A manual of dental anatomy : human and comparative / by Charles S. Tomes.
- Charles Sissmore Tomes
- Date:
- 1889
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A manual of dental anatomy : human and comparative / by Charles S. Tomes. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![sliall eiidoiivour to show; but it is much more conspicuously seen in an extinct animal (Homalodoiitotherium, an extinct iingulatc from Patagonia, described by Professor Flower, Philos. Trans. 1874), which apparently possessed the full typical number of mammalian teeth, viz., forty-four. The point in Avhich 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, uo tooth difl'ering markedly 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 the}' 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 tjijical number of mammalian teeth being 44, i.e. .31 4 3 ,, 1. :r c. - ])rm, — m. = 4-t 3 1 4 3 Incisors.—Of these there are four in each jaw ; two cen- tral, two lateral incisors. Their working surfaces form wedges, or obtuse and blunt-cdged 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 root, the neck not being marked by strong con- striction. I’lie crown of the tooth, as seen from the front, is squarish, or more strictly, oblong, its length being greater than its breadth. 4'hc median side, by which it is in contact with its fellow,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21499305_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
