QUADRUPEDS. 



343 



well practised to judge of distance, esteems the requisite 

 proximity attained, one vigorous bound brings the active 

 murderer full on its victim with prodigious force ; the paw, 

 with distended claws, inflicting a violent blow at the 

 moment of descent. For these movements there are pecu- 

 liar provisions. The lithe and flexible spine, accompanied 

 by the power of the muscles, enables the Cat to throw 

 itself forward with these sudden energetic bounds; while 

 the same properties, combined with the shortness, freedom, 

 and flexibility of its limbs, allow it to crouch close, to creep 

 along with the belly on the ground, as every one has seen 

 the domestic Cat do, when contemplating a mouse, or any 

 other object which awakens her energy. The noiseless 

 tread, also, so essential to the animal's purpose in stealing 

 unperceived on its victim, is provided for, partly by the 

 retraction of the claws already noticed, partly by the soft 

 fur in which the feet are imbedded, but principally by the 

 spongy pads which are seen beneath the toes. These pads 

 have another use, even more important still ; for they serve 

 by their elasticity to lessen the shock, which otherwise 

 would ensue to the nervous system, in descending from 

 their vigorous bounds. 



The prey being thus slain, or at least disabled, other 

 ordinances of supreme Wisdom become apparent in pro- 

 viding for its appropriation. The teeth, already alluded 

 to, come into requisition. A grinding action is not 

 required ; the flesh has merely to be divided into portions 

 sufficiently small to be swallowed, and hence the teeth are 

 all cutters. Look at what, from their normal action in 

 other animals, we call the molars; their summits form 

 lancet-like edges, clothed with the hardest enamel, and the 



