Phacocluei-us (see page 328), till all that is left is 3 2 ^ T W. 1^ ^^ 2- The milk molar of the kangaroo is a fully-developed tooth, which takes its place Avith the other teeth, and is not distinguished from them by any special characters, so that mere inspection of the jaw of a young Kangai'oo having it in place, at the same time with a premolar in front of it THE TEETH OF MARSUl'IALIA. aud four true molars behind it. would not lead au observer to suspect its real nature. No existing creature serves to connect tlie Kangaroos closely with the wombat, but the extinct Diprotodon appears to have iu a measure bridged across the gap. The Wombats (Phascolomys) are heavily-built, inoffensive creatures, which burrow iu the ground aud subsist largely upon roots. In their dentition they closely simulate the Frn. IPl ('). -fXaJ.Si'ze. Jim C^ Rodents, as they possess but a single pair of chisel-edged iucisors in either jaw, growing from persistent pulps, and embedded in veiy deep and cun^ed sockets. These differ from the corresponding " dentes scalpi-arii " of true Rodents in that there is a complete investment of cement, which passes over the enamel in front of the tooth as Avell as covering its back and sides. They are unlike the teeth of other Marsupials in their structure, as the dentinal tubes do not penetrate the enamel, which is therefore, probably, harder and denser and so less readily worn away. The molar teeth also grow from persistent pulps, and 432 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. fire very deeply grooved upon tlieir sides, so that their grinding surfaces are uneven. Their dental formula is, 10] 4 1 J c- p 3 m -^. The first tooth of the molar series is a single column, whereas the deep grooving of the others divides them into two columns, so that its simpler appearance, as well as analogy, would indicate that it is a premolar. But no succession whatever has been ol)Scrved in the wombats. The adai)tive resemblance to the dentition of the true Rodents is exceedingly close, though the Wombat is an undoubted Marsupial ; and the very closeness of the imita- tion is an exemplification of the fact that adaptive charac- ters are very apt to mislead, if used for the purposes of classification. Extinct wombats, of very much larger size than the recent species, are found in the later tertiary dei)OsitH of Australia. Amongst the Marsupials there is a pretty little arboreal creature (^Tarsipes), not larger than a small rat, which sub- sists upon insects and the nectar of flowers, which it reaches by means of a long protrusible tongue. Its molar teeth are rudimentary, variable in number, and are soon shed ; the lower incisors, which are procumbent, are however re- tained, as are a few small teeth which are opposed to them above. The wonderful diversity of the forms into which the Marsupials have branched out in Australia seems to prove that they have been established in that region, and have been without the competition of more highly organised placental Mammals, for a prodigious length of time ; and one cannot better conclude the very brief survey of the teeth of Mammalia which hasl)ecn attempted in this volume (') Uppei- and knver teeth of 'Wombat (riiasculomys wombat). THE TEETH OF MARSUPIALIA. than by calling the reader's attention again to the character of the Mai'supial fauna : this microcosm, in which every place is filled by a Marsupial that mimics the placental Mammal which it represents, for nowhere can we more plainly see the workings of natural selection than in areas