10 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Both the Old and New World are well stocked with Cats. Everywhere they are the corre- 

 lates, geographically speaking, of the beautiful forms of the Herbivora, and are their natural check- 

 mates in the earth-peopling process. Their terrible office is to cull out the surplus number 

 of Goats, Antelopes, Deer, Oxen, and Sheep; they also are not good neighbours to the Monkey 

 tribes, nor to Rats, Cavies, Hares, Squirrels, and other gnawing animals. The smaller Cats also 

 add feathered game to their diet Everywhere they are the terror of woodland and of field, of plain 

 and of forest. All are of the kindred of the Lion, and, like him, all "go about, seeking whom they 

 may devour." 



Man has half tamed one of the smallest we say Mlf tamed, for does not the demon that 

 possesses all Cats still only slumber in the heart of the tamest domestic variety ? As for the Hunting 

 Leopard, he is deceived in the services he renders, and, in his own mind, is hunting for himself, and 

 not for his master. 



It is only necessary to mention the animals belonging to this noble family of "gentlemen 

 caterers " to assure oneself that ia it are contained the best known, the most skilled, the most perfectly 

 armed of all the Carnivorous order. "We have the Wild Cats existing under many forms nearly all 

 over the world, the Lion the great tyrant of Africa, the Tiger the despot of India, the Puma and 

 Jaguar taking their place in America, the Leopard helping the work of the Lion and Tiger in Africa 

 and Asia, the Lynxes found in both Old and New Worlds, and the Cheetah, or Hunting Leopard of 

 Asia and Africa. To these need only be added the Wolf, Hyaena, and Bear, to exhaust the list of 

 " beasts of prey " in the ordinary acceptation of the term, that is, of beasts which are dangerous to 

 man, for we " lords of creation " are not sufficiently generous to include under the term beasts of 

 equal cruelty which prey on the lower animals. 



By most naturalists all these animals are grouped together under the single genus Felis, which 

 is thus said to include a great number of species, as Felis leo (the Lion), Felis tigris (the Tiger), 

 Felis catus (the wild Cat), &c. It is very usual to separate from the rest the Hunting 

 Leopard, and make it constitute by itself a distinct genus, Cyncelurus, or Gueparda, distinguished 

 from its cousins by its great length of leg, and a slight difference in the form of its teeth. Some 

 naturalists separate, in addition, the Lynxes, making of them the genus Lyncus, and others, again, 

 prefer to make separate genera of all the chief kinds, calling the Lion Leo nobilis, the Tiger Tigris 

 regalis, and so forth. This separation or union is, however, a mere conventional matter, and we prefer 

 to consider all Felidce as belonging to the one genus Felis, as the simplest and most comprehensible 

 plan. 



The Felidce are found over almost the whole world, being absent only in Australia, New Zealand, 

 the south-eastern part of the Malay Archipelago, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, and the 

 Antilles. In all other parts of the world Cats using the word in a wide sense are found, and, 

 wherever they are found they are feared, for such a compact assemblage of bloodthirsty tyrants and 

 ruthless destroyers has no parallel in the whole animal kingdom. 



Remains of fossil Felidaa have been found as far back as the Miocene or even the Eocene epoch, in 

 the South of England, and Central and South Europe, in North-west India, in Nebraska, in North 

 America, and in the caves of Brazil. Of these the best known is the great cave Lion or Tiger, the 

 Felis spelcea. 



Every part of these animals is so altered and specialised from the usual type of Mammalian 

 structure as to assist in the best possible way the capturing, killing, and devouring of living prey. 

 Looking merely at the outside, we are struck with the lithe, agile form, the small head, the total 

 absence of anything like a " pot-belly," the well-proportioned limbs, the usually close fur, the stealthy, 

 silent movements, and the eager, restless glance : all characters suited to an animal to which powers of 

 quiet rapid movement through jungle or long grass, of quick observation, and of great strength and 

 agility, are of the utmost importance. 



In the skeleton there are two points of importance, as relating both to the habits of the Cat tribe 

 and to the determining of their systematic position in zoology. These are the character of the skull, 



the structure and arrangement of the bones of the toes. Both these points furnish characters by 



;h the Cats may be separated from all other families. To these two points, therefore, we will 

 proceed at once, as, without going into lesser details, there is nothing of special importance in the 



