TEETH OF CARNIVOKA. 265 



liar adaptation to seize, to hold, to pierce and lacerate a 

 struggling prey. The jaws are strong, but shorter than 

 in other carnivora, and with a concomitant reduction in 

 the number of the teeth: thus, the canines are brought 

 nearer to the insertion of the very powerful biting mus- 

 cles (called " temporal" and " masseter"), which work 

 them with proportionally greater force. The use of the 

 small pincer-shaped incisor teeth is to gnaw the soft 

 gristly ends of the bones, and to tear and scrape off' the 

 tendinous attachments of the muscles and the periosteum. 

 The compressed trenchant blades of the sectorial teeth 

 play vertically upon each other's sides, likes the blades 

 of scissors, serving to cut and coarsely divide the flesh; 

 and the form, of the joint of the lower jaw almost re- 

 stricts its movement to the vertical direction, up and 

 down. The wide and deep zygomatic arches, and the 

 high crests of bone«.upon the skull, concur in completing 

 the carnivorous physiognomy of this most formidable of 

 the feline tribe. 



The dentition of the hyena assumes those character- 

 istics which adapt it for the peculiar food and habits of 

 the adult. The main modification is the great size and 

 strength of the molars as compared with the canines, 

 and more especially the thick and strong conical crowns 

 of the second and third premolars in both jaws, the base 

 of the cone being belted by a strong ridge which defends 

 the subjacent gum. This form" of tooth is especially 

 adapted for gnawing and breaking bones, and the whole 

 cranium has its shape modified which work the jaws and 

 teeth in this operation. 



The strength of the hyena's jaw is such that, in attack- 

 ing a dog, he begins by biting off his leg at a single 

 snap. Adapted, however, to obtain its food from the 

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