thus isolated and deprived of immigrant creatures for countless ages. In the foregoing pages much stress has been laid upon the variability of animals, and the agencies by means of which the variations have been preserved and intensified, so to speak, so that ultimately permanent hereditary modi- fications have been the result ; and it is possible that in laying this aspect of the matter prominently before the reader an impression of too great instabilit}- may have been conveyed ; and thus the forms of creatures made to appear more plastic and more shifting than they really are, for it is hardly possible to realize the enormous lengths of time during which the agencies have been at work, and without which they would have been powerless to produce profound alterations. The process which we term inheritance is constantly reproducing animals which are minute copies of their parents ; copies which are even more exact than we can at first sight realise. Thus, even amongst different species of the same genus, whose teeth are apparently quite similar so far as their number and pattern goes, differences exist which are con- stant for the species, and which may be brought into prominence by any method of investigation wliich is sufficiently accurate. A plan of representing in the f>rm of diagrams certain of the characteristics of an animal's dentition, by means of which difTerences of proportion so slight as to be barely recognisable by an inspection of the teeth are brought con- spicuously into view, has been devised by Mr. Busk ("Proc. Roy. Soc. 1870 ")■ 434 A MANUAL OF DENTAL ANATOMY. If " odontogmms " of various Felidic be constructed, differ- ences between them will be apparent at a glance, although the forms of the several teeth in this family are so very closely similar, that nothing but the veiy closest observa- tion would have detected the smallest diflerence between tliem. I have not practically tested the applicability of this method of comparison, but it is said that these diagrams, embodying as they do only one set of facts about a dentition, have proved less useful than might have been anticipated, and occasionally may even prove misleading. INDEX. A. Absorption of teeth -Verodus, teetli of . . . . Adaptive moditieatiou, meiuiiii^^ of term Alveolar proeesses . . . . „ process, development uf Alveoli, attachment by means of Alveolo-dental membrane 110, Anarrhicas, teeth of . -Vuchylosis of teeth -Vngler, teeth of . Anoplotherium, teeth of. . . Anteatei-s, teeth of . -Vnthropoid apes, teeth of „ „ order of erup- tion of teeth in ,, „ comparison of with man Antrum „ teetli ill relation with Archreopteryx, teeth of . . . ^Vi-maiUllo, teeth of . Ai-ticulation of the lower jaw „ ■ „ teeth with one another .b-ticular process, share of in growth of jaw . . . Artiodactyle unsulat;i . . . -Vttachment of teeth . „ „ by membrane ,, „ by hinges ., „ by anchylosis „ ,, bv sockets Aye-aye, teeth ^f. " . .271, PAr.B Barracuda pike, teeth of . . 235 Basal ridge, orcingulum . . 10 Basement membrane of tooth- Babiinssa, teeth of Baboon, teeth of Bala;nidai, whalebone of germ .... . 171 267 Bats, teeth of . 401 24 „ milk teeth of . 402 192 Bear, teeth of . 387 ib. Beaver, teeth of 45, 372 212 Betton-ia, teeth of . 427 229 Birusjiids, Iniman . 14 207 l{il(i])lina, teeth of . . . . 381 Hva;nodon, teeth of . . 385 Hydrophis, teeth of . 247 Hydromys, teeth of . . 366 Hypsiprymnus, teeth of . . 427 Hyrax, teeth of ! I. Ichthyosaurus . 348 . 258 Ichthyornis, teeth of . . 