The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammaliaOwen, Richard
Science
The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammalia
Owen, Richard
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Mammals, Fossil; Paleontology -- South America; Zoology
The next peculiarity to be noticed in these remarkable teeth is the
great length of the pulp-cavity (_d_), the apex of which is parallel
with the alveolar margin of the jaw: a transverse fissure is continued
from this apex to the middle concavity of the working surface of the
tooth, which is thus divided into two parts. Each of these parts
consists of three distinct substances,—a central part analogous to the
body or bone of the tooth or ‘dentine,’ a peripheral and nearly equally
thick layer of _cæmentum_, and an intermediate thinner stratum of a
denser substance, which is described in Mr. Clift’s memoir on the
Megatherium as ‘enamel,’ and to which substance in the compound teeth of
the Elephant, it is analogous both in its relative situation, and
relative density to the other constituents.
Microscopic examinations of thin and transparent slices of the tooth of
the Megatherium prove, however, that the dense layer separating the
internal substance from the cæmentum is not enamel, but presents the
same structure as the hard ‘dentine’ or ivory of the generality of
Mammalian teeth; and corresponds with the thin cylinder of hard
‘dentine’ in the tooth of the Sloth. No species of the Order _Bruta_ has
true enamel entering into the composition of its teeth; but the
modifications of structure which the teeth present in the different
genera of this order are considerable, and their complexity is not less
than that of the enamelled teeth of the Herbivorous Pachyderms and
Ruminantia, in consequence of the introduction of a dental substance
into their composition corresponding in structure with that of the teeth
of the _Myliobates_, _Psammodus_, and other cartilaginous fishes.
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