MOUTH 



3983 



MOUTH ORGAN 



exploration, and to be "as quiet as a mouse" 

 is to be noiseless. Like the squirrel, it holds 

 its food in its front paws. Its long tail is be- 

 lieved to be useful in climbing and in jumping. 



YOUNG MICE 

 Blind, pink and hairless. 



<e color is so difficult to see that a some- 

 what similar gray is used for warships and for 

 the uniforms of the German army. 



The field mouse, meadow mouse and wood 

 mouse live outdoors, or in barns or granaries. 

 The hawks, owls and snakes are their enemies, 

 and where these are exterminated the mice, 

 multiplying rapidly, soon become a pest and 

 destroy all the grain in the fields. The jump- 

 ing mouse and some other outdoor animals 

 called mice are of a different family (see JER- 

 BOA; VOLE; RAT). 



How to Rid the House of Mice. It is practi- 

 c.illy impossible to have a mouseless house 

 without a cat, even though the latter is not 

 desirable. Covering the small holes in tin- 

 floor and w.i II- witli metal may keep mice out 

 of a new house, and traps may reduce the num- 

 bers in an old one, but their natural enemy, 

 H tin ir most serious foe. Poison is 

 I- ft exposed on food for mice, but tln> 

 method i nation is not recommended; 



tin animals die in the house in inaccessible 

 spots, and there is always present the da; 



;.;! children may find the p<>i-<.ntd bits. 



MOUTH, \ through which food is 



:i into the body, and which also has an 



>rtant par formation of sound in 



talking ii. i --.Tilling. The mouth opening is 



provided with a pair of lips which help us to 



drink and to pick up our food, and within th- 



> sets of teeth, an upper and a 



lower, which serve to grind and crush the food 

 into a pulp. In the walls of the mouth are lo- 

 cated glands which secrete saliva. This fluid 

 is mixed with our food as we chew it, and it 

 helps in digestion. The top of the mouth, 

 popularly known as its "roof," consists of a 

 front bony portion called the hard palate, and, 

 back of this, a soft part called the soft palate. 

 The former serves as a partition between the 

 mouth and the nose, and the latter, which 

 arches down at the back of the mouth, forms a 

 curtain between the mouth and the pharynx. 

 The pharynx is a funnel-shaped sac which con- 

 nects with the gullet, or food tube. Hanging 

 down and slightly to the rear is a small cone- 

 shaped prolongation of the soft palate, known 

 as the uvula. The mouth cavity is lined with 

 thin mucous membrane. 



Extending from the floor of the mouth is a 

 bundle of muscles, the tongue, one of the most 

 useful organs in the entire body. It is flexible 

 and movable, and during the process of eating 

 it pushes the food between the teeth, moves it 

 out of the sides of the cheeks, collects it into 

 small masses and thrusts it into the food tube, 

 through which it enters the stomach. Though 

 the power of the voice is determined largely by 

 the chest and lungs, the mouth, including the 

 lips, has an important part in its musical 

 quality and expression. 



Care of the Mouth. Through the nose and 

 mouth openings harmful germs find entrance 

 into the body, and both of these cavities should 

 be kept scrupulously clean that disease may be 

 warded off. Because the mouth cavity is warm 

 and moist all of the time it is an ideal breed- 

 ing place for innumerable germs of every kind, 

 and because it is lined with a thin membrane 

 through which germs pass easily into the blood, 

 an unclean mouth is a constant source of dan- 

 ger. Not only should tin- teeth be scrubbed 

 thoroughly after each meal, but also the gums 

 in which they are embedded. Diseased gums 

 cause th> tli from pyorrhoea and tin y 



also contribute to decay. The teeth should be 

 brushed up and down ( lengthwise) as well as 

 crosswise, to remove every particle of food left 

 in them. Daily \\a-hing of the mouth ra\ity 

 with a mild antiseptic. >uch as diluted peroxide 

 <.t hydrogen or other good tooth wash, is also 

 advisable. W.A.E. 



llrlntrii Piihjrrn. Th> rr.ul.-i I* referred to 



Mowing iirtlrioH In these volumes: 

 Mastication Tr< 



Membranes Voice 



MOUTH ORGAN. Sec HARMONICS* 