261 433 Ig;uanodon, teeth of Incisors, definition of . ,, liuniiin, description of Insectivora, teeth of . ,, characteristic niolai of Internal pterygoid muscle Interglobular spaces . Kangaroos, teeth of Kangaroo, enamel of L. 403 •283 237 7G 74 60 241 228 •53 I.alnrintliodou, teeth of ,, dentine of Lacuna!, of cemcntum . „ development of „ encapsuled in pits of enamel ,, of Howship Lanma, teeth of . „ dentine of . Lemurs, teeth of ,, canines of Lepidosiren, teeth of . Lepidosteus, dentine of . Leptothrix, in interglohu spaces Lines of Schreger . Lizards, teeth of Lophius, teeth of . Lumen, appearance of M. ZSlachairodus, teeth of . . . 384 ;Mammalia, teeth of . 260 ct fcq. „ tj'pical dentition of . 279 ^Mannuoth, tusks of Man, teeth of . „ teeth of difierent races Manatee, teeth of „ enamel of ,, dentine of . ^Mandible Mark of horses' incisors Marsupiatia, teeth of ,, milk teeth of ,, peculiar enam iUasseter muscle . Mastication, muscles of . IXDEX. PACE |'a<;e . 1'43 Mastodon, teeth of . 357 . 280 „ molars of . 360 ;» milk teeth of . . 359 . 394 Maxilbe, description of . . 24 s „ development and growth . 400 of . . . . 176 . 34 „ Y-shaped . . 201 2, 74 Meckel's cartilage . 177 Megatherium, dentine of . 84 Membrana eboris . 158, 140 „ preformativa . 171 Mental foramen, position of Milk dentition, character of . 183 . 430 . 297 . 53 „ rudimentarj' . 301 Molars, definition of . 18, 280 Mole, teeth of . 397 „ milk teeth of . . 3f<9 Monkeys, teeth of . . 407 . 240 Monodon, teeth of . 309 . 80 Monotiemata, teeth of . . 304 . 96 Muscles of mastication . 33 . 168 iliislc deer, teeth of . 336 . 169 Mustelidic, teeth of . . 385 . 54 Myliobates, dentine of . . 82 . 197 teeth of . . 223 . 216 Mynnecobius, teeth of . . 425 . 90 Myxiiie, teeth of . 215 350 . . 1 of . 415 . 347 . . 45 83, 347 . . 30 . 289 . . 419 . 421 I of 53,423 . 34 . . 33 X. Narwal 309 ,, teeth of . . . . ib. Nasmyth's membrane, nature of . 99 Neck of enamel organ . . .132 „ of tooth . . . . 7 Nerves of dentine . . .71 „ of the pulp . . 71, 106 „ of the teeth ... 37 Neumann, sheaths of . . . 63 Newt, teeth of . . . .240 Oblique ridge of human molars . 19 Odontoblast cells . . 69, 158 Odontoptervx, teeth ot . . . 260 Odontorniths, teeth of . . 261 Ophidia, development of teeth of 125 Opossum, teeth of . . . 425 Orang, teeth of . . . . 410 Oreodon, teeth of . . . 332 ,, canines of . . . ib. Oryeteropus, dentine of . .82 Osseous fish, teeth of . . . 224 Osteoblasts . . . .166 INDEX. 439 Osteoclasts 197 Osteodentine . . . .88 ,, in tt'cth of rodents . 371 ,, in teeth of si)erni whales . 92, 309 Ostracion, dentine of . . . 86 Otaria, erosion of teeth of . . 389 „ teeth of . . . . ib. Papilla, formative . PaiTot fish, teeth of . Periosteum, alveolo-dental I'erissodactj-le iiuy;ulata, teeth Permanent teeth, eruption of ,, „ development Persistent dental capsule . Phacochierus, teetli of . Phalauger, teeth of Pharyngeal teeth . „ ,, of carp . „ „ pike ,, ,, racliiodon ,, „ scarus . rhofid;e, teeth of . Pigment in enamel Pig, teeth of ... Pike, teeth of . . . '1 Plagiostomi, teeth of Plagiaulas, teeth of . Plicidentine . . . . Poison fang, development of „ mechanism of ,, structure of „ succession of Poison gland Porcupine, enamel of Premolai-s, human ,, detir.ition of . Primates, teeth of Pristis, teeth of . ; . Proboscidea, teeth of . „ affinities with i dents . Procvonida?, teeth of Proteles, teeth of Pseudoscarus .... Pterodactyls, teeth of . Pterosauria .... Pulp, the .... „ degeneration of „ nerves of „ vessels of . Python, teeth of . 