in Anatomy, a part of the face, consisting of the lips, the gums, the inside of the cheeks, the palate, the salivary glands, the os hyoides, the uvula, and the tonsils; which see under the article ANATOMY.

Mr Derham observes, that the mouth in the several species of animals is nicely adapted to the uses of such a part, and well sized and shaped for the formation of speech, the gathering and receiving of food, the catching of prey, &c. In some creatures it is wide and large, in others little and narrow; in some it is formed with a deep incisure into the head, for the better catching and holding of prey, and more easy commination of hard, large, and troublesome food; and in others with a shorter incisure, for the gathering and holding of herbaceous food. In birds it is neatly shaped for piercing the air; hard and horny, to supply the want of teeth; hooked, in the rapacious kind, to catch and hold their prey; long and slender in those that have their food to grope for in moribund places; and broad and long in those that search for it in the mud. Nor is the mouth less remarkable in insects; in some it is forcipated, to catch, hold, and tear the prey; in others aculeated, to pierce and wound animals, and suck their blood; in others, strongly rigid, with jaws and teeth, to gnaw and scrape out