Chap. IV. IN ANIMALS. HI 



with their teeth; and the care which they take to pre- 

 vent their ears being seized by their antagonists, accounts 

 for this position. Consequently, through habit and as- 

 sociation, whenever they feel slightly savage, or pretend 

 in their play to be savage, their ears are drawn back. 

 That this is the true explanation may be inferred from 

 the relation which exists in very many animals between 

 their manner of fighting and the retraction of their ears. 



All the Carnivora fight with their canine teeth, and 

 all, as far as I have observed, draw their ears back when 

 feeling savage. This may be continually seen with dogs 

 when fighting in earnest, and with puppies fighting in 

 play. The movement is different from the falling 

 down and slight drawing back of the ears, when a dog 

 feels pleased and is caressed by his master. The retrac- 

 tion of the ears may likewise be seen in kittens fighting 

 together in their play, and in full-grown cats when really 

 savage, as before illustrated in fig. 9 (p. 58). Although 

 their ears are thus to a large extent protected, yet they 

 often get much torn in old male cats during their mu- 

 tual battles. The same movement is very striking in 

 tigers, leopards, &c, whilst growling over their food in 

 menageries. The lynx has remarkably long ears; and 

 their retraction, when one of these animals is approached 

 in its cage, is very conspicuous, and is eminently expres- 

 sive of its savage disposition. Even one of the Eared 

 Seals, the Otariapttsilla^hich has very small ears, draws 

 them backwards, when it makes a savage rush at the legs 

 of its keeper. 



When horses fight together they use their incisors for 

 biting, and their fore-legs for striking, much more than 

 they do their hind-legs for kicking backwards. This 

 has been observed when stallions have broken loose and 

 have fought together, and may likewise be inferred from 

 the kind of wounds which they inflict on each other. 



