424 GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



and foxes (Can'idae) ; the bears (Ur'sidae) ; and the raccoons 

 (Procyon'idae). To the second division belong the seals and 

 walruses. 



The jaguar is a South American cat resembling in general 

 appearance the leopard of Africa, and, like it, an inhabitant 

 of wooded regions, where it spends much of its time in trees. 

 The irregular markings resemble in a general way the pat- 

 terns of light and shade beneath the leaves of a forest. The 

 markings are usually spoken of as an illustration of aggres- 

 sive resemblance. The dun-colored lion and the gayly 

 striped tiger are mentioned as similar examples, the one re- 

 sembling the brown of desert places and the other the ver- 

 tical shadows of reeds and grasses in tropical jungles. The 

 origin of our domestic cat and dog, like that of some of our 

 other domestic animals, is uncertain, but it is generally 

 believed that the cat is descended from the Egyptian, or 

 Caff re, cat (Fe'lis caf'fra), an African and Asiatic species 

 domesticated by the Egyptians and held in veneration by 

 them ; the dog is variously thought to be the descendant of 

 some wild species now extinct, or of one of several wolves 

 or jackals, or a mixture of several species. The great length 

 of time since the dog first became the companion of man, 

 and the numerous races which have arisen, render the 

 question extremely complicated. 



Of our smaller wild carnivores none is more generally 

 known and feared than the skunk (Mephi'tis), of which 

 there are many species in the United States. Their powerful 

 means of defense is a pair of glands secreting a strong- 

 smelling fluid, which they are able to eject for a distance 

 of several feet. Though they are destroyed by the farmer 

 for robbing his henroosts, they are on the whole beneficial, . 

 as they feed largely on injurious insects. Those who have 

 observed them most say that they make interesting and 

 cleanly pets, even without the removal of the scent glands, 



