CAllNARIA. 



domestic, named F. Temminckii: F. joteniceps approximates the last, but is smaller, >vith .some iiiaiUiiii;.s on the 

 head, and is remarkable for its complete bony 



orbits.] __ _^-s=£^=:,^ ^ -s:__- 



We m'g-ht place as a separate subgenus [Cw i,~~^"="— ;;;="* z 



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

 rouiuler and shorter, and the talons of which an 

 not retractile [a statement which is unwar 

 ranted by fact], the Chetah, or Hunting Leo 

 pard (F.jubata, Schreh.) : size of a Leopard, but 

 loniier-bodied, and stands higher; of a pali 

 fiilvous, with tolerably uniform small black spots, 

 a black streak reaching from the eye to the angU 

 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. 



The DiGiTiGRADA o^" Cuvier, exclu- 

 sive of the semi-plantigrade genera which 

 have no coecum, 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 ma}- all 

 be included in the Viverrine section, to 

 vihich the H3'<enas 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- 

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

 racterized subcUvision is that of the Mangoustes and sid)ordinate sections : the Genets scarcely 

 differ from the Cats except in the prolongation of the muzzle ; and the Hytcna 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 Seiils and the Morsis. 



The Seals {Phoca, Lin.) — 

 Have six or four incisors aJiove, four or only two below, pointed canines, and grinders 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 clHnibcrin({ that tlie Seal emploj-s its feet on laud ; it wriggles along, upon the ground, by the action of the ahiis- 



