THE DIGITIGRADE CARX1VORA. 313 



is deficient in the peculiarly graceful form, both of head and body, 

 which characterizes the latter. His tail is entirely that of a rat ; 

 and his limbs, although more elongated than in any other species of 

 that group, seem to be better fitted for strong muscular exertion than 

 for active and long-continued speed." His anatomical structure and 

 general habits are those of the Felidse, but the fur is crisper. The 

 general ground-colour is a bright yellowish-brown above, lighter on the 

 sides, and nearly white beneath. On the back, sides, and limbs he is 

 marked with numerous black spots, which on the tail are so closely 

 set together that they appear like rings. The cheetah is easily 

 tamed, and trained to the chase ; for which purpose, like our stag- 

 hounds, he is bred and employed in Persia and India. 



The other families of digitigrade Carnivora, Dogs, Hyaenas, 

 Viverras (Viverra, Civet), Mustelidse (Mustela, "Weasel), are largely 

 represented in the prairies and jungles of the tropical regions of the 

 Old World. Wild dogs, with straight ears, a pendant tail, scanty 

 bristling hair, thin flanks, wander in numerous troops over the plains 

 of Southern Africa, living, like the wolf or the hyaena, by hunting 

 the small quadrupeds and devouring the remains of carcasses aban- 

 doned by the greater Carnivora. The jackals, and even the hysenas, 

 range far beyond the limits of the Desert. At the Cape exists a 

 larger and more ferocious species of hysena than that of the Sahara, 

 from which it differs externally, its skin being marked with spots 

 instead of stripes. Moreover, the disproportion in the height of the 

 fore and hind legs is more marked in this animal than in his North 

 African congener. 



At the Cape, also, and in a great part of South Africa, we find 

 another species, the Hycena villosa, or "Sea-Shore Wolf;" distin- 

 guished from the preceding by having stripes on the legs, while the 

 rest of the body is of a dark grayish-brown. Allied to the Hysenas 

 is the Proteles, or " Aard-Wolf " (Proteles Lalandii), an animal nearly 

 as large as a jackal, inhabiting the southern parts of the African 

 Continent. He has the teeth and pointed head of the civits ; the 



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