374 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



before he wrote his observations in the Encyclopedie Melho- 

 dique, but as he there renounces his assertions made in the 

 Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Hist. Nat., that the nails were re- 

 tractile, which assertions were merely hypothetical, grounded 

 on the facility evinced by the animal in ascending the Palm- 

 tree, it seems probable that he had. 



The authority of M. Geoffroy is of such weight, that it 

 may be proper to allude to the points of difference between 

 this animal and the Galago, in all of which it approaches 

 the Caninae. The Galagos, then, have the hind extremities 

 much longer than those before. The Fennec and the Dogs 

 have not. The Galagos have four fingers and a thumb like 

 that of Monkeys, perfectly opposable to the fingers. The 

 Fennec and the Dogs are tetradactylous, with the mere rudi- 

 ment of a thumb on the fore feet. The Fennec and the 

 Dogs, as well as the Felinae, have a slit or fold on the lower 

 part of the external edge of the ear, which the Galogos have 

 not. The extraordinary development of the external ear in 

 the Fennec is analogous in kind, but not in degree to what 

 is met with among the Dogs, particularly some newly dis- 

 covered species or varieties of the Vulpine division ; whereas, 

 in the Galogos, the ears never exceed the length of the 

 head. The strong whiskers found on the upper lip of the 

 Fennec and the Dogs are not observable in the Galagos, 

 and lastly, the tail is shorter and more villose or foxy in 

 the Fennec than in the Galagos. 



We have already said that this singular animal seems to 

 terminate the canine series. It is true that some of its 

 most important generic characters are still in doubt : for 

 instance, it has six incisors and two canines in each jaw, 

 and six cheek teeth in the upper jaw, but the number of 

 those in the lower jaw, and the character of them in both, 

 have not been described. The character of its tongue, 

 whether rough or smooth, and the certain presence or 

 absence of anal folliculi remain also to be stated. Subject 



