THE GREAT CEMETERY IN COLORADO. 473 



had. But the great carnivores had a covetous eye on Isacis, when 

 it probably rolled itself up in its bristling armature, and, in full con- 

 sciousness of a noli me tangere security, invited its enemy " to kick 

 against the pricks " — in fact, to do his worst. And, doubtless, many 

 a hungry feline, after recklessly accepting the invitation, got very 

 badly worsted. As we shall see, there were little keen-toothed tigers 

 then ; but their acquaintance with Isacis always ended in disgust, as 

 futile must have been each effort to get a dinner of hedgehog raw. 

 Similar is the experience of our Adirondack catamounts in their at- 

 tempts on the Canada porcupine. These fierce cats sometimes perish 

 terribly from inflammation caused by the spines of the porcupine, 

 which they are unable to extract. 



The carnivorous animals were largely represented. Prof. Cope gives 

 at least ten species. There are five genera of felines, or cats. One of 

 these is quite small, being only half as large as the domestic species ; 

 another one, called JStibarus, for a cat, seems to have been a rather 

 stout animal. Of these felidae there are three genera which possessed 

 remarkable saw-edged teeth, painfully suggestive of the carcharodont 

 sharks. Accordingly, one of these is named Daptophihis squcdidens, 

 which, in plain though somewhat clumsy English, means the " shark- 

 like-devouring lover." We are not from this to think of the grand 

 Mogul, who toved his wives so well that he carved them up ; but in 

 metaphysical parlance the phrase must be taken subjectively, as of 

 that absorbing passion where the subject loves to take his victim in — 

 that is to say — one who is as voracious as a shark. 



Another of these sabre-toothed tigers had its teeth very strong as 

 well as sharp. " The incisors are very stout, and exhibit slightly 

 curved conic crowns, with a serrulate edge on the inner face." These 

 teeth are more suorcrestive of the trenchant cutlass than the line sabre. 

 Though not larger than the existing Canada lynx found in the Adi- 

 rondack Mountains, this terrible tiger well deserves its fearful name — 

 Machirodus oreodontis — the " mountain-like sword-toothed." Another 

 of these carnivores, a new genus, is called Tomarctus. It had some 

 relationship to the canines, but, if a dog, it was of very large size, as it 

 probably equaled in this respect our native black bear. There were, 

 however, true dogs then ; and some of their remains were secured in 

 the expedition. Their bones, associated with those of the rodents and 

 insectivora, are quite numerous. One species, called Lippincott's 

 Catiis, was about the size of the coyote, or wolf of the plains. Other 

 species obtained were larger than this ; and others again were smaller. 

 A Pliocene mastodon is mentioned, which carries the true Probo- 

 scidia far back in time. It is named 31astodon proavus, the .specific 

 name meaning " before one's grandfather." 



Among these Colorado fossils, the ungulates, or hoofed animals, are 

 very prominent. In the advanced classifications of the mammals, the 

 ungulates are divided into the Perissodactyles, or those ungulates which 



