CATS. 
73 
In the limbs the most noticeable characteristic is the peculiar 
shape and articulation of the toe-bones, which has direct reference 
to the power Cats possess of retracting the claws. Fig. 31 A shows 
the bones of a toe with the claw in its ordinary retracted state j 
when the animal wishes to strike, the tendon (a) is drawn back, 
and the whole terminal phalanx (3) with the claw attached is 
drawn downwards and forwards, as in B. At other times the 
claw is drawn back and kept from contact with the ground by an 
elastic ligament (d ) . The sheath (s) into which the claw is fixed 
is present in all Carnivora, but in none is it so much developed as 
in the present family. 
Skeletons are exhibited of the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Tiger, 
Lynx, Wild Cat, and other species, besides a series of the skulls 
of Lions, Tigers, and others of the larger Cats. A skeleton and 
several skulls of the Cheetah, or Hunting-Leopard, the most 
aberrant of the family, is exhibited in Div. A. 
The Hysenas (Case 4, Divs. E & F) are strikingly characterized 
Fig. 32. 
Skull of Hyaena. 
by the enormous power of their teeth and jaws, and by the great 
height of the cranial crests for the attachment of the biting-muscles. 
The dental formula is I. f, C. Pm. M. X 2 = 34. 
