458 



NATURE STUDY. 



walking so quietly ? How are the feet fitted to wash and 

 brush and comb her fur and head and face ? 



Teeth and Tongue. Use. Have a child show, as he eats 

 an apple, how he bites it with the teeth in front of his 

 mouth, pushes it around with his tongue, and chews it with 

 teeth in the back or at the sides of the mouth. Feed kitty 

 (potato or something to bite, meat to tear, and milk to 

 drink), and see how she bites, chews, tears, and drinks. 

 Ask children to watch, as she eats, the teeth in the sides 

 or back of her mouth and to see how she uses her tongue. 

 Structure. Have children feel their teeth, and examine 

 the teeth of one another, and tell about the sharp and wide 

 or chisel-shaped biting teeth in front, and the broad flat 

 grinding teeth at the sides. Compare with kitty's teeth. 

 (See Fig. 53.) The front biting teeth are similar, but not 



so wide or large, the grinding 

 teeth have sharp points, and be- 

 tween the biting and grinding 

 teeth, on each side of each jaw, 

 is a long sharp-pointed tooth 

 (four in all), with which kitty 

 seizes and tears meat. We can 

 call them "tearing teeth," or 

 "meat teeth/' or, when the 

 children have noticed their 

 length in the dog, dog teeth. 

 Tell the pupils that Mother 

 Nature has not given children these sharp-pointed " meat 

 teeth," because she does not want little children to eat 

 much meat. As they get older ( like the teacher ), and 

 need meat, they get their " meat teeth " or " tearing teeth." 

 Tell the children, if they cannot see it, that kitty can 

 bend her tongue into a form somewhat like a spoon, and 

 that the upper side of her tongue is rough. The tongue of 



Fig. 53. Cat's Teeth. 



