THE BADGER 



impossible of dislocation. 1 His head or skull, 

 when stripped of flesh and bare, still retains 

 the lower jaws in such a way that they 

 cannot be displaced without fracturing the 

 massive bones of the head or jaw. The 

 teeth of a badger require respectful attention. 

 There are eighteen teeth in the lower and 

 sixteen in the upper jaw, in all thirty-four. 

 The four big molars, two above and two 



FIG. 4. Dovetailed Jaws. 



below, are large and strong, the upper being 

 much the larger and wider ones, the lower 

 being longer and fitting within the upper, as 

 do all the lower teeth. The four canines are 

 large, thick, round, long and formidable, and 

 are his chief weapons. The lower canines 

 dovetail when the jaws close with the upper, 



1 The curved ridges of bone on the skull by which the 

 lower jaw is held in its place by gripping the condyle are 

 more or less well developed in most of the weasel family. 

 33 D 



