484 



THE CAT. 



[CHAP, xm. 



large cars and a long tail. Its claws are retractile, but it does not 

 walk like the cat on its toes, but applies nearly the whole plantar and 

 palmar surfaces to the ground. It may therefore be said to be 

 plantigrade. It was originally made known to science, and named 

 in a paper published by Mr. E. T. Bennett.* The young specimen 

 described by him came from Mr. Telfair of Mauritius, who declared 





Fig. 202. HYJENA (Hycena striata) (Floiver). 



am. Meatus auditorius exterrms. 

 c. Condyloid foramen. 

 car. Carotid foramen. 

 e. Eustachian canal. 



I. Foramen laceruin posterius. 



m. Mastoid. 



o. Foramen ovale. 



p. Par-occipital process. 



it to be " the most savage creature of its size I ever met with ; its 

 motions, power and activity are those of a tiger, and it has the same 

 appetite for blood and destruction of animal life." 



Its teeth are very like those of the cat, save that it has an 

 additional premolar below and, for a time also, one above, but the 

 latter soon falls away. 



The skull is more elongated, in proportion to its other dimensions, 

 than is that of the cat. 



* In the Transactions of the Zoological Society, p. 137, plate 21. 



