The anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the teeth / by Thomas Bell.

  • Bell, Thomas, 1792-1880.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The anatomy, physiology, and diseases of the teeth / by Thomas Bell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    comparison of them as they exist in man, with the same organs in those animals which most nearly re- semble him in structure, but which are still found in a perfectly natural state, to a plausible supposition, at least, of what were originally his natural habits ; and which would have still continued so, but for those changes which have arisen from the possession of this very endowment. With this view of the subject, it is not, I think, going too far to say, that every fact connected with the human organization goes to prove, that man was originally formed a frugivorous animal, and therefore, probably, tropical or nearly so, with regard to his geographical situation. This opinion is principally derived from the formation of his teeth and digestive organs, as well as from the character of his skin, and the general structure of his limbs. It is not my in- tention now to go further into the discussion of this subject, than to observe, that if analogy be allowed to have any weight in the argument, it is wholly on that side of the question which I have just taken. Those animals, whose teeth and digestive apparatus most nearly resemble our own, namely, the apes and monkeys, are undoubtedly frugivorous ; but as from then' organization, they are necessarily tropical ani mals, and without the gift of reason, by which thev might have overcome the difference of temperature by artificial means, they remain still restricted to their original food, and confined to the very limited tT '^'''^ '^^ ''''''^ peculiarly adapted mem. Ihe reasoning powers of man, on the con- trary, have enabled him to set climate at defiance, d2