52 
TEETH OF CATS. 
teeth, which are the small, sharp teeth you 
see in the front of the kitten’s mouth and 
of your own ; canine teeth, which are those 
long, sharp teeth at the sides, and corre¬ 
spond to what you call your eye-teeth ; and 
molars or grinders, which are those at the 
sides,—double teeth, as they are generally 
called. These last are they which afford 
the most ready means of distinguishing the 
habits of an animal, whether carnivorous 
or not. Thus, in the carnivora the teeth 
have sharp cutting edges, and shut by each 
other like the blades of a pair of scissors, 
so as to tear or cut to pieces the flesh 
which constitutes the food of the animals. 
These teeth are always accompanied by 
muscular and hairy paws, and claws more or 
less sharp. In the herbivora, on the con¬ 
trary, the molar teeth are broad and flat, 
with ridges upon the upper surface, and 
adapted for grinding their vegetable food, 
aided by the horizontal movement of their 
jaws. They have frequently no canine 
teeth, and very often incisors or cutting- 
teeth only in the lower jaw, while the upper 
jaw is callous. The incisors, aided by the 
tongue, gather the grass and transfer it to 
