The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1890-04-03
HOW SOME CREATURES FEED.

THE clam feeds with q siphon, and tho
oystor with its beard.
TIE leech has throc saws, with which
1t does good service in tho p%hobotomy
line.
SPIDERS chow their food with horny
jaws, which arc sharp enough to give
quito a nip.
TIE butterfly pumps nectar into itself
through n tube, and bees and flies suck
up their food with u long tongue or pro-
boscis.
THE tapoworm has neither mouth nor
stomach, but just lays along and alb
serbs the already digosted food through
Ito skin.
SNAIIS have teeth on their tongues,
hundreds OF them, but, as II these werc
not enough, some have them also in
their stomach.
TIE ~woodpcclicr has a thrcc-barbcd
tongue like Fijian's spear, with which
it draws out tho worm which it has TX
cited by It's tapping.
TIE sturgeon is toothlcss and draws
in it's food by suction, but tho shark
has hundreds Of tcoth set In rows that
sometimes number ten.
THE cuttlcfish, which among other
strange things, always walks with its
head downward, does not chow its food
at all, but masticatcs with its gizzard.
ToAps, tortoiscs, turtles and most
lizards have no tooth. Frogs havo
teeth in their upper jaw only. Ant
caters, sloths and armadillos have no
teeth.
THE caterpillar feeds with two saw
edged jaws, working transvcrsely, and
uses them to such good advantage that
no cats thrco or tour times his W
weight every day.
GEAssuoPpERs and locusts arc very
we'll provided with tho necessary ma
chincry for eating much and often.
They have saw-likc jaws, and gizzards,
too, tho latter being fitted out with
horny tooth.
THE lion and the tiger, md, indeed,
most Of tho carnivora, do not grind
their food, using their jaws. only up and
down, tho molars acting ike chopping-
knives, or, rather, scissors. Their
months, in fact, are q vcritablo hash
mill.
TIE carp's teeth are set back on the
phGrynx, so that it may be literally said
to nasticato its food in its throat. Tho
carp, too, is about tho only cud-chewing
fish, the coarscly-swallowcd food being
forced up to these throat tccth for COM
plotc masticaticn.
Docs seize their food with their jaws,
cats with their feet, and so do monkeys,
some OF them pressing their prehensilc
tails into service. Tho squirrel uses its
paws to carry It's food to It's mouth; tho
elephant its trunk, the giraffe, ant
cater and toad their tongues.
THE jclly-Gsh absorbs its food by
wrapping itself about the object which
II socks to make its own. Tho star
6sh is oven moro accommodating.
Fastening itself to the body, it wishes to
feed on, it turns it's stomach inside out
and enwraps its prey with this useful
organ.
Tn: ray, or skate, for instance, has u
mouth set transvcrscly across its head,
the jaws working with o rolling motion,
like two hands set back to back. In tho
jaws arc tbrco rows of Nat teeth set
like a mosaic pavement, and between
these rolling jaws tho fish brushes
oysters and other mollusks like so many
nuts.
LoBsTETs and crabs masticato thcir
food with their horny jaws, but they
havo also sets Of teeth in their stom,
achs, where they complete the work OF
chewing. But there is ono peculiar
kind OF crab called tho king or horse.
shoe crab which chOws it's food with its
legs. This is an actual fact, tho little
animal grinding it's morsels between Its
thighs before it passes them over t o Its
mouth.