The lower first molar, the first permanent tooth, was the most convenient to use and it was sectioned to expose the layers in the cement pad (under the crown) for viewing by reflected light under a low-power binocular dissecting microscope. Growth layers in dental cement of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) were studied in samples of material from both sexes, taken throughout the year in various parts of Scotland, and from a limited amount of known-age material (twenty-two animals of which only two were older than 3.5 years).
