Order 3. 



CARNARIA. 



fiS 



rlomestic, iianieJ /'. Tcmminckii : /<". ^/(in(ce/>« approximates the last, but is smaller, with some niai'kiii)C^ <ii 



head, and is remarkable for its complete bony 



orbits.] 



We m.'g-lit place as a separate subgenus [Cy- 

 nailunis, Blainv. ? ] a species which has the head 

 roiiiuler and shorter, and the talons of which are 

 not retractile [a statement which is unwar- 

 ranted by fact], the Chetah, or Hunting Leo- 

 pard (F. Jubata, Schreb.) : size of a Leopard, but 

 longer-bodied, and stands higher ; of a pale 

 fulvous, with tolerably uniform small black spots, 

 a black streak reaching from the eye to the angle 

 of the mouth, and tail annulated at the end. 

 The disposition of this animal is mild and docile. 

 [From Asia and Africa, but apparently not 

 specifically the same on the two continents. 



'lie 



Fig. 36.— The Puma 



The DiGiTiGRADA «f Cuvier, exclii 

 sive of the semi-plantigrade genera which 

 have no ccecum, divide primarily into, 

 first, the Canine group, or the Dogs and 

 Foxes, which is the most distinctly se- 

 parated by anatomical characters ; the 

 remainder are all much more nearly al- 

 lied, but we may venture to detach the 

 Feline animals or Cats : the rest may all 

 be included in the Viverrine section, to 

 which the Hyaenas strictly appertain ; a' 

 varied, but quite natural assemblage, ex- 

 clusively confined in its distribution to the eastern continent, and scarcely extending beyond 

 the tropics ; whereas the former groups are generally diffused, with the exception of Aus- 

 tralia and the remote oceanic islands. Of the Viverrine animals, the most definitely cha- 

 racterized subdivision is that of the Mangoustes and subordinate sections : the Genets scarcely 

 differ from the Cats except in the prolongation of tlie muzzle ; and the Hyrcna group is so 

 nearly related to the Civets that it does not appear to be separable on physiological characters.] 



The Amphibia [Pinnigrada, Blain.] — 



Compose the third and last of the minor tribes into which we divide the Carnivora. Their 

 feet are so short and so enveloped in the skin, that, upon land, they only serve to crawl 

 with* ; but, as the intervals between their toes are occupied by membranes, they form excel- 

 lent oars : hence these animals pass the greater portion of their lives in the water, which they 

 only quit to bask in the sunshine, and to suckle their young. Their lengthened body ; their 

 very moveable spine, provided with muscles which strongly flex it; their narrow pelvis; their 

 short close fur, setting flat upon the skin; all combine to render them able swimmers, and 

 the details of their anatomy confirm these first indications. [As in the Dugong, the Cetacea, and 

 other large aquatic Mammalia, their bones are light and spongy, more particularly in the 

 larger species.] Only two genera have as yet been distinguished, the Seals and the Morses. 



The Seals (Phoca, Lin.) — 

 Have six or four incisors above, four or ouly two below, pointed canines, and finders to the 

 number of twenty, twenty-two, or twenty-four [that is to say, two, in the complete series, posterior 

 to the representative of the carnivorous tooth], all of them trenchant or conical, without any tuber- 

 culous portion : five toes to each foot, the anterior successively shortening from the thumb ; whereas. 



• It is only when clambering that the Seal employs its feet on land- it wriggles along, upon the ground, by the action of the ahdo 

 miiial muscles. — Ed. 



