80 Dr Knox on the Habit* of the Hycena. 



When a flint, therefore, decomposes, what does it first part 

 with ? It becomes white, opaque, and earthy, and at last it 

 would appear calcareous, yet in bulk it is the same; must it 

 not lose that principle to which it is indebted for its tenacity, 

 its compactness, and its transparency ? 



Art. XV. — Observations on the Habits of the Hyazna. By 



- Robert Knox, M. D. F. R. S. E. Lecturer on Anatomy 



and Physiology, and Conservator of the Museum of the 



Royal College of Surgeons. Communicated by the Author. 



About a year ago, the Wernerian Society of. Edinburgh did 

 me the honour to publish in their Transactions, a brief notice 

 by me of the habits of the hya?na, at present existing in Sou- 

 thern Africa, in which I endeavoured to show, 1st, That the 

 Rev. Mr Buckland, in his Geological Speculations, intended 

 not so much to advance science, as to fix the era of a uni- 

 versal deluge, had taken up inaccurate, or at least by far too 

 sweeping views of the natural habits of this ferocious animal : 

 and 2d, That it was of little moment to a geological theory, 

 what were the habits of modern or postdiluvian hyaenas, since 

 the antediluvian relics belonged to a different species ; which 

 latter circumstance Mr Buckland seems to have forgot, (or 

 perhaps was not acquainted with,) until reminded of it by Dr 

 Fleming. I shall now take the liberty of returning to the 

 subject, and of pointing out to Mr Buckland, (since he has 

 honoured my former brief notice with a short comment,) se- 

 veral facts in the history of these animals, which militate against 

 his " Theory," and render his mode of accounting for the ac- 

 cumulation of bones in the Cave of Kirkdale, absolutely un- 

 tenable. 



1. In the immediate vicinity of the abodes of men, the hy- 

 aena usually drags his prey to a considerable distance, in order 

 that he may not be disturbed at his meal ; but his enormous 

 voracity is a hindrance to his dragging the prey to any great 

 distance, much less to store up food in caves, with a foresight 

 exceeding most of the savage human tribes. Where the 

 country is thinly inhabited;, they will eat the carcase of an 

 animal a few hundred yards from the houses ; and where there 



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