FELIDA. 157 
ments, and the intestine is short, not more than three times the length of 
the body, instead of being some twenty times longer, as in some herbivores. 
This family has the smallest number of molars, a class of tooth which 
would indeed be useless, for the construction of the feline jaw precludes 
the possibility of grinding, and therefore a fiat-crowned tuberculous 
tooth would be out of place. As I have before described it, the jaw of 
a tiger is incapable of lateral motion. The condyle of the lower jaw is 
so broad, and fits so accurately into its socket, the glenoid cavity, that 
there can be no departure from the up and down scissor-like action. 
The true Cats have, therefore, only one molar on each side of each jaw ; 
those in the upper jaw being merely rudimentary, and placed almost at 
Skull of Tiger (side view). 
right angles to the rest of the teeth, and seem apparently of little use ; 
those of the lower jaw are large and trenchant, cutting against the edge 
of the third upper premolar. 
It may interest my readers to know which are premolars and which 
are molars. This can be decided only by dissection of the jaw of a 
young animal. ‘True molars only appear as the animal approaches the 
adult stage. They are never shed, as are all the rest of the teeth, 
commonly called milk teeth. The deciduous or milk teeth are the 
incisors, canines, and premolars ; they drop out and are replaced, and 
behind the last premolar comes up the permanent molar. 
Another peculiar feature of the Cat family is the power of sheathing 
