CARNIVORA. 
9 
THE DIGITIGRADES. 
The cats form the first, and decidedly the most per- 
fect tribe of carnivorous animals, as, in their natural 
state, they are exclusively flesh eaters, and are more 
completely armed than any other. One peculiarity 
marks them preeminently for predatory habits, that 
of their claws, which are exceedingly powerful