"Figures 3 and 4 show the skull of the cat
and its dentition. It will be seen that the
cat's teeth are set at more or less of a hooklike
angle, with the points turned toward the inside
of the mouth, which gives it a very powerful
hold of anything which it grasps. The cat has
thirty teeth in all. It will be seen in Figure 4
which represents the teeth of one side of the
jaw that there is first in front a row of in-
cisors (three on either side six in all), which
are very small, and are practically rudimentary
in this animal then two enormous tush teeth,
which enable it to grasp its prey in the shape
of the mouse, bird, or a simple piece of meat,
and hold it firmly; then posterior come the
premolars three in the upper jaw and two in
the lower jaw of each side ;
and behind these
the molars one in each jaw. In the tempo-
rary or milk dentition of kittens the molars are
absent, leaving but twenty-six teeth. These, it
will be seen (Figure 4), have enormous strong
roots set in the jaw-bone, while the points are
sharp and cutting; which allows of the man-
gling of any solid food which may be taken,
while it does not permit of grinding it, as is
necessary in the herbivorous animals, or even,
to a certain extent, in the omnivorous animals.
The cat, like the dog, after having once grasped
its food, tears it to a certain degree, and then
swallows it whole, when its powerful stomach
and organs of digestion allow of the rapid dis-
First published in the United States before 1923 - public domain
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1929, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.
This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States; this especially applies in the countries and areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, Mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland. The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.
Bildetekster
Legg til en kort forklaring på hva filen representerer
{{Information |Description="Figures 3 and 4 show the skull of the cat and its dentition. It will be seen that the cat's teeth are set at more or less of a hooklike angle, with the points turned toward the inside of the mouth, which gives it a very powerfu