popttLtr SJtcttonan) of Slmmatrtf $ature. 337 



came from the pen of a naturalist, thoroughly 

 imbued with his subject, and perfectly com- 

 petent to impart his knowledge to the world 

 in the most enticing form.] The works of 

 M. Bourcier and Mr. Gould on Humming- 

 birds are full of figures of these living jewels. 

 In 1851, the visitors to the Zoological Gardens 

 were charmed with Mr. Gould's display of 

 so many gorgeous groupes of these birds. 



HURON. (Perm nigricans.) An Acan- 

 thopterygian fish belonging to the family 

 Percidce, known to the English settlers on 

 the borders of Lake Huron by the name of 

 " Black Bass" the word bass being almost 

 synonymous with perch. It haunts deep 

 holes at the mouths of rivers or edges of 

 banks, and readily takes a hook baited with 

 a small fish, or a piece of white rag trailed 

 after a boat, as in fishing for mackerel. The 

 flesh is firm, white, and well-flavoured ; and 

 it is, accordingly, in high estimation as an 

 article of food. 



HYAENA. A well-known genus of digi- 

 tigrade and carnivorous quadrupeds, distin- 

 guished by having no tuberculous teeth or 

 small teeth behind the carnivorous, which, 

 from their peculiar conformation, aided by 

 the enormous strength of their jaws, are 

 adapted for crushing the hardest substances. 

 The skull of the Hyasna is short, and re- 



fcs 



hair. Many absurd notions respecting the 

 Hyaena were entertained by the ancients 

 its annual change of sex, its imitatic a of the 

 human voice, its power of charming or fas- 

 cinating shepherds, &c., subjects which at 



markable for its solidity ; the muzzle also 

 is short ; and the temporal muscles, which 

 raise the lower jaw, together with those of 

 the neck, are very fully developed. The 

 tongue is rough, the eyes are projecting, 

 and the ears are large. The neck, chest, 

 and shoulders are extremely powerful ; but 

 the hind-quarters are low, and the hind-legs 

 seem comparatively feeble. It has four toes j 

 on eacli foot, furnished with blunt, stout, ! 

 unretractile claws. Beneath the tail is a i 

 glandulous pouch, analogous to that of the ' 

 Civets, but not secreting a similar odorous ; 

 substance. 



The common or STUIPKD Hr.nyx (ffi/cena I 

 vttJf/ftn's) is a native of Asiatic Turkev, Syria, ! 

 Abyssinia, &c. It is of a brownish gray co- 

 lour, marked by several transverse dark 

 brown bands on the body, which are more 

 numerous as well as of a deeper colour on 

 the legs : from the neck along the upper 

 part of the back runs a strong bristly mane 

 the nose is black ; the ears are rather long, 

 sharp-pointed, and nearly naked; the tail 

 is short rather than long, and very full of 



8TRITED HYJENA. (HYJ2NA VULOAHI8.) 



the present day scarcely deserve to be men- 

 tioned. Hyaenas generally inhabit caverns 

 and rocky places, prowling about at night 

 to feed on the remains of dead animals, or 

 whatever living prey they can seize ; but 

 they seldom attack man, except in self-de- 

 fence. As carrion-feeders they seem destined 

 to fill up an important station in the eco- 

 nomy of nature, by cleansing the earth of 

 the decaying carcasses of the larger beasts, 

 whose remains might otherwise infect the at- 

 mosphere with pestilential effluvia. Though 

 not gregarious from any social principle, 

 they sometimes assemble in troops, and fol- 

 low the movements of an army in order to 

 feast on the bodies of those who perish on 

 the field of battle : nay, it is asserted nor 

 is it inconsistent with their insatiable vo- 

 racity and the peculiar strength of their 

 claws that they have been often known to 

 tear newly-buried corpses out of their graves. 

 The aspect of the Hyaena seems to indicate 

 a gloominess and malignity of disposition, 

 with which its manners in a state of cap- 

 tivity appear in general to correspond : 

 savageness and intractability mark its every 

 look and movement ; and it is said that its 

 courage is equal to its rapacity. It was for- 

 merly supposed, and universally believed, 

 that the Hyaena was untameable ; but that 

 it is possible, however difficult it may be, to 

 tame it, there now exists not the shadow of 

 a doubt. A remarkable peculiarity in this 

 animal is, that when he is first obliged to 

 run, he always appears lame for a consider- 

 able distance, and that, in some cases, to 

 such a degree as to induce a belief that one 

 of his legs is broken ; but after running for 

 some time, this halting disappears, and he 

 proceeds on his course very swiftly. Mr. 

 Bruce, the persevering and entertaining 

 Abyssinian traveller, says, " I do not think 

 there is any one that has hitherto written of 

 this animal who ever saw the thousandth 

 part of them that I have. They were a 

 plague in Abyssinia in every situation, both 

 in the city and in the field, and, I think, 

 surpassed the sheep in number. Gondar was 

 full of them from the time it turned dark 

 till the dawn of day, seeking the different 

 pieces of slaughtered carcasses which this 

 cruel and unclean people expose in the streets 

 without burial, and who firmly believe that 

 these animals are Falasha from the neigh- 

 bouring mountains, transformed by magic, 



