CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 



153 



SKULL OF A BEAR. 



acute, especially in the most decidedly carnivorous species, where they are so long that there 

 is usually a gap between the incisors and canines in the upper jaw, for the reception of the 

 lower canine. Behind the canines, each jaw bears several false molars, the foremost of which 

 are usually conical, and inserted by a simple root. The hinder ones gradually approach the form 

 of the true molar, which is more or less com- 

 pressed, sharp, and notched at the edge : this 

 is commonly known as the flesh-tooth. Be- 

 hind it there are often one or two tuberculous 

 molars. 



In the cats and the most blood-thirsty spe- 

 cies in general, the false molars are compressed 

 and sharp, and the total number of molars is 

 often reduced to three, which are all inserted 

 by two or more roots, much compressed, and 

 furnished with very sharp jagged edges, fitting 

 against one another like the blades of a pair 



of scissors — an arrangement admirably adapted for cutting through the juicy fibers of the flesh 

 of their victims. In proportion as the animals are intended for a mixed diet, the molar teeth 

 become broader, and more tuberculate in their appearance ; this may be seen in the common 

 dog, which is thus enabled to eat grass. To give effect to these sharp, cutting teeth, the lower 

 jaw in the typical Carnivora is articulated to 

 the skull by a regular hinge joint, and the 

 transverse position of the condyle is distinctly 

 perceptible even in the less rapacious species, 

 although to a certain extent modified. The 

 ascending ramus of the lower jaw, which gives 

 attachment to the muscles by which the jaws 

 are closed, is always very large, especially in 

 the typical species. 



The skull and face are short and compact; 

 the former is usually marked with very strong 

 ridges, for the attachment of the muscles of 

 the lower jaw, and the zygomatic arches are 

 very wide to allow of their passage. The or- 

 bits are incomplete. The brain and organs of sense are always well developed ; the nose espe- 

 cially, in many species, exhibits a greater degree of perfection than in any other animal. The 

 eyes are usually large and full, and the pupils possess a great power of contraction and dilatation 

 to adapt the creatures for their general nocturnal mode of existence. Nearly all the species 

 possess a distinct external ear. The mouth is sur- 

 rounded with soft lips, from which long whiskers 

 project on each side ; these are supplied with 

 nerves, and evidently constitute delicate tactile or- 

 gans. The tongue is always long, thin, and free, 

 and the animals drink by the well-known process 

 of lapping. The mamma?, which are always placed 

 on the belly, are usually numerous, and many of the 

 animals are very prolific. The young are usually 

 born blind. 



The form of the body, the development of the tail, the length of the legs., and the structure of 



' the feet, vary greatly in the different families of this order. The toes are distinctly divided, and 



armed with claws ; they are usually five in number on the anterior, and four on the posterior 



feet, and none of them are ever opposable. The principal peculiarities in the construction of the 



feet have reference to the mode in which they are applied to the ground, and as this is in direct 



Vol. I. — 20 



SKULL OF A WOLF. 



SKULL OF A CIVET. 



