90 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



pointed, central process; the third in the lower forms two, and in the upper three, sharp-pointed 

 lobes, with an additional internal tubercle in the latter ; and the fourth, which is peculiar to the 

 miiM-r jaw and is placed within the posterior margin of the third, offers nothing more than a small 

 transverse tubercle. The series is not absolutely uninterrupted, a vacancy being left between the two 

 somewhat larger lateral incisors of the upper jaw and the canines for the reception of the canines of 

 tin- lower jaw, and the cheek-teeth being seldom placed in close apposition with each other or with 

 the canines. The slightest inspection of these organs, and more especially of the canine and of the 

 larger cheek-teeth (the latter of which may be denominated lacerators, a term equivalent to the 

 French designation of carnassiera), is sufficient to prove that nothing can be better adapted to the 

 purpose of tearing asunder the large masses of flesh which are swallowed by these animals without 

 being subject to the process of mastication, which their structure and the nature of their food 

 render at once unnecessary and impracticable. 



The invariable analogy between the teeth and the digestive organs of quadrupeds forms one 

 of the most beautiful studies of comparative anatomy. The teeth that are made for tearing and 

 cutting flesh, and fitted into jaws of great strength, incapable of lateral motion, but closing together 

 like a pair of shears, are always accompanied by a stomach of less complicated structure than that 

 which is fitted for the more difficult digestion of vegetable substances. In quadrupeds which 

 devour their prey before death has actually taken place while, in fact, the flesh is not yet set 

 and the blood still warm the stomach is of the most simple structure. In such animals, also, 

 the intestines are much shorter than those which feed partly or entirely on vegetables. In the 

 lion, for example, those intestinal parts called by anatomists the colon and ccecwm, are three feet 

 nine inches long ; and in the goat, a much smaller animal, they are twenty-three feet nine inches. 

 This simple stomach and these short intestines are given to the flesh-eating animals because the 

 gastric juice of the stomach is sufficient of itself for the purpose of digestion. There is no doubt 

 that a carnivorous quadruped as a domestic cat may be brought to eat vegetable food, but flesh 

 will be invariably preferred. If, therefore, the teeth of a lion or a panther were able to bruise 

 grass, as those of the ruminating animals are, their stomachs would be unable to digest it ; just 

 in the same way that a sheep or a cow, if its teeth could tear flesh, would be rendered sick by 

 eating that substance. The stomach of the lion, too, is simpler than that of the hyaena, because' 

 the one prefers seizing a living body for its food, and the other is attracted by a putrid carcase. 



To assist in the laceration of their food, the tongues of these animals are armed, especially 

 towards the hinder part, with numerous close-set bristly, or rather prickly, papillae, the points of 

 which are directed backwards ; and their palates offer a series of transverse ridges covered with 

 rough and projecting tubercles. The roughness of the domestic cat's tongue, owing to this structure, 

 is familiar to all ; and with it accords the action of lions and tigers in licking the bones of their prey, 

 in order to detach any remnants of flesh adhering to them. 



Conscious of their own superiority, which secures them against the attacks of other animals, each 

 one, with his female partner, occupies a solitary den, which is usually concealed in the depths of the 

 forest. When pressed by hunger they issue forth in search of their prey, which they rarely attack 

 with open force, but, stealing on with noiseless tread, or stationing themselves in ambush in such 

 situations as appear suitable to their purpose, they watch with indefatigable patience the approach of 

 their victim. 



Their motions MIT peculiarly characteristic of their mode of life. Incapable of long-continued 

 speed, their usual gait is slow, cautious, and stealthy, with their posterior limbs bent beneath them, and 

 their ears distended to catch the slightest noise. Guided by tlu-se organs, the internal structure of 

 which is highly developed, they trace the sound of footsteps to an almost incredible distance, and 

 'Inert themselves towards their prey with unerring certainty. In this quest the sense of smell, which 

 they possess in a very low degree, affords them but little assistance ; their sight, however, is good, 

 tuid serves them equally well both by day and night, their extremely dilatable pupils adapting them- 

 ttlvee with admirable precision to various intensities of light. To this object the frequently elon- 

 gated form of their pupils, the light green or yellow colour of a large portion of the ehoroid coat of 

 their eyes, and the extent of their nictitating membrane, must also essentially contribute. 