139 231 109 31.5 198 137 328 426 234 227 247 233 388 401 325 ,225 215 428 76 156 248 252 254 256 47 12 280 403 222 349 363 385 382 230 259 104 107 105 ib. 246 Rachiodon, teeth of . . . 247 Rattlesnake, teeth of . . . 248 Rhinoceros, teeth of . . . 316 Rhyncocephalus, teetli of . . 243 Rhytina, teeth of . . .347 Ridge fonnul-.e, of proboscidea . 362 Rodentia, teeth of . . . 364 „ milk teeth of . . . 366 ., enamel of . . 45, 371 Root membrane . . . . 109 Rostral teeth of s^w tish . . 222 Rudimentary teeth, examples of 267, 271,277,311,347,382,430 Rudimentary milk teeth. e.\- amples of . 301, 399, 402, 423 Ruminants, teeth of . . . 334 „ absence of upper in- Salivary glands . . . .37 Salmon, se.xual weapons of . . 236 Sargus, enamel of . . . 55 „ teeth of . . . . 235 Saurians, teeth of . . . 241 Saw-fish, teeth of . . . . 222 Scalpriform incisoi-s of rodents . 365 Scarus, teeth of . . . .231 Schreger, lines of . . . . 60 Seals, teetli of ... . 388 Second dentition . . . . 194 Secondary dentine . . .92 Selenodoiit 338 Serres, glands of . . . .108 Sexual weapons, teeth used as . 273 Sexual differences in teeth of Babirussa 330 ,, ,, in teeth of boar . 325 „ „ in teeth of deer . 274 ,, „ in teeth of dugong . 345 „ „ in teeth of elephant . 350 „ ., in teeth of horse . 320 „ „ in teeth of monkeys 409, 413 „ „ in teeth of narwal . 309 INDEX. P\GE Sharks, development of teeth of . 117 „ teeth of . . . . 21.5 Sharper, fibres of . . . 98 Sheep's" head tish, teeth of . . 23-5 Shrews, teeth of . . . . 396 Simiina, teeth of . . . . 407 Sirenia, teeth of ... 344 Sloths, teeth of . . . . 306 Snakes, development of teeth of . 12-5 „ uon-venomous, teeth of . 244 „ colubrinc, poisonous . 217 „ viperme, poisonous . .218 Socketed teeth . . . .212 Sphenodon, teeth of . . . 243 Sphyraena, teeth of . . . 235 Stellate retifulum of enauael organ 131, 135, 156 Stratum intermedium of enamel organ . . . 135 Stratum Malpighi, the . . . 108 Stria5 of enamel prisms . . 50 „ of Retzius . . . . 51 Succession of teeth in armadillo . 306 ,, „ in lizards . 239 „ „ in mammals . 297 ,, ,, in marsupials . 421 „ „ in osseous fish 121 ,, ,, in proboscidea 354 „ ,, in reptiles . 122 ,, ,, in sharks . 115 ,, „ in snakes . 125 ,, „ in poisonous snakes . 253 Supernumerary teeth in dogs . 380 Sus babirussai teeth of . . . 330 Sus scrofa, teeth of . . .325 Tapir, teeth of . . . . 316 Tarsiijes, teeth of . . . 432 Teething . . . . . 182 Teeth, equivalent to dermal spines 2 Teleostei, teeth of . . . 224 „ development of teeth of 120 Temporal muscle, action of . . 32 Temporary teeth, eruption of . . 193 Tetrodon,"teeth of . . . 231 Theriodonts, teeth of . . . 259 Thvlacinus, teeth of . . . 422 'Ihylacoleo, teeth of ... 428 PAOE Tillodonts, teeth of . . . 342 Tillctlicrium, teeth of . . . 343 Tallies' til.rils . . . . 64, 68 Tomes' i)roresscs of enamel cells . 153 j-ooiii, ueuiiiiion oi Tooth sac 142 Tooth germ 113 Tortoises, teeth of . 241 Toxodon, teeth of 339 Trichechus, teeth of 391 Tusks of wild boar 325 „ of elephant, foreign iodic. in . 352 Typical tooth • 27S U. Ungulata, teeth of . 314 ,, molar patterns jf 319 Yampire, teeth of . 401 Varan us, teeth of . . . 242 „ dentine of . . 76 Vaso-dentiue . 82 et seq. Viper, teeth of . . . 248 succession of teeth in Viverrida?, teeth of Walrus, teeth of . . . 391 Wart-hog, teeth of . 328 AVhaleboue . 311 ,312 AVhale, rudimentary teeth of 311 Wisdom teeth 22 ,, of lower races of man 416 „ of monkeys . 410 415 Wolf-fish, teeth of . " . 229 Wombat, teeth of . 432 „ enamel of 53 Wrasse, teeth of . 235 Ziphoid cetacca, teeth of BRADBOnV, iNEW,