94 



MA:\J}.rALIA. 



We know but of nnt^ (Cr. ohf:c]iriis;, F. Ciiv.), from Sierra i.O'OiiP : size of a Purikato. [Otlior Maii2:oastes are 

 inrludod \i\ rpo'iit systnnatists ; and it may lii_- remarked that Imtli tin;:; and the preceding- subdivision arc rnerc-ly 

 slig-Id. niudifieatiuns of Ucrpcslcs, and ha\"c sijiiilar perfect orbdn.] 



^Ve shall here mention a singular aiiiraal from South Africa, Mliich is knoT\n only when young, and 



Avliich has five toes before, four behind, and the head a little elongated as in the Civets, tlie legs raised, 

 tliose behind rather shorter, and a mane as in the Uyrcna ; andwiiich also resembles the Stripcfl IIy;cna 

 very remarkably in its coluuriiig. Its anterior thumb is slmrt, ami placed high np. Tlie Profcles 



Lalaadi, Is. rieof.; an inhabitant \\i caverns. 



The individuals examined, which were all 

 young, possessed but three small false molars, 

 and one small tuberculous back molar. It 

 seems as tboug^h their teeth had never come to 

 perfection, as often happens in the Genets. 

 (See my Osscmens fossHes, iv. 38S.) [The per- 

 manent canines are of tolerable size, but the 

 simple form of the molars, all very small, and 

 sepai'ated by inten'als, pi'esents an anonialy 

 auKJUf^ the Cunnvora, which is even more re- 

 markable on account of the affinity of this spe- 

 cies to the Hya;nas. It is destructive to very 

 younp; lambs, and is stated to attack the mas- 

 5i\e fatty protuberance on the tails of the 

 African Sbc'i..] 



The last subdivision of the I>i[^itigrades Las no suial! teeth >vhatever behind the larire nndar 

 of the lower jaw. It contains the most sanguinary and carnivorous of the class. There are 

 two genera. 



TiiE Ilv.ENAS (JIi/tT'iia, Storr) — 

 Have three false molars above and four below, all conical, hUnit, and singularly large : their upper car- 

 nivorous tooth lias a small tubercle within and in front ; hut the lower one has none, presenting onlv 

 two stout cutting points. This powerful armature enables them to crush the hones of the largest prey. 

 Their tongue is rough [exhibiting a circular collection of retroflectcd spines] ; all their feet have each but 

 four toes, as in the Surikate ; and under the anus is a deep and glandular pouch, wdiieh led the ancients 

 to bcheve that tliese animals were hermaphrodite. The muscles of their neck, and of the jaws, are so 

 robust, that it is almost impossible to take from them anything tliey may have seized ; wheiice, among 

 the Arabs, their name is the symbol of obstinacy. It sometimes happens that their cervical vertebras 

 become anehyloied in consequence of the^e violent elforls ; and thus has arisen the opinimi that the 

 animals of this genuLs have only one bone in their neck. They are noetunial animals, and inhaliit 

 caverns ; voracious, subsisting chietly on dead bodies, "which they will even di:)inter from the grave, a 

 habit that has given rise to a niuhitmh' of superstitious traditions. 



Three species are known. The striprd II y;rna i //. nilijarix. Cunts hji.rnn^ Lin.), found from Incha to Abyssinia 

 and Sene;:;ah The spotted H. (//. croviiln, Sehreb., C. cmcuf't, Lin.,) from South Africa ; and the >\ oolly H\a;iia, 

 {Jf. briianea, Thiinb., //. villosa, Smith), also from South Africa. Remains of a fossil species (7/. spchca) are 

 fiiund in many cavern deposits of France, Gemiany, and Englaiul. [Hyaenas are easily tamed, if allowed tlieir 

 liberty, and are susceptible of strong attachment to those who use them kindly : many are employed in the capacity 

 ot' watch-dogs both in Asia and Africa. They are physiologically nearly related to the Civets, and not to the 

 I)u,i;-.s*; and the loss of the posterior tuberculous molar appears to be a consciiuence of the great hicrease in size 

 of tlie carnivorous grinders : notwithstanding wdiich tliese animals feed much un bulbs.] 



Thk Cats [Fells, Lin.) — 

 Arc, of all the Carnny'ia, the iiio^t completely and jjowerfuUy armed. Their short and i-oumled mir/.zle 

 sliort jaws, and especially their retrucl ile tahms, which, ln-ing raised upward when at rest, ;ind clo^iii'^ 

 wiihin tin; toes, by the. action of clasiic ligaments, lose neither point nor edge, render tliem most for- 

 midable aiumals, more |iartieulariy the hu'ger species. They have two fahc molars abo\e, and two 



ir^niin, iiiid coil: 



