8 TEE ROYAL TIGES OF BENGAL. 



day. It is not only in the jaws that the muscular 

 development is so remarkable, but also in the neck, 

 shoulder, and forearm. The whole muscular system 

 is, indeed, highly developed, but it is especially so in 

 the above-mentioned sites as contrasted with that of 

 the hinder extremities. The tiger can not only 

 strike down a cow or even a buffalo with his fore- 

 arm and paw, and hold it with the long fangs which 

 his powerful jaws enable him to imbed in the flesh 

 of his struggling victim, but can also raise it from 

 the ground through the action of the powerful 

 muscles of the neck, which take their origin from the 

 vertebral spines, and can either carry or drag it off 

 to his lair, where he devours it at leisure. 



Those who have seen the tiger when stripped 

 of his skin, can hardly fail to have been struck 

 with the grotesque resemblance to a gigantic human 

 form which is presented by his sinewy and muscular 

 frame as the arms are stretched out on either side. 

 The vast shoulder, arm, forearm, wrist, and hand 

 have a wonderfully anthropoid appearance. 



It is sufficient to say that these muscles are 

 modifications of those in the human or other mam- 

 malian limbs, and that they attain the excessive 

 development in obedience to the necessities of the 

 creature's existence. 



The distal phalanges and their claws are remark- 

 able, and may be briefly mentioned. There are five 

 in each fore, and four in each hind foot. The 

 mechanism by which they are made retractile is 



