CATS. 73 



In the limbs the most noticeable characteristic is the peculiar 

 shape and articulation of the toe-bones, which has direct reference 

 to the power Cats possess of retracting the claws. Fig. 31 A shows 

 the bones of a toe with the claw in its ordinary retracted state ; 

 when the animal wishes to strike, the tendon (a) is drawn back, 

 and the whole terminal phalanx (3) with the claw attached is 

 drawn downwards and forwards, as in B. At other times the 

 claw is drawn back and kept from contact with the ground by an 

 elastic ligament (b) . The sheath (s) into which the claw is fixed 

 is present in all Carnivora^ but in none is it so much developed as 

 in the present family. 



Skeletons are exhibited of the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Tiger, 

 Lynx, Wild Cat, and other species, besides a series of the skulls 

 of Lions, Tigers, and others of the larger Cats. A skeleton and 

 several skulls of the Cheetah, or Hunting-Leopard, the most 

 aberrant of the family, is exhibited in Div. A. 



The Hysenas (Case 4, Divs. E & F) are strikingly characterized 



Fig. 32. 



Skull of Hyaena. 



by the enormous power of their teeth and jaws, and by the great 

 height of the cranial crests for the attachment of the biting-muscles. 

 The dental formula is 1. f , C. j, Pm. |, M. } X 2 = 34. 



