MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 63 
This animal is interesting not only because it is the sole car- 
nivore of any size found upon Madagascar but because it 
unites with the form of a civet the dentition found in no living 
cat, but characteristic of tertiary Felidze. ‘The body and head 
are slender, the tail long, and while the claws are retractile, 
the whole sole is applied to the ground. There are anal glands 
such as characterize the civets to which and the Felidz they 
form alink. The last of the families of the AXluroidea is that 
containing the cats proper to which we now pass. 
FELID. 
THE CAT FAMILY. 
This family may be considered the typical and the highest 
member of the Carnivora. We find in this group only graceful 
and well-formed animals combining with wonderful strength 
and agility such variations in form as are best adapted to the 
special habitat in which the animal is found. The psychical 
characters agree with the physical and we find in the catsa 
fine combination of courage and affection. In addition to 
highly developed senses and mental powers, the cats have a 
certain spirit of independence which makes them less adapted 
than the dogs to be the slavesof man. The cat always retains 
her self esteem, at least so long as she keeps her pelt and feet 
dry, and wishes to be treated with consideration, in which case 
she will exhibit all the affection with none of the servility of 
the dog, as though conscious of royal blood and princely con- 
nections. The personal pride which makes the cat so careful 
not to soil her beautiful fur is seen in all her relations with 
man. She does not hesitate to take possession of the best 
place and exacts attention to her kittens with motherly pride, 
and in return for care and caresses often lays her booty of mice 
or birds at the feet of the master, perhaps rather as an evidence 
of service than in the real expectation of their being used. 
The toes only touch the ground in walking and the hallux is 
absent, while the thumb is elevated above the other toes. 
Nearly all the family are furnished with retractile claws which 
are preserved from dulling by being withdrawn into sheaths 
during walking. In the living species there is very slight 
variation from one type of dentition. The formula for the milk 
dentition is as follows: #:4:3:5—26 for the permanent set 
$:4:3:1—30. The incisors are small, irregularly chisel-shaped 
