422 



QUADRUPEDS. 







FIG. 466. HYJENA. 



but capable of free, rapid, and energetic movements. The toes are provided 

 with strongly curved and sharp claws, which are kept from being blunted by 

 a very curious contrivance. Their skull is short and rounded, and beset ex- 

 ternally with long ridges, for the attachment of powerful muscles ; their jaws, 

 which are short and of great strength, are furnished with teeth few in num- 

 ber, but of the most trenchant and formidable character, and move upon each 

 other with a vertical cutting action. Their tongue is covered with numerous 

 horny spines, set in close array, and directed backwards, so as to form a kind 

 of rasp, with which the animal scrapes the flesh on which it is feeding from 

 the bones. 



The mechanism whereby the points of the claws are kept from injury is ex- 

 tremely beautiful. Every one who has handled the velvet paws of a cat is 

 aware that, in its ordinary condition, the claws are quite concealed, but that, 

 at the will of the animal, they are forcibly thrown forwards. This is accom- 

 plished in the following manner: The last joint of each toe, the end of which 

 is encased by the claw, is, when at rest, drawn back, either upon or at the 

 side of the preceding joint, by the force of two elastic bands, as represented 

 in the accompanying figure (Fig. 467 b) ; from this position, however, it is 

 plucked in an instant by the tendon which bends the toe, and which is attached 

 to the base of the claws (Fig. 467 <:), so that it is protruded ready for action 

 (Fig. 467 a) ; when the contraction ceases, the claw again springs back to its 

 place, and lies concealed beneath the hair at the back of the foot. The silent 

 tread of the cats is partly owing to this structure, and partly to the elastic pads 

 with which the foot is provided : these likewise serve to break the shocks to 

 which their violent leaps would otherwise expose them. 



The cats do not hunt or pursue their prey, but lie in wait at the spots to 

 which their victims are known to resort, hidden in some covert, whence they 



