420 GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



individuals scattered in isolated colonies seldom dare to raise 

 lodges, but have to be content with a home in the bank of 

 some stream. 



Flesh-Eating Mammals. The carnivorous mammals, Car- 

 niv'ora (Lat. caro, flesh ; vorare, to devour), are the flesh-eaters 

 par excellence. The incisor teeth are small and sharp ; the 

 canines are generally long, strong, and conical, fitted for 

 tearing ; and the pre molars and molars are raised into more 

 or less sharp ridges. The toes are sheathed in claws, often 

 fitted for grasping, and in one family, the cats, are capable 

 of being retracted and thus kept sharp by being saved from 

 constant friction. The group has divided along two main 

 lines of development, one adapted to terrestrial, the other to 

 aquatic life. To the first belong the family of cats (Fe'lidoe), 

 including the lion, tiger, leopard, lynx, jaguar, and puma ; 

 the hyenas (Hycen'idce) ; the dogs, wolves, and foxes ( Oan'- 

 idov)' 9 the bears ( Ur'sidcc) ; and the raccoons (Procyon'idce). 

 To the second division belong the seals and walruses. 



The jaguar is a South American cat resembling in general 

 appearance the leopard of Africa, and, like it, an inhabitant 

 of wooded regions, where it spends much of its time in trees. 

 The irregular markings resemble in a general way the pat- 

 terns of light and shade beneath the leaves of a forest. The 

 markings are usually spoken of as an illustration of aggres- 

 sive resemblance. The dun-colored lion and the gayly striped 

 tiger are mentioned as similar examples, the one resembling 

 the brown of desert places and the other the vertical shadows 

 of reeds and grasses in tropical jungles. The origin of our 

 domestic cat and dog, like that of some of our other domestic 

 animals, is uncertain, but it is generally believed that the cat 

 is descended from the Egyptian or Caff re cat (Fe'lis caf'frd}, 

 an African and Asiatic species domesticated by the Egyptians 

 and held in veneration by them ; the dog is variously thought 

 to be the descendant of some wild species now extinct, or of 



