94 



MAMMALIA. 



We know but of one (Cr. obscurus, F. Cuv.), from Sierra ijeone : size of a Surikate. [Other Mangoustes are 

 included by recent systematists ; and it may be remarked that both this and the preceding subdivision are merely 

 slight modifications of Herpcstes, and have similar perfect orbits.] 



We shall here mention a singular animal from South Africa, which is known only when young, and 



which has five toes before, four behind, and the head a little elongated as in the Civets, the legs raised, 



those behind rather shorter, and a mane as in the Hyaena ; and which also resembles the Striped Hyaena 



very remarkably in its colouring. Its anterior thumb is short, and placed high up. The Proteles 



Lalandi, Is. Geof.; an inhabitant of caverns. 



The individuals examined, which were all 

 young, possessed but three small false molars, 

 and one small tuberculous back molar. It 

 seems as though their teeth had never come to 

 perfection, as often happens in the Genets. 

 (See my Ossemens fossiles, iv. 38S.) [The per- 

 manent canines are of tolerable size, but the 

 simple form of the molars, all very small, and 

 separated by intervals, presents an anomaly 

 among the Carnivore, which is even more re- 

 markable on account of the affinity of this spe- 

 cies to the Hyaenas. It is destructive to very 

 young lambs, and is stated to attack the mas- 

 sive fatty protuberance on the tails of the 

 African Sheep.] 



Fig. 32.— Proteles Lalaudi. 



<=S^ 



The last subdivision of the Digitigrades has no small teeth whatever behind the large molar 

 of the lower jaw. It contains the most sanguinary and carnivorous of the class. There are 

 two genera. 



The Hyaenas (Hycena, Storr) — 



Have three false molars above and four below, all conical, blunt, and singularly large : their upper car- 

 nivorous tooth has a small tubercle within and in front; but the lower one has none, presenting only 

 two stout cutting points. This powerful armature enables them to crush the bones of the largest prey. 

 Their tongue is rough [exhibiting a circular collection of retroflected spines] ; all their feet have each but 

 four toes, as in the Surikate ; and under the anus is a deep and glandular pouch, which led the ancients 

 to believe that these animals were hermaphrodite. The muscles of their neck, and of the jaws, are so 

 robust, that it is almost impossible to take from them anything they may have seized ; whence, among 

 the Arabs, their name is the symbol of obstinacy. It sometimes happens that their cervical vertebrae 

 become anchylosed in consequence of these violent efforts ; and thus has arisen the opinion that the 

 animals of this genus have only one bone in their neck. They are nocturnal animals, and inhabit 

 caverns ; voracious, subsisting chiefly on dead bodies, which they will even disinter from the grave, a 

 habit that has given rise to a multitude of superstitious traditions. 



Three species are known. The striped Hyaena (//. vulgaris, Canis hi/tena, Lin.), found from India to Abyssinia 

 and Senegal. The spotted H. (H. crocuta, Schreb., C. crocuta, Lin.,) from South Africa ; and the Woolly Hyaena, 

 (H. bruanea, Thunb., //. villosa, Smith), also from South Africa. Remains of a fossil species (H. spelaa) are 

 found in many cavern deposits of France, Germany, and England. [Hyaenas are easily tamed, if allowed their 

 liberty, and are susceptible of strong attachment to those who use them kindly : many are employed in the capacity 

 of watch-dogs both in Asia and Africa. They are physiologically nearly related to the Civets, and not to the 

 Dogs * ; and the loss of the posterior tuberculous molar appears to be a consequence of the great increase in size 

 of the carnivorous grinders : notwithstanding which these animals feed much on bulbs.] 



The Cats (Felis, Lin.) — 



Are, of all the Carnaria, the most completely and powerfully armed. Their short and rounded muzzle, 

 short jaws, and especially their retractile talons, which, being raised upward when at rest, and closing 

 within the toes, by the action of elastic ligaments, lose neither point nor edge, render them most for- 

 midable animals, more particularly the larger species. They have two false molars above, and two 



* Their rough tongue, small and not spiral ccecum, the structure I their anal pouch, style of colouring, &c, combine to indieate their 

 of their reproductive organs, and consequent mode of copulation ; true position to he as above assigned. 



