534 Zoological Society* 



exceptions afforded by the genera Canis, Lycaon, Hycena, Lutra, and 

 Phoca. The corpuscles of the common species of the two latter, and 

 of the Dog, are the largest I have yet found in the order. The most 

 minute corpuscles of the Ferae were also found in the family Carni- 

 vora. In the Viverridce and Felidce the corpuscles appear to be very 

 small, as compared with those of the Phocida and Canidce ; and in 

 the genera Paradoxurus and Herpestes the corpuscles are, for the 

 most part, remarkably so, especially in the Paradoxurus Bondar*, in 

 which animal they only slightly exceed those of the Goat in size, as 

 noticed in the * Proceedings of the Society,' Nov. 24, 1840. Among 

 the Cats there is a great resemblance of the corpuscles, which are 

 only just appreciably larger in the Lion, Tiger, Chetah, and Leopard, 

 than in the domestic Cat, so that it would require a nice observation 

 to detect any difference. In the Serval and Norway Lynx, the cor- 

 puscles, obtained after death from the heart, appeared to be fully as 

 large as those of any other species of the genus ; the corpuscles of 

 the Ocelot and Persian Lynx presenting the smallest size. But as 

 the blood was obtained from the two last species during life, the ob- 

 servations were not quite satisfactory for comparison, as the corpus- 

 cles soon undergo changes after death f, and are very liable to certain 

 alterations quickly after being abstracted even from the living ani- 

 mal I. In the Dog they were uniformly found to be slightly larger 

 than in the Fox and some other congenerous species ; and in the 

 Striped and Spotted Hyaenas the corpuscles closely resemble those 

 of the genus Canis, and are therefore distinctly larger than in the 

 Viverridce and Felidce, with both of which the Hyaena has been as- 

 sociated. The corpuscles of the Bassaris approximate pretty nearly 

 to those of the Ursidce. 



" On the whole then, although there is considerable diversity in 

 the magnitude of the red particles of the order, there is generally a 

 well-marked relation between these and the different families. Thus 

 the blood-corpuscles of the Plantigrada may be immediately distin- 

 guished from those of the Viverridce. Adopting Mr. Waterhouse's 

 subdivisions of the Carnivora, they would stand as follows, if set 

 down in the order of the size of their blood-discs : — Seals, Dogs, 

 Bears, Weasels, Cats, Viverras. The difference in size is generally 

 quite distinct between the corpuscles of the first two and last two 

 tribes, the discs of the Weasels forming the connecting link, and 

 closely approximating to those of the Cats. The corpuscles of the 

 Otter, however, are much larger than any I have yet seen of the 

 rest of the Mustelidce, and in fact agree very nearly in size with the 

 corpuscles of the Seals and Dogs. 



" It has been stated, that in the Carnivora the corpuscles are inter- 

 mediate in size to those of the omnivorous species and of the strictly 

 vegetable feeders — smaller in the Carnivora, for example, than in 



* In the Menagerie of the Zoological Society this animal is called Para- 

 doxurus Typus, but I have been assured that it is the P. Bondar of authors ; 

 it is the same species as that designated P. Typus in the Phil. Mag. for Jan. 

 1840, p. 28. 



f See Loud, and Edin. Phil. Mag. for March 1840, p. 195. 



+ Ibid, Nov. 1840, p. 325. 



