Rural School Leaflet. 



959 



year and a half, the last two permanent incisors will have come in, and 

 the sheep will be from four-and-one-half to five years of age. The 

 molars, or grinders, or back teeth as they are called, come in somewhat 

 regular order, filling the back parts of the jaws in about the same time, 

 all the molars being in place, and all in wear at the end of five years. 



The lips of the sheep are peculiar in their construction and take an 

 important part in the gathering of the food. The upper lip has no muzzle 

 as is seen on cattle (the broad patch on the upper lip which is provided 

 with an excretory apparatus, and which we may recognize by the beads 



Fig. 57. — Middle wool sheep in England 



of perspiration which stand upon a cow's upper lip in hot weather). 

 Instead, the sheep's upper lip is divided in the middle by a fissure, which 

 allows either part to be moved independently. This construction of 

 teeth and lips, coupled with the small size of the animal, enables sheep 

 to graze land much more closely than cattle. 



After the food has been partly masticated it passes down through 

 the gullet or oesophagus into the first of the four stomachs called the 

 rumen. If we remember the order to which the sheep belong, Rumi- 

 nantia, we will have no trouble in remembering the name of the first 

 stomach. Here the food is somewhat softened by the warmth and 



