CHAPTER XIV
MAMMALS (BEASTS AND MAN)
Suggestions.—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
