156 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



characters in common, which link them as it were 

 together, and which, being well marked, are easily 

 recognisable. 



The characters which serve at once to distinguish 

 the Felida; are the looseness of the skin (purposely 

 so designed), the flexibility and strength of the 

 spine, the small head, capable of being turned 

 rapidly in any direction in search of prey, and the 

 wonderful arrangement of levers exhibited in the 

 limbs, affording the greatest amount of strength 

 combined with elasticity. 



In the skeleton of the Felidse there are two 

 points of importance which indicate their zoological 

 position, and are correlated with their natural 

 habits — namely, (i) the character of the skull, and 

 (2) the structure and arrangement of the bones of 

 the toes. 



I. The skull is remarkable for the well- 

 developed bony ridges which serve for the attach- 

 ment of the great jaw muscles, the immense size of 

 which causes a corresponding increase in the 

 width of the zygomatic arches. As in all Carnivora, 

 the /acta/ portion of the skull is short in relation to 

 the crania/ portion, the reverse being the case, e.£-., 

 with the Herbivora. This is correlated with the 

 different mode of feeding in these two different 

 orders of mammals, the flesh-eating animals re- 

 quiring sharp cutting teeth, the herbivorous ones 

 flat grinders. Hence, in connection with this, we 

 find the form of the condyle, or bony projection of 

 the lower jaw, so modified in the Carnivora as to 

 admit of little or no lateral movement as in the 



