106 MESSRS. WATSON AND YOUNG ON THE [Jail. ]4, 



to differ in several important particulars from that of the Viverridse, 

 as well of the true Felidse. The enormous development of the 

 muscles of the neck and fore quarters, together with minor points 

 already referred to, serve at once to associate H. crocuta with the 

 other species of the same genus, and to separate it from the remain- 

 ing groups of the ^Eluroidea. Unfortunately, so far as we can 

 ascertain, the myology of Proteles has not yet been worked out ; but 

 if we may base any conclusion regarding its muscular system upon 

 the external configuration of the animal, that system will not differ 

 materially from what we find in Hijcena. 



A good description of the brain of other species of Hyana is still 

 a desideratum. With the exception of Prof. Flower's observation that 

 the brain of Proteles resembles that of a Hysena (species unknown) 

 in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, we possess no 

 reliable information regarding the arrangement of the cerebral convo- 

 lutions in the latter genus. So far as the information derived from 

 a comparison of the brain of H. crocuta with that oi Proteles goes, it 

 shows that these two species are closely allied to one another, and that, 

 as pointed out by Prof. Flower in Proteles, so also in H. crocuta, the 

 brain occupies an intermediate position between that of the true Cats, 

 in which the convolutions are slightly more complex, and that of the 

 Viverrids, in which they are slightly less so. The vascular system of 

 the Spotted Hyaena does not present any rem.arkable deviation from 

 that of the Carnivora in general, except the mode of origin of the iliac 

 arteries. In respect of the relative lengths of the small and large 

 intestines, this species seems to deviate from the true Cats, in which, 

 according to Meckel, these stand in the relation of 5 to 1, and 

 to approach the Viverrids, in which the small is to the large intes- 

 tine as 12 or 15 to 1, more than do the other species of the genus. 

 The measurement of the comparative lengths of the small and large 

 intestines, correlatives as these are of well-defined physiological 

 processes, appears to us to be more important in determining the 

 affinities of closely allied species than that of the relative length of 

 the intestine and body of the animal, the latter varying much in 

 accordance with the habits and mode of life, whilst the food may 

 remain the same. 



The hysenoid form of larynx is well marked in H. crocuta, and 

 serves to distinguish it, together with its congeners, from the other 

 groups of the Carnivora. So far the structure of H. crocuta agrees 

 closely with what we find in other species of the genus. But when 

 we come to the consideration of the reproductive organs we meet 

 with an element of classification which, diverging as these organs do 

 so strikingly from the Carnivorous and even Mammalian type, would, 

 taken per se, justify us in establishing a separate genus for the recep- 

 tion of //. crocuta. The unnecessary multiplication of genera ap- 

 pears to us, however, to be open to objection, as tending to defeat 

 the chief object of classification ; and therefore, in view of the close 

 resemblance which otherwise exists between H. crocuta and other 

 species of the genus, we think it advisable to retain for it the old 

 generic title. And while we thus express ourselves, it may not be out 



