The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-06-20

HOW THEY TAKE FOOD.
The Various Ways in which Living crcst-
ures Eat.
That peculiar cchinoid, the sea-urchin,
has five teeth in five jaws--one in each
jaw--all the flvo Immediately surround
ing the stomach. Tho jaws have pc
culiar centralized motion, all turning
, inward and downward so that they also
act as feeders.
Snails have teeth on their tongues,
hundreds Of them, says tho San Fran
DISCO Chronicle, but, as IL these were not
enough, some have thcm also in their
stomach.
The cuttlcfsh, which, among other
strange things, always walks with its
hcad downward, does not chew its food
ut all, but maaticntes with its gizzard.
So do geese, fowls, ducks, and indeed I'LL
modern birds. Selling their food in
their beaks thcy swallow it whole, if
grain or seed, and in largo pieces if it bo
fruit or bread. In that condition it goes
into tho gizzard. q powerful muscle with
very tough. horny lining, which acts as
mill, being sufficiently powerful to
pulverize uncookcd corn. To assist in
tho milling process all grain-cating
birds swallow little pieces of gravel,
glass. crockery, metal, ctc.. tho horny
interior of the gizzard being sufficiently
tough to escape cutting by those mate
riass. Its because OF this fact that the
ostrich has acquired his reputation of
enjoying fcrruginous diet.
Even when they had teeth birds only
used them to take their food, depend
ing upon the gizzard for mastication
then as now.
Fishes and reptiles use their teeth for
tho same purpose, that of taking their
food, but, like the birds, they gulp down
their food unchcwed, and unbrokcn il
possible.
There arc, however, exceptions. Tho
rav, CT skate, for instance, has mouth
set transvcrscly across IT'S heal. tho jaws
working with rolling motion like two
hands set back to back. In tho jaws arc
three rows of flat teeth, sct like a mosaic
pavement, and between these rolling
jaws tho fish crushes oysters and other
mollusks like SO many nuts.
The carps teeth arc set back on the
pharynx, so that 1t may be literally said
to masticato its food in it's throat. Tho
corp. too, il about the only cud-chcwing
fish, tho coarscly swallowed food being
forced up to these throat teeth for COM
plcte mastica.ion.
Some fishes arc absolutely toothlcss,
like tho sucker and lamprey; others
again have hundreds and hundreds of
teeth, sometimes so many that thoy COW
or all parts of the mouth.
Tho great Greenland whale has no
teeth, its balecn plates, or whalcbone,
taking their place. Along the center
Of tho palate runs u strong ridge, and on
each side of this there L.; wide tlcprcs-
sion, along which tho plates arc inserted.
While tho Greenland whale has no
teeth, tho sporm whale has them in
great quantities ,n tho lower jaw, and
uses them. too, whom occasion requires.
On tho other hand, the narwhal worry
seldom develops moro than one, the left
upper canine. 1t makes up for the lack
of number by the extraordinary growth
attained by this one tooth. 1t grows
out and right forward. on limo with
tho BODY, untll IT becomes ver,taalo
tusk, sometimes reaching the longth Of
ton fcot. Apropos of tusks, the elo-
p!asnt's arc its unduly developed upper
inciscrs; those of tho wnlrus arc its up
per CANNES. and 80 are those of tho wild
hog.
Man is the only animal that has tooth
-tncisors. CANNES and molars-of an
equal height. Man, tho ape, and nearly
all ruminants. have thirty-two tccth.
Tho hog, however. is botter off than
this. and has forty-four. SO have the
opossum and rolc. The river dolphin
OF South America lays far beyond this.
i however. having no less than aaao tooth.
Teeth arc not part of the skeleton, but
balong to the appcndagcs, like skin and
| hair.
The sturgeon is toothlcss and draws in
its food by suction. but the shark has
d hundreds of teeth set in rows that so1nc-
times number ton.
| Lobstcrs and crabs mastica,c their
food with their horny jaws. Lut they
have also sets of tect. in thoir stom-
achs. wherc they complete the work of
chewing. But there is ono peculiar
kind Vi crab. callod the King or horse
shoe crab. which chcws its food with its
logs. This is an actual fact, tho llttlc
arimal grinding its morscls between its
thighs before 1t passes them ovor 20 it's
mout:.
Tho jolly fish absorbs its food by
wrapping itself around the object which
1t seeks to mako its own. The star.
fiss is even moro accommodating
Fastcsing itself to the body it wishes
| to feed on, it turns i:s stomach inside
out and cnwraps its prcy with this usc-
{; full organ.
! Dogs seize their food with their jaws.
cats with their feet. and SO do monkeys,
some of them pressing their prchonsilo
tails into service. The squirrel uses it's
paws to carry its food to Its mouts, tho
elephant its trunk, tho giraffe, ant
cater and toad their tongues.
Spiders chew their food with horny
jaws. which are. sharp enough to giyc
quito nip.
Grasshoppcrs and locusts are very
we'll provided with tho necessary ma
chincry for eating much and often.
They have saw-likc jaws, and gizzards,
too, the latter being fitted out with
horny teeth.
Tho caterpillar foods with two saw.
edged jaws. working transvcrscly, and
uses them to such good advantage that
he cats thrsc or four times his own
weight every day.
Toads. tcrtoiscs. turtles and most
lizards have no tccth. Frogs havc tcctl,
In their upper jaw only. Antcatcrs,