CAENIVOEOUS MAMMALIA. 



771 



mitted to exist. Activity and health alone are conspicuous throughout 

 the broad creation : disease and decline are banished from the world. 

 Does any creature lack but for a brief period its accustomed powers of 

 escape, the destroyer is at hand instantly to remove it from its appointed 

 sphere of action. Butchers are placed on all sides, ready to perform 

 their office ; and nothing is permitted to live but what possesses its 

 faculties and its strength unimpaired and unenfeebled. 



Fig. 391. 



Skeleton of the Jerboa. 



(2219.) The great character that distinguishes the Carnivorous qua- 

 drupeds is the high degree of intelligence and activity for which they are 

 so remarkable. The perfection of their limbs and the acuteness of their 

 senses at once indicate their superiority over the Herbivorous races; 

 and their jaws, armed with powerful fangs, usually distinguished by the 

 name of canine teeth, show at a glance the nature of their appointed 

 food and their murderous propensities. 



