1847.] . On the Cat-toed Subplantigrades. 1123 



the talons of all are equally reversile over the penultimate phalanges, 

 and equally retained there, except when required, by the strong tensor 

 tendons, the difference of the digits consisting in this only, that those 

 of the Martens are not at all sheathed, those of the Paradoxures and 

 Wans are but half sheathed, or little more than half, and those of the 

 Cats, completely so. This is a difference which but for the terrific 

 energy of the Feline paw one should be disposed to underrate, and I 

 confess that after the most careful examination of the organs I am 

 inclined to attribute the superior force of the Feline arm's stroke to 

 the momentum and velocity inseparable from the digitigrade structure 

 rather than to any difference in the organization of the digits and 

 talons, points in which it appears to me that the Ailuri, Paradoxuri 

 and Martens* are all upon a par with the Cats, or nearly so. I am 

 aware that this is a statement at variance with the law of correlation 

 and dependance of parts in structure. ' Show me,' exclaims our great 

 master Cuvier, with the noble confidence of genius, f show me a nail 

 and I will show you the whole structure of the animal which bore it.' 

 And I shall be probably told with a sneer that the Cats and Weasels 

 are the most exclusive of blood spillers, whilst the Paradoxures are main- 

 ly, and the Ailures (according to my own account) exclusively, vegeta- 

 livorous. I can only say in reply that I endeavour faithfully to report 

 what I have carefully examined ; that he who affixed the Feline paw 

 to the Ursine arm of Ailurus apparently delights to accomplish the 

 same ends by very varied means ; that there are many things in his 

 systema naturse which our's yet halts behind the comprehension of ;f 

 and that, for example, in our systems the contrast is much greater 

 between the structures, than it is between the habits, of Ursus ferox 

 and of Felis tigris, or of the Racoons and Coatis on one hand, and the 



* I mention the Martens more frequently than the Weasels proper, because I have 

 before me fine fresh specimens of the former ; but in fact the latter agree with the former 

 in regard to the feet. 



t The systems which associate Ailurus and Arctictis with the Bears, and dissociate 

 Ursitaxus and Mellivora from the Bears, and range Lutra with the Seals, and P aradox- 

 urus with the dog-like Viverrae, are surely not quite in harmony with the method of the 

 divine designer. The Palmate foot of Lutra may be seen in IYIartes, Paradoxurus, &c. 

 and the free lateral and posteal action of the hind legs of Lutra, in those genera, as well 

 as in the Coatis, the Potos, the Wahs, &c. So that there is no need on these accounts 

 to sever Lutra from his old allies. 



