'210 VBRTEBRATE ANIMALS OF SOUTH rAJtOUNA. 



A group of uiiimals representing the liigliest phases of the develop- 

 nient of life. To man, the highest exponent of the class, the less 

 perfected species stand in the most important relations, both as being, in 

 a sense, his progenitors, and as furnishing him with those things which 

 are quite indispensable to his sustenance and advancement. A number 

 of species have existed in a state of domestication from time immemorial. 



Compared with lower groups, the class is a small one, although 

 having no inconsiderable number of species. Al>out three hundred spe- 

 cies inhabit North America. 



SUB-CLASS MONODELPHIA. 



Mammals, whose .young are of considerable size and almost perfect 

 development at birth. The anterior portion of the brain, or cerebrum, 

 much overlaps the posterior jDortion, or cerebellum (super-order Edu- 

 cahilia), or leaves the latter considerably exposed (super-order Incdu- 

 (■abilia). 



SUPER-ORDER EDUCABILIA. 



ORDER CARNIVORA. CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS. 



Flesh-eating mammals, having both fore and hind feet well devel- 

 oped ; in one sub-order, Pirmipedia or Seals, for aquatic progression; 

 in others, for terrestrial progression. The thumb or pollex of the fore 

 limb is never opposable to the lingers, as in man. Teeth of three 

 sorts, molars, canines and incisors. 



It is somewhat difficult to define this order in a manner intelligible to 

 all, since the distinctions are mostly of an anatomical nature. Two of its 

 representatives, however, the house cat, Felis domcMica, and the dog. Cam's 

 familiarhi, are familiar to every one. The Carnivores furnish but little 

 food supply for man, but Iheir thick furs enable him to withstand the 

 rigors of winter. In the tropics, where one branch of the order, that of 

 the cats, reaches its liighest development, they are decidedly more 

 harmful than useful to man. 



