CARNAUIA. 



97 



domestic, named R Tcmmincldi: F, 7)?(7»/f('/Ji- approximates the last, but is smaller, mth some raarkinj^s on the 



heatl, and is remarkable for its complete bany 



orbits.] 



We m=;;lit place as a separate subg:en\Ts [fv — ~ 



Tiaihtnts, Blainv. ? ] a species which has the hea 1 

 rouiKter and siiorter, and the talons of which ai 

 not retractile [a statement which is unwa 

 ranted by fact], the Chetah, or Hmitini>- Leo 

 ]<o.rd {F.jiibnta, Schreb.) : size of a Leopaid b 

 lonsfer-bodied, and stands higher; of a pa; 

 fulvous, with tolerably uniform small black spotb 

 a black streak reaching- from the eye to the ant,l 

 of the mouth, and tail annulated at the end 

 The disposition of this animal is mild and iDcd 

 [From Asia and Africa, but apparently no 

 specifically the same on the two continents 



The DiGiTiGRADA o'' Cuvier, e\clu 

 sive of the semi-plantigrade genera nhicl 

 have no coecmn, divide primarily into 

 first, the Canine group, or the Dogs and 

 Foxes, which is the most distinctly se 

 paratcd by anatomical characters , the 

 remainder are all much more neail) al 

 lied, but ive may ventui-e to detach the 

 Feline animals or Cats : the rest ma^ all 

 be included in the Viverrine section to 

 wliicli the Hyfcnas strictly appertam , a 

 varied, but quite natm-al assemblage, ex- 

 clusively confined in its distribution to the eastern continent, and scarcely extending beyond 

 the tropics; whereas the former groups are generally diffused, with the exception of Aus- 

 tralia and the remote oceanic islands. Of the Viverrine animals, the most definitely cha- 

 racterized subdivision is that of the Mangoustes and subordinate sections: the Genets scarcely 

 difi'er from the Cats except in the prolongation of the muzzle ; and the Hyicna group is so 

 nearly related to the Civets that it does not appear to be separable on physiological characters.] 



Fig. 35.— Tae Puma 



The Amphibia [Pinnigrada, Blaiu.] — 

 Compose tlie tbird and last of the minor tribes into which we divide the Cabnivora. Their 

 feet are so short and so enveloped in the skin, that, upon laud, they only serve to crawl 

 with* ; but, as the intervals between their toes are occupied by membranes, they form excel- 

 lent oars : hence these animals pass the greater portion of their lives in the water, which they 

 only quit to bask in the sunshine, and to suckle their young. Their lengthened body ; their 

 very moveable spine, provided with muscles which strongly flex it; their narrow pelvis; their 

 short close fur, setting flat upon the skin; all combine to render them able swimmers, and 

 the details of their anatomy confirm these first indications. [As in the Dugong, the Cetacca, and 

 other large aquatic Mammaha, their bones are light and spongy, more particularly in the 

 larger species.] Only two genera have as yet been distinguished, the Seals and the Morses. 



The Seals {Phoca, Lin.) — • 

 Have six or four incisors above, four or only two below, pointed canines, and grinders to the 

 number of twenty, twenty-two, or twenty-four [that is to say, two, in the complete series, posterior 

 to the representative of the carnivorous tooth], all of them trenchant or conical, without any tuber- 

 culous portion: five toes to each foot, the anterior successively shortening from the thumb ; whereas, 



• n i-^ ""\^ when clambering tiiat tlie Seal employs its feet on land : it -m-itrgles along, upon the ground, by the action of the abdt>. 

 Siiual muselea.— Ed. 



