378 



PALEONTOLOGY 



taking eacli property by itself as the base of a particular 

 equation, one discovers both the ordinary equation and all its 

 properties, so the claw, the blade-bone, the condyle, the femur, 

 and all the other bones individually, give the teeth, or are 



given thereby reciprocally ; 

 and in commencing by any 

 of these, whoever possesses 

 rationally the laws of the 

 organic economy will be able 

 to reconstruct the entire ani- 

 mal." The principle is so 

 evident, that the non-anatomi- 

 cal reader will have little diffi- 

 culty in satisfactorily compre- 

 hending it by the aid of the 

 subjoined diagram. 



In the jaws of the lion (fig. 

 128, h, m), there are large 

 pointed teeth (lanlaries or ca- 

 nines, c) which pierce, lacerate, 

 and retain its prey. There are 

 also compressed trenchant 

 teeth (h), which play upon 

 each other like scissor-blades 

 in the movement of the lower 

 upon the upper jaw. The 

 lower jaw (m) is short and 

 strong ; it articulates to the 

 Fig. 128. skull by a transversely extend- 



Palfeontological characters of a Feline ed convexity Or condyle (d), 



received into a corresponding 

 concavity (<?), forming a close-fitting joint, which gives a firm 

 attachment to the jaw, but almost restricts its movements to 

 one plane, as in opening and closing the mouth. The plate 



