. The Bible and science. ing vegetable food. Theyfrequent the mouths of large rivers, such as theAmazon, and feed upon the grass and water-plantsgrowing in the w^ater near their banks. The animals of the next order, the Cetacea, resemblethe Sirenia in appearance but are more them are whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Theback is sometimes furnished with a dorsal fin. Thenostrils are placed in the very top of the head, wdiich isclosely joined to the body, and extremely large, and nodistinct neck can be seen. They feed upon animal food ;some of them, such as the dolphin and sperm w
. The Bible and science. ing vegetable food. Theyfrequent the mouths of large rivers, such as theAmazon, and feed upon the grass and water-plantsgrowing in the w^ater near their banks. The animals of the next order, the Cetacea, resemblethe Sirenia in appearance but are more them are whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Theback is sometimes furnished with a dorsal fin. Thenostrils are placed in the very top of the head, wdiich isclosely joined to the body, and extremely large, and nodistinct neck can be seen. They feed upon animal food ;some of them, such as the dolphin and sperm whale,have conical teeth, but the Greenland whale has noteeth at all in an adult condition, although whenyoung it has teeth, wdiich, however, never appear 230 MAMMALIA—CARXrVOR A. through the gums. Instead of them it has plates of asubstance called whalebone, which form a sort of fringeto the mouth. This large animal feeds chiefly uponjelly-fishes, which are caught and retained in themouth by the whalebone, as in a PlG. 120.—Fore-limb of young dolphin, showing how the hones areinodifitd tofoiinthe so-called tin. s, scapula ; h, humerus ; r, radius ; u, ulna ; c, carpus ;7n, meta-carpus : p, phalanges. The next order is that of the Carnivora, or beastsofprey, which live almost entirely upon other teeth are suited for the purpose of killiug andtearing up their victims. They have generally sixincisors in each jaw% the canines are always four innumber, two in each jaw, and they are very long andstrong. The molars have generally sharp edges forcutting up the flesh on which they feed, their feet arealso provided with claws, which are usually sharjo and SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CARNIVORA. 231 enable the animal readily to lay hold of its prey. Theorder is divided into three groups; the first is that ofthe Digitigrade animals, such as cats and dogs, so calledbecause they walk upon their toes. Weasels and ottersdo so likewise, but they also put a part of the sole of
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