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 CHAPTER XIV

MAMMALS (BEASTS AND MAN)

—A tame rabbit, a house cat, or a pet squirrel may be taken to the school and observed by the class. Domestic animals may be observed at home and on the street. A study of the teeth will give a key to the life of the animal, and the teacher should collect a few mammalian skulls as opportunities offer. The pupils should be required to identify them by means of the chart of skulls (p. 194). If some enthusiastic students fond of anatomy should dissect small mammals, the specimens should be killed with chloroform, and the directions for dissection usual in laboratory works on this subject may be followed. There is a brief guide on page 223. The following outline for the study of a live mammal will apply almost as well to the rabbit or squirrel as to the cat.

The Cat.—The house cat (Felis domestica) is probably descended from the Nubian cat (Felis maniculata, Fig. 333) found in Africa. The wild species is about half again as large as the domestic cat, grayish brown with darker stripes; the tail has dark rings. The lynx, or wild cat of America (Lynx rufus), is quite different. Compare the figures (333, 335) and state three obvious differences. To which American species is the house cat closer akin, the lynx (Fig. 335) or the ocelot (Fig. 334)? The domestic cat is found among all nations of the world. What is concluded, as to its nearest relatives, from the fact that the Indians had no cats when America was discovered? It was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, and after death its body was embalmed.

The body of the cat is very flexible. It may be divided into five regions, the head, neck, trunk, tail, and limbs. Its