FeLIDjE.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-Fllid.e. 



109 



FAMILY VI.— FELID^. 



Having in our intiodnctoiy oliservations on the Car- 

 iiivora selected examples of the present family for the 

 purpose of enunciating the leading characteristics of the 

 order — mainly on account of its forming the most tj'pical 

 subdivision of that great mammalian gronp — the obser- 

 vations which we have now to offer must necessarily 

 assume a supplementary character. In the remarks 

 above alluded to, attention was drawn to the general 

 massiveness of all the osseous elements entering into 

 the solid framework of the typical carnivorous skeleton 

 — this adaptation to the destructive habits of the crea- 

 tnre being more particularly conspicuous in the structure 

 of the skull. In the accompanying representation of 

 the cranium of a tiger — fig. 31 — the remarkable short- 

 ening of the facial bones, associated with the powerful 



Fig. 31. 



Skull of the Tiger. 



grasping teeth, and a surprising transverse breadth of 

 the skull below the orbital and temporal fossa;, are 

 remarkably significant. The teeth are thirty in num- 

 ber, and of these we find only four true and ten 

 spurious molars, the ultimate grinder on either side of 

 the upper series being tuberculated. This tooth, how- 

 ever, is particularly small, and widened laterally ; but, 

 with this exception, all the molars are much compressed 

 from side to side, and the crowns being sharp and 

 pointed, the two series, during the action of the jaws, 

 close in upon each other like the blades of a pair of 

 scissors. Their function is therefore essentially cutting, 

 while that of the huge dagger-like canines, assisted by 

 the incisors, consists in tearing and lacerating — the due 

 performance and integrity of these actions being secured 

 liy the strong temporal and nuchal muscles acting 

 upon the occiput and the lower jaw ; and farther, to 

 prevent any lateral motion, such as we find in those 

 animals which grind and triturate their food, the 

 condyles or articulating facets of the last-named bone 

 are firmly lodged in the corresponding transversely- 

 elongated glenoid sockets. Co-ordinating with this 

 prehensile and offensive armature of the jaws, we also 

 find the structural modifications of the feet eminently 

 suggestive. Those of the anterior limbs are pentadac- 

 tylous, while the posterior feet are tetradactylous ; but 

 the peculiarities which principally distinguish them 

 arise out of the beautiful provision made for the pre- 

 servation of their formidable retractile claws. The 

 mechanical contrivances here displayed are perfect. 

 Not only are the actions of fle.xion, extension, pronatiori, 

 and supination amply provided for by the peculiar 



Fig 32. 



manner in which the bones of the fore limb or arm aro 

 articulated together, but the muscles of this member 

 are so prodigiously developed, that, as is well known, 

 a single blow from the sledge-hauuner like paw of a 

 lion or tiger will fracture the skull of a man, and deal 

 death to almost any animal that may happen to come 

 within its ponderous swing. In addition to thi.s, we 

 find the claws ordinai'ily maintained in a state of 

 retraction ; this concealed position is accomplished by 

 the agency of three elastic ligaments or bands, which 

 being severally placed above and on either side of the 

 digit, serve to connect the ultimate phalanx to the 

 penultimate segment of the same toe (fig. 32). All 

 injury to the claw is hereby prevented — a circumstance 

 which, associated with the jires- 

 ence of resilient sole-pada of 

 thickened submucous tissue 

 placed under the ball of the toe, 

 also serves to secure the charac- 

 teristically graceful and noiseless 

 tread of the feline animal. 

 Antagonistic to the elastic biml- 

 ing cords above mentioned, the 

 tendon or string of a large 

 muscle called the flexor profun- 

 dus perforans is inserted below, 

 into the base of the ultimate 

 claw-supporting phalanx. When, 

 therefore, it becomes necessary 

 to display or employ these fearful 

 instruments of destruction, a 

 violent contraction of the muscle 

 in question — which of course 

 involves a drawing back of the 

 tendon, and a consequent thrusting 

 — is the principal agency by which this change is 

 effected. There are likewise other small extensor 

 muscles inserted at the upper part of the digit, serving 

 to steady the movement and regulate the degree of 

 protrusion, according to the will of the animal. But, we 

 have further to remark, that, although these constitute 

 the most prominent features in the several structural 

 changes adapted to the wants and habits of the feline 

 mammalia, there are others equally worthy of being 

 mentioned, such as the strong, horny, recurved papilla of 

 the tongue, formed for rasping the soft flesh from off the 

 bones of their slaughtered victims — the comparatively 

 small salivary glands, showing how little mastication is 

 required — the uninterrupted chain of osseous elements 

 extending from the larynx to the head — the flexibility 

 of the vertebral colunui — the small coecum — the sliort- 

 ness of the intestinal canal, and, more particularly, the 

 simple cj'lindrical stomach, which explains that the 

 food is more readily reduced to the condition required 

 for nutriment, than obtains in the herbivorous quad- 

 rupeds. Do not these, and other peculiarities elsewhere 

 noticed, satisfoctorily demonstrate that the typical 

 carnivor is intended to occupy the field in the economy 

 of creation for which his powers are so befittingly 

 adapted? Surely one would suppose that the legitimacy 

 of such a self-evident conclusion could not be denied I 

 Are we perverting truth to say, that the lion was not 

 formed to eat straw like an ox ? Unfortunately, there 



Lion's Foot dissected. 



■ forward of the claw 



