THE RABBIT. 241 



I. The Teeth. Placing the rabbit on its side, lay open 

 the cavity of the mouth by a lateral cut midway between 

 upper and lower jaws. This will expose the teeth. Ob- 

 serve that the teeth are of two sorts : 



1. Incisors (or gnawing teeth). These are the front 

 teeth. They are long, and strong, curved teeth, with 

 chisel-shaped, cutting edges. Observe that there is a 

 large pair of incisors above, and another pair below, and 

 a pair of very small supplementary incisors situated just 

 behind the large pair in the upper jaw. 



2. Molars (or grinding teeth). These are situated far- 

 ther back, in the sides of both jaws, deeply imbedded in 

 the bone. The upper ones and lower ones meet by flat, 

 corrugated, grinding surfaces, between which the food is 

 comminuted. There are six pairs above, five pairs below. 

 Observe that the molars are set obliquely in the jaws. 

 Is there any relation between their direction and the 

 direction in which the jaws are moved in chewing? Note 

 the absence of teeth, from a large space between incisors 

 and molars, in both jaws. 



II. The Tongue. Continue the lateral cut backward 

 across the angle of the mandible, cutting through the 

 bone with bone snips or with stout scissors. Forcibly 

 turn the severed ramus of the mandible outward, break- 

 ing its connection with its fellow, at the symphysis, in 

 front. This will expose the buccal cavity and the tongue. 



Study the tongue. Observe that it is thick and mus- 

 cular, attached posteriorly to the floor of the mouth, and 

 produced anteriorly to a flattened, tapering tip. Ob- 

 serve that the surface of the free, anterior part is soft and 

 delicate, while that of the posterior part, which rubs 

 against the i-uof of the mouth, is rough and firm. The 

 soft part is dotted over with minute taste papillse. On 

 either side of the tongue, on its sloping edge, just oppo- 

 site the last molar tooth, there is a small, oval area (^papilla 



