THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
VoL. x1.— MARCH, 1877. — No. 3. 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT SCAVENGERS. 
BY PROF. SANBORN TENNEY. 
most if not in all human societies there are classes, or at 
least individuals, who gain their chief subsistence by using or 
removing what others have ignored or discarded. That is, there 
are classes, or individuals, whose principal function seems to be 
that of scavengers. 
(Fre. 16.) HYENA (HYENA VULGARIS.) i 
But scavengers are not confined to the human race. It is well 
known that as a general rule animals seek for their food living 
organisms or organic products in a good state of preservation, 
But there are in many of the classes of animals some kinds whic 
prefer, or seem to prefer, to feed upon dead or decaying organ- 
sms. That is, there are animals whose chief function seems to 
be that of scavengers. Of some of these I will briefly speak. 
Prominent among the mammalian seavengers are the hyenas 
(Figure 16), the ugliest in their general appearance of all the 
Sa a ae a ERE EO 
Copyright, 1877, by A. S. PACKARD, JR. 
