ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 



cent flesh, it is also requisite that the jaws should be so 

 constructed as to fit them for devouring prey; the 

 claws must be constructed for seizing and tearing it to 

 pieces ; the teeth for cutting and dividing its flesh ; the 

 entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for 

 pursuing and overtaking it; and the organs of sense 

 for discovering it at a distance. Nature must also 

 have endowed the brain of the animal with instincts 

 sufficient for concealing itself and for laying plans to 

 catch its necessary victims. 



"To enable the animal to carry off its prey when 

 seized, a corresponding force is requisite in the mus- 

 cles which elevate the head, and this necessarily gives 

 rise to a determinate form of the vertebrae to which 

 these muscles are attached and of the occiput into 

 which they are inserted. In order that the teeth of a 

 carnivorous animal may be able to cut the flesh, they 

 require to be sharp, more or less so in proportion to 

 the greater or less quantity of flesh that they have to 

 cut. It is requisite that their roots should be solid 

 and strong, in proportion to the quantity and size of the 

 bones which they have to break to pieces. The whole 

 of these circumstances must necessarily influence the 

 development and form of all the parts which contribute 

 to move the jaws. 



" After these observations, it will be easily seen that 

 similar conclusions may be drawn with respect to the 

 limbs of carnivorous animals, which require particular 

 conformations to fit them for rapidity of motion in 

 general; and that similar considerations must influ- 



