Canid.k.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-Canid.k. 



103 



and, catching him hy the tail, drove my hunting-knife 

 deep into his side. But I had to repeat the operation 

 more than once before I could put an end to his exist- 

 ence. I am at a loss how to account for his mangled 

 condition. It certainly could not have been from age, 

 for hi teeth were good. Could it be possible that from 

 want of food he had become too weak for further exer- 

 tions, and that as a last resource he had attacked his 

 owu body ? Or was he an example of that extraordi- 

 narj' species of cruelty said to be practised by the lion 

 on the hy?ena, when the latter has the insolence to 

 interfere with the monarch's prey ?" We are inclined 

 to believe neither of these ingenious views are correct, 

 but that the poor beast had gnawed its limbs on account 

 of some local disease. We noticed, a few years ago, 

 an unfortunate hypena in the Dublin Zoological Gar- 

 dens, which, from some local irritation at the part, had, 

 by constant biting and sucking, so reduced its caudal 

 appendage, that scarcely any trace of the tail remained. 

 \Ve suggested to Dr. Ball that it should be destroyed, 

 but that distinguished naturalist did not seem inclined 

 to adopt Mr. Andersson's judicious method of consol- 

 ing the afflicted ; expressing his belief that the animal 

 would get better I 



THE WOOLLY HT.ENA {Hi/ana villosa). — This 

 species was first described by Dr. Andrew Smith in 

 the 15th volume of the Linnoean Society's Transac- 

 tions. It is called the " Strand-wolf" by the Cape 

 colonists, and, when young, bears a very close resem- 

 blance to the striped hyeena, from which circumstance 

 some have stated that the latter is also found in South 

 Africa. This is not the case, unless, indeed, the per- 

 suasion that the Woolly hysena is nothing more than a 

 well-marked variety of the species under consideration, 

 should gain universal acceptance. The distinguished 

 author of the '■ Catalogue of Mammalia," preserved in 

 the British Museum, entertains this view. In the 

 meantime we may observe, that a fourth kind has been 

 described — the Brown hya?na {Hymna rufa) — which is 

 also a South African species. The fur of the Woolly 

 hyaena is long and coarse, but it does not form an 

 erectile mane along the central line of the back. The 

 body has a greyish-brown colour, with indistinct mark- 

 ings of a darker hue, transversely arranged on the sides 

 and hips, and other more conspicuous ones on the legs. 

 The tail has a deep-brown tinge, and is longer than in 

 the ordinary striped hyoena. The head is lined with 

 dark patches beneath the eyes, on the chin, and at the 

 point of junction of the cheeks and neck. The ears 

 are comparatively large, straight, and pointed. Its 

 habits are similar to those of other hysenas, but it fre- 

 quently resorts to the sea-coast, where it greedily 

 devours carcases of whales, and the semiputrid remains 

 of any other animals which by chance may have been 

 washed ashore. It is not so common a species as the 

 spotted hyjena. 



Family V.— CANID.E. 



The Dogs form a small natural group, although the 

 individual members of the family are extremely nume- 

 rous, owing to the circumstance that a solitary species 

 has given oriirin to a multitude of well-marked and more 



or less permanent varieties, forming a series of domesti- 

 cated races. Besides the ordinary complement of twelve 

 incisive and four canine teeth, the dogs are usually 

 furnished with twenty-six molars, but in some instances 

 as many as thirty-two have been present. Ordinarily, 

 there are six molars on either side above, and seven cor- 

 respondingly opposed below. Of these, the last pair on 

 either side, above and beneath, are generally tubercu- 

 lated ; sometimes the latter three of each series are thus 

 characterized. The tongue is soft, and not armed with 

 horny papilla-. The feet are digitigrade, and furrjished 

 with five toes in front, but the hind limbs are, in most 

 cases, only tetradactylous. Dogs have no anal glan- 

 dular pouch. The ccecum is well developed, and of a 

 spiral form. These animals are found in all parts of the 

 habitable globe. Fossil remains of dogs and wolves 

 have been found in the bone-caverns of Liege, and also 

 in England, at Overton near Plymoutli, and at Pavi- 

 land in Glamorganshire. A careful examination of 

 these fossils has led Professor Owen to advocate the 

 view, that all the varieties of dogs are specifically iden- 

 tical with the common Wolf. 



THE MAEBLED LYCAON {Lycaon venatica).—'V\m 

 is the wild dog or Wilde Hond of the Cape colonists. 

 In external appearance it very closely resembles a 

 hya?na, and it was originallj' described by Burchell as 

 a member of that genus, under the title of Hyaena incht. 

 It is, however, a nearer approach to the true dogs. 

 This is more especially seen in the character of the 

 dentition, and in the structure of the skeleton. Its 

 height at the shoulder is rather under two feet from the 

 ground, but it looks somewhat taller at first sight on 

 account of its slight, gaunt figure. The limbs are long 

 and narrow, all of them terminating in tetradactylous 

 feet. The fur has a yellowish-brown colour, and is 

 irregularly marbled with black and variegated spots of an 

 exceedingly irregular shape. The head is like that of 

 a hvfena ; the muzzle is pointed, and of a black colour. 

 The ears are remarkably large. The tail is moderately 

 long, bushy like that of a fox, and divided near the 

 middle by a black ring, above which the colour is sandy, 

 and white below. According to Mr. Burchell, from 

 whose description these characters are partly derived, 

 the Lycaon hunts in large organized packs, by prefer- 

 ence at night, but occasionally also by day. It appears 

 to be a bolder animal than the hyaena, very swift of 

 foot, attacking sheep openly, but employing more cau- 

 tion in the case of horses and large cattle. 



THE LALANDE (Otocyon Lalandii). — This animal 

 is rather smaller than an ordinary fox, and is also an 

 iidiabitant of Southern Africa. The fur is greyish. The 

 tail is moderately long, bushy, black at the upper part, 

 and also at the extremitj'. The body stands compara- 

 tively high, the limbs being lengthy and slender. The 

 head is furnished with remarkably large, long, and 

 straight ears. The teeth are forty-eight in number, 

 there being no less than thirty-two molars. One of the 

 most distinctive peculiarities of the Lalande has refer- 

 ence to the character of these molar teeth, fifteen of 

 which are tuberculated — all the true grinders, in short, 

 four of them belonging to each lateral division above, 

 and three correspondingly opposed in each series below. 

 The food of the Lalande is principally frugivorous. 



