THE FLESH-EATERS 



(CARNIVORA) 



Mammals with zonary placenta, free clawed toes, well-developed canines, and more or less cutting mola 





Numerous variations on a simple and 

 strictly limited theme! The Carnivora form 

 in fact one of the best defined orders in the 

 class of the Mammalia. The internal orran- 

 ization, taken as a whole, is the same in all, 

 while the bodily form, the dentition, the fur, 

 the structure of the limbs are subject indeed 

 to considerable variations, but the deviations 

 from a common type under all these heads 

 are neither so wide nor so numerous as those 

 we have met with amono^ the Insectivora. 

 In spite of all the variety there prevails 

 within this order a certain harmony, in so far 

 as very eccentric forms do not occur at all. 

 A tabular statement relating to the order, 

 drawn up on the model of police returns, 

 would contain under almost all the headings 

 the word "Average." 



Among the Carnivora we meet with all 

 gradations, from the powerful and even 

 clumsy types to the rather slender small 

 forms ; but we find neither giants nor dwarfs 

 as in other orders. From the lion to the 

 weasel there is certainly abundant room for 

 a variety of forms. 



The head, which is always well marked off 

 from the neck, is mostly roundish, but fre- 

 quently also drawn out into a rather long 

 muzzle. Its middle part is usually pretty 

 broad in consequence of the considerable 

 development of the muscles ot mastication. 



which set the formidable jaws in motion. In 

 p-eneral the head in those forms which live 



o 



solely on animal food may be rounder, the 

 muzzle broader, while in those o-enera which 

 add to their diet a little vegetable food, the 

 head is apt to become narrower and the 

 muzzle more pointed. The ears are always 

 sharp and mobile; the eyes pretty large, and, 

 though situated at the side of the head, 

 directed forwards, their pupils sometimes 

 roundish, sometimes in the form of vertical 

 slits. The frequently pointed or at least 

 elongated muzzle never forms a proboscis, 

 such as occurs so often among the Insectivora. 

 The opening of the jaws is wide and is sur- 

 rounded by fleshy lips, on which there are 

 often set very long tactile hairs. 



The body is sometimes compact or even 

 thickset, sometimes rather long; the limbs 

 in general of medium length, and though 

 somewhat shortened in those species which 

 creep or swim, never very short or very long, 

 and in any case always fleshy down to the 

 ankle-bones. There is never any remarkable 

 disproportion between the fore- and hind- 

 limbs, as in all jumping animals. The upper 

 parts of the limbs are not free from the trunk 

 as in the monkeys and the bats. There is 

 always a tail, but this organ is developed in 

 very variable proportions. 



The structure of the whole body, and 



17 



