3;!8 MAMMzMjIA. 



and disgust. We should, however, be just, and not refuse 

 to recognise the services which are rendered by them. The 

 Hyena is, among Quadrupeds, what the Vulture is among Birds. 

 They perform very much the same functions, but much more 

 completely, as they consume even the skeletons of the carcasses 

 on which they feed. . In those cities and villages of Africa in which 

 the care of the public ways is left to chance, the Hyenas are in 

 the habit of removing all the offal which would otherwise 

 decay, the decomposition of which, accelerated by a burning sun, 

 would engender a pestilential miasma, and endanger the public 

 health. Looked at in this point of view, the utility of this 

 animal camiot be disputed. 



Unfortunately, in those localities where Hj'enas most abound, 

 they can seldom find a sufficient quantity of putrefied matter to 

 satisfy their appetites, and thus are frequentlj^ compelled to 

 appropriate living l^rej- Travellers relate that at night they 

 break down the barricades which the inhabitants of Afiican 

 villages erect round their houses, to get at the cattle. In the 

 absence of animal food they can subsist upon roots and vegetables. 



The two best known species of this family are the Striped 

 Hyena (Ili/wna striata) and the Sj)otted Hj-ena (IL/wiia macidata). 



The Striped Hyena (Fig. 134) owes its name to the black 

 lines which run transversely across its yellowish -grey coat. 

 It is about the size of a large Dog, and is a native of Barbary, 

 EgAqjt, Abyssinia, Arabia, Sj'ria, and Persia. 



The Spotted Hyena is to be met with in Barbary, and is also 

 found in Caffraria, and generally throughout the whole of South 

 Africa. This species may be very easily tamed. Some of the 

 African colonists rear it like a Dog, and exact from it similar 

 sei'vices. It is by kind treatment alone its attachment is gained ; 

 ill usage would render it dangerous. 



The Aard Wolf {Frotclcs, Is. Gcof ) — This genus differs so 

 little from the Hj'cnas, that it is quite excusable for the two to 

 be confounded. But, independent of the fact that the former has 

 five toes on the front feet, whilst Hyenas have only four, the genus 

 Proteles must be classed bj" itself on account of its dental system, 

 which presents a type which is entirely exceptional throughout 

 the whole Cai-nivorous Order. This animal has but four pairs 

 of molars ir. each jaw, very -n'ide apart, which are reduced to 



