176 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



shape of the projections (condyles) by which the lower jaw is 

 united to the skull. These are elongated from before back- 

 wards, which permits of a movement in the same direction (see 

 vol. i, p. 28). We may further note the great length of the 

 digestive tube, fifteen or sixteen times that of the body, and further, 

 though the stomach is simple, there is a very large and complex 

 ccecum at the beginning of the large intestine. The salivary glands 



Fig. 423. — Abnormal Skull of Hare {Lepits tijnidus) 



are extremely well developed, the secretion of these acting upon 

 the abundant starch present in the food. 



Dormice and Squirrels. — The structure of the Rodentia 

 is on the whole so uniform that it would be tedious to review 

 them in detail, and it will perhaps be enough to indicate a few 

 points of special interest. We may, for example, note that 

 while hares and rabbits feed on the surface of the ground, 

 Dormice {Myoxidce) and many Squirrels [Scmridce) are of 

 arboreal habit, this being, as we have seen in many other cases, 

 a favourite device for extending the range of feeding operations. 

 It may, indeed, be taken as a general principle, that where food 

 is to be found there will also be found animals provided with 

 special means of getting at it. In these climbing forms, too, 

 the fore-paws are used for holding the food, despite the fact 



