ggO LECTURE VI. 



Mr. Hunter next displays the weapons 

 and instruments which Nature has allotted 

 to animals; and here we find exhibited the 

 spurs of the cock, the retractile nails of the 

 cat kind, which must be considered as wea- 

 pons ; whilst the fixed nails of other kinds 

 of animals may be regarded as instru- 

 ments, with which they scratch or burrow. 

 The hoof of the horse is shown ; for it is 

 used as a weapon. The horns of animals, 

 being displayed elsewhere, are not included 

 in this department of the Museum. 



The teeth seem to have been considered 

 by ]Mr. Hunter chiefly as weapons and in- 

 struments. Though teeth do not usually 

 grow, yet those in the front of the mouth 

 of the animals, now called rodentia, are con- 

 tinually growing, so that they project and 

 prevent the animal from masticating, if not 

 worn down by gnawing, according to the 

 intention of nature. The venom bags, and 

 tubular teeth, or fangs of serpents, by which 

 the wound is inflicted and the poison in- 

 jected, are shown, and also the stings of 

 scorpions, bees and wasps. 



