HOW ANIMALS EAT. 



63 



and Shrew, the upper lip blends with the nose to form a 

 proboscis, or snout. The mouth is comparatively small 

 in the Elephant and in gnawing animals like the Squir- 

 rel, wide in the Carnivores, short in the Sloth, and long in 

 the Ant-eater, Teeth are usually present, but vary in 

 form and number with the habits of the animal. The 

 Ant-eater is toothless, and the Greenland Whale has a 

 sieve made of horny plates. The 

 tongue conforms in size and shape 

 with the lower jaw, and is a muscu- 

 lar, sensitive organ, which serves 

 many purposes, assisting in the 

 prehension, mastication, and swal- 

 lowing of food, besides being an 

 organ of taste, touch, and speech. 

 Its surface is covered with minute 

 prominences, called papillce, which 

 are arranged in lines with mathe- 

 matical precision. In the Cats, 

 these are developed into recurved 

 spines, which the animal uses in 

 cleaning bones and combing its 

 fur. Similar papillae occur on 

 the roof and sides of the mouth 

 of the Ox and other Ruminants. 

 In some animals, as the Hamster 

 and Gopher, the cheeks are developed into pouches in 

 which the food may be carried. These may be lined with 

 hair. The tongue is remarkably long in the Ant-eater 

 and Giraffe, and almost immovable in the Gnawers, Ele- 

 phants, and Whales. 



3. The Teeth of Animals. — Nearly all animals have 

 certain hard parts within the mouth for the prehension or 

 trituration of solid food. If these are wanting, the legs 

 are often armed with spines, or pincers, to serve the same 



Fig. 2T.— Human Tongue and ad- 

 jacent parts: a, lingual papillae; 

 6, papillae forming V-shaped 

 lines ; c?, fungiform papillae ; e, 

 filiform papillae; g, epiglottis; 

 m, uvula, or conical process, 

 hanging from the soft palate, 

 n; o, hard palate; r, palatine 

 glands, the mucous membrane 

 being removed ; section of the 

 lower jaw. 



