The normal mouse has three molars in each jaw. Of these, the third is by far the smallest. Indeed, it is not constant, and its absence in wild mice from widely separated localities has been reported by various authors (Barrett-Hamilton, 1910; Searle, 1958; Deol, 1958; Harland, 1958; Herold & Zimmermann, 1960; Berry, unpublished). Absence of third molars occurs in varying frequencies in most mouse populations which have been adequately sampled, and usually the upper rather than the lower third molars are more strongly affected. Absence ofthird molars (predominantly in the lower jaw) occurs frequently (about 18 per cent.) in the CBA/Gr inbred strain of mice (Grüneberg, 1951) and less commonly (about 3 per cent.) in the A/Gr strain (Searle, 1954a), but it is virtually absent from the C57BL/Gr strain of mice. These inter-strain differences are evidence that the condition is, to some extent at least, under genetical control