420 



INTHODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



family, and also the Fox and the Wolf. The Fox would 

 probably have ceased to exist in these countries, but for the 

 protection afforded to him by the sportsman. The Woh' 

 {Fig. 329), less cunning and more fierce, has long since been 

 exterminated. Professor Bell inchnes to the opinion, "that 

 the Wolf is the original source from which all our domestic 

 dogs have sprung."* 



V. Felidce. — The Cat tribe includes the Lion, the Tiger, the 

 Panther, the Leopard {Fig. 325), the Puma, and those other 

 quadrupeds remarkable for their destructive powers. They 

 serve to keep within bounds the excessive multiplication of the 

 smaller mammalia, and are widely distributed. The Wild Cat 

 is now the only representative of the group in these countries. 

 There was a period, however, when a Tiger larger than 

 that of Bengal, and with proportionally larger paws, roamed 

 over Europe. Its remains have been found in England, and 

 Professor Owen speaks of it as the "Great Cave Tiger." 

 To the very Eev. Dr. Buckland, Dean of Westminster, we 

 owe a detailed account of a discovery even more interesting : 

 that of a cave at Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, which had been in- 

 habited by Hysenas.t These animals are now met with only 



in Asia and Africa ; the 

 species represented in the 

 figure {Fig. 330), is found 

 at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 They live principally upon 

 carrion, thus presenting the 

 same analogy to the Tiger 

 that the Vidture does to 

 the Eagle. They also de- 

 vour the remains left by 

 other beasts of prey, and 

 Fig. 330.-SPOTTED Hr^KA. ^runch the bones, which 



they are enabled to do by the great strength of their jaws. 

 The teeth of Hyaenas found in the cave at Kirkdale, give 

 evidence, Dr. Buckland states, of the existence of two or 

 three hundred individuals. They belong to an extinct species 

 first made known by Cuvier, and exceeding in size the 

 largest species of Tiger. The whole extent of the floor of the 

 Kirkdale cavern was strewed with bones of different animals, 



British Quadrupeds, p. 200. 



■f Reliquiae Diluvianae. 



