Category: Fun Facts

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Fun Fact: canine teeth

canine

Anatomy def: Four pointed conical teeth (two per jaw) between the incisors and the premolars of a
mammal, often greatly enlarged in carnivores.

Outlander def: Canines, cuspids, eye teeth, dog teeth, or fangs used by a carnivorous animal
to seize and tear its prey! Yikes!

Learn about the canine teeth (and all the other ones, too) in “Anatomy Lesson #26, “Jamie’s Chin –  Manly Mentus.”

Read about canine teeth in Diana’s first two books, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber.

The smile had not left Randall’s features since Jamie’s appearance. Now it broadened, enough to show the pointed dog teeth. “Well, that’s a bit better.” The pressing hand left my chest to return to the swelling flies of his breeches. “I was engaged when you arrived, my dear fellow. You’ll forgive me if I get on with what I was doing before I attend to you. (Out)

“Ah. Yes, madonna. They are wolves. Very old wolves.” He lifted down one of the skulls, handling it with reverent care. The snout was long and canid, with heavy canines and broad carnassial teeth. The sagittal crest rose stark and commanding from the back of the skull, testimony to the heavy muscles of the brawny neck that had once supported it. (DIA)

“James Fraser,” I hissed between clenched teeth. “If you touch that boy, you’ll certainly never share my bed again!” Jamie raised one eyebrow. His canines gleamed briefly in the firelight. “Well, that’s a serious threat, to an unprincipled voluptuary such as myself, but I dinna suppose I can consider my own interests in such a situation. War’s war, after all.” The pistol, which had been allowed to fall, began to rise once more. (DIA)

See BJR’s dog teeth in action as he bites Jamie’s arm during their desperate duel (Starz episode 206, Best Laid Schemes). Well, what else can one expect of this cunning carnivorous Captain? Randall spits on the Code Duello!

Or, see Dougal’s canines chomp-chomp Jamie’s hand during their final fatal fight (Starz episode 213, Dragonfly in Amber). Biting his nephew? What would Colum say about his MacKenzie War Lord? No much, as Big Bro has left the building.

ep-213-canines

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact: Limbal Ring

limbal-ring

Anatomy def: A dark-colored ring around the iris of the eye created by optical properties at the juncture between cornea and sclera.

Outlander def: Dark rings at the rims of Fergus’ (Claudel not being a verra manly name) irises as he beholds his beloved Laird.

Learn about limbal rings in Anatomy Lesson #31, “An Aye for an Eye – The Eye, Part 3.”

Read what Diana wrote about Fergus’ eyes in Dragonfly in Amber:

“Fergus?” I said, eyeing the boy, and trying to ignore the goings-on below. The lad was possibly nine or ten, but small for his age, and fine-boned as a ferret. Clad in clean, worn clothes several sizes too big for him, he was also as French as they come, with the pale, sallow skin and big, dark eyes of a Parisian street child.

See Fergus’ beautiful dark blue limbal rings in Starz episode 213, Dragonfly in Amber, as “milord” orders him to deliver the newly minted deed of Sasine to Lallybroch. I will not fail you, milord!”  The end is nigh, sob!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact: lacrimation

ep-213-lacrimation

First use: late 16th century

Anatomy Def: secretion of tears from paired lacrimal glands of the bony orbits.

Outlander Def: release of eye fluids in response to profound emotions including grief, relief, gratitude, love, compassion, memories, sorrow, regret and utter loss!

Learn about lacrimation in Anatomy Lesson #30, “Aye, Eye – The Eyes – Part 2!”

Read about Jamie’s and Claire’s tears from Diana’s second book, Dragonfly in Amber:

Jamie covered his face in his hands and stood shaking against the boards of the empty stall. “I am a fool,” he said at last, gasping to recover his breath. “Oh, God, I am a fool.” He dropped his hands, showing his face, tears streaking through the grime of travel. He dashed the back of his hand across his cheek, but the moisture continued to overflow from his eyes, as though it were a process quite out of his control. “The cause is lost, my men are being taken to slaughter, there are dead men rotting in the wood … and I am weeping for a horse! Oh, God,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I am a fool.”

I pushed my way through the brush and the branches, stumbling over rocks, blinded by tears. Behind me I could hear shouts and the clash of steel from the cottage. My thighs were slick and wet with Jamie’s seed. The crest of the hill seemed never to grow nearer; surely I would spend the rest of my life fighting my way through the strangling trees! There was a crashing in the brush behind me. Someone had seen me rush from the cottage. I dashed aside the tears and scrabbled upward, groping on all fours as the ground grew steeper.

Weep with Jamie and Claire as they prepare to part “forever” in Starz’s profound final episode, 213, of season two, Dragonfly in Amber!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist