H 
CARNIVORES., 
ORDER CARNIVORA. 
PAR I 
i THE CATS. FAMILY FELIDA: 
IF a naturalist were asked to select two groups of Mammals 
severally representing the most highly developed and _ beauti- 
ful type of the carnivorous and herbivorous modifications, he 
would certainly make choice of the Cat tribe for the one, while 
for the other he would most probably select the Antelopes and 
Gazelles. Both of these groups do, indeed, seem to present the 
highest modification and specialisation which the particular type 
of structure by which they are characterised is susceptible of 
attaining ; and it is curious to notice the kind of parallelism in 
development which may be traced between the two groups. 
In both groups, for instance, the limbs have been more or less 
elongated, these animals walking only on their toes, instead 
of on the whole sole of the foot. Whereas, however, in the 
Antelopes the elongation of the limbs has been excessive, 
and mainly concentrated on the segment immediately above 
the fore- and hind-foot—that is to say, the metacarpus and 
metatarsus—while the toes have been reduced to a single 
functional pair on each foot, in the Cats the bones of the 
7 B 
