476 



CARNIVORA. 



ticularly in the Badger. The acromion is small 

 and slight in all the true Carnivora, but in 

 those of the Insectivora which have true cla- 

 vicles, it is long and robust. The coracoid 

 process is generally present, but is wanting in 

 the seals. The clavicle in the whole of this 

 order is very slender, and must be considered 

 as merely rudimentary. In the Hyena and the 

 Dog it is extremely small ; larger in the Mus- 

 telida, and still larger in the Cats. It is not 

 attached to the sternum or to the scapula, but 

 suspended, as it were, between these two bones, 

 generally occupying not much more than half 

 the space between them. 



The humerus is in general rather slender, 

 long and nearly cylindrical when compared 

 with that of the Pachydermata, Ruminantia, 

 and some others. It is somewhat arched, and 

 the great tuberosity is very much developed ; 

 this bone is short and broad, the superior two- 

 thirds being widened from before backwards, 

 and the lower third from side to side. 



The fore-arm is here, as in the other orders, 

 composed of the radius and the ulna. The 

 latter bone is generally placed immediately 

 behind the former, and they have but little 

 motion one on the other, excepting in the bear 

 tribe, whose habits require more freedom of 

 movement in the anterior extremity. That 

 tendency to the expansion of the members into 

 instruments fitted for swimming, which is so 

 obvious in the Seals, is found to obtain in the 

 two bones in question, which in this family are 

 short, flattened, and very broad. 



The carpus in this order offers a few pecu- 

 liarities which may be slightly glanced at. The 

 os scapho'ides and the os similunare form but 

 one bone, which is of considerable size. The 

 os pisiforme is much elongated, forming a little 

 spur or heel to the anterior feet, a peculiarity, 

 however, which is wanting in the seals. The 

 os trapezium is very small in the Hyena, in 

 which the thumb is but rudimentary. 



The metacarpal bones in the digitigrade car- 

 nivora are much larger than in the plantigrade. 

 In the latter the shortness of these bones, with 

 the comparative length of the phalanges, gives 

 somewhat of a plantigrade character even to 

 the fore-feet, although the metacarpal bones do 

 not actually rest upon the ground : whilst in 

 the digitigrade families, and especially in the 

 cats, the metacarpals being much produced, 

 and the phalanges very short, the part which 

 rests upon the ground is greatly abbreviated. 



The phalanges offer some very interesting 

 points of structure, particularly in the Felida:, in 

 which the terminal phalanx is retractile, or, on 

 the other hand, can be thrust out and rendered 

 the basis of a most formidable weapon. This 

 character of the retractile claw is, in its 

 full developement, peculiar to the family just 

 named ; and the Lion may be selected as 

 offering, from its great size, the most conve- 

 nient opportunity for its examination. In all 

 the Carnivora the claw is fixed on the extremity 

 of the last phalanx (fig. 196, a, a), the hooked 

 form of this part of the bone being an accurate 

 model of the interior of the claw, and the base 

 of the claw is secured within a thin lamina or 



hood of bone which covers it on the sides and 

 above. In the animal just named this is par- 

 ticularly strong and large. It is considerable 

 also in the Badger, but less so in the Bears, 

 the Dogs, the Hyenas, &c., and in the Civets 

 it is very small. The penultimate phalanx is 

 of a peculiar form. Its transverse section 

 would be triangular, two of the sides being 

 lateral, and the third inferior. On the inner 

 face or side, there is a hollowing or twist of the 

 bone, which leaves an oblique excavation in 

 the middle. It is by the inferior portion of the 

 last phalanx that it is articulated to the penul- 

 timate, and beneath the joint a process of the 

 last phalanx extends downwards, for the at- 

 tachment of the muscles by which the toes are 

 flexed, and consequently the claw protruded. 

 When the claw is retracted or in a state of rest, 

 the last phalanx is brought upwards and thrown 

 completely hack on the inner side of the se- 

 cond phalanx, being partly lodged in the lateral 

 hollow before described. This is the condition 

 of repose, and the last phalanx is held in this 

 situation by the elasticity of the capsular liga- 

 ment, and particularly by two lateral ligaments 

 which arise from the second phalanx. 



The posterior extremity. The pelvis in the 

 Carnivora is shorter than in many other orders, 

 and the ossa ilii particularly are flattened and 

 rather broad. Their internal surface also is not 

 turned forwards as in most other orders, but 

 for the most part directed towards the spine, 

 so that the ventral aspects of these two bones 

 face each other. In most of the seals the ilia are 

 short and small, compared with the other bones 

 of the pelvis. The posterior or descending 

 branch of the ischium, and the anterior portion 

 of the pubis are, in particular, much elongated 

 in this family. 



The femur is strait, cylindrical, and mode- 

 rately long in most of the Carnivora. In the 

 Seals it is, however, extremely short, as may be 

 observed in fig. 191. In this tribe this bone 

 does not assume the direct backward direction 

 of the leg-bones, but stands outwards and 

 downwards, by which a great extent of motion 

 is obtained for the hinder paddles. 



The tibia and fibula* (fig. 196, /, m; 

 fig. 197, , k; fi.g. 198, /, m;) are detached in 

 most of the Carnivora; but in the Dog the 

 fibula is attached to the back part of the tibia. 

 In the Phocidte these bones are long, flattened, 

 directed backwards, and the tibia has a double 

 curvature. The tarsus consists of the same 

 bones in the Carnivora as in Man, (fig. 196, 

 /,gA^,j%-197,e,/,gA/g.l98,/,g,M,; 

 the os calcis has a very long and robust tube- 

 rosity both in the digitigrade (fig' 196, /c) and 

 plantigrade (fig. 197, A) forms. In the former 

 there is also on the inferior surface a small 

 tubercle which is wanting in the others. 



* The figures representing the hinder foot are 

 selected for the purpose of shewing the three prin- 

 cipal types of progression in the Carnivora. Fig. 

 196, that of the Lion, exhibits the digitigrade, 

 Jig. 197, that of the polar bear, the plantigrade ; 

 and fig. 198, that of the seal ( Phoca vitulina), the 

 natatory. 



