felidjE oe cats. 465 



Mountain and moorland foxes lie out curled up in the heather 

 and make no earth. The fox breeds in winter, the period of 

 gestation lasting two months. They litter at the end of March 

 and in April. Only one litter is produced in the year ; from 

 three to six cubs are generally brought forth. Like puppies, 

 the cubs are blind for from nine to ten days ; they mature in 

 a year and a half, and may live for fourteen years. Foxes are 

 supposed to do much damage by destroying game, poultry, 

 hares, &c. ; at the same time we must remember that they 

 destroy numbers of voles, rabbits, and many of the larger 

 noxious insect - grubs. The fox does quite as much good as 

 harm, if not more, and thus should be preserved, even if 

 we do not choose to consider its great sporting value. We 

 may suffer severely, of course, if one foolishly leaves fowls 

 without protection. 



With regard to the dog, we do not know its origin. All 

 existing wild dogs, such as the Australian Dingo (C dingo) and 

 the wild New Zealand dog, are sometimes supposed to be 

 varieties of the so-called Canis familiaris. The dog, then, is 

 only known in its domestic state. There is some probability 

 that the Wolf (C. lupus), may have been the ancestor of some 

 of our breeds. 



FelidjE OB Cats. 



The cat family all have short jaws and very strong masti- 

 catory muscles, hence the head is short and rounded. The 

 molar and premolar teeth are fewer in number than in any 

 other Carnivora; they are all cutting teeth except the last 

 molar of the upper jaw, which is tuberculate. The upper 

 carnassial has three cutting lobes, the lower only two. The 

 dental formula for the Cat family is the following : — 



3_3 1—1 3—3 1—1 



The tongue is roughened owing to a number of backwardly 



2g 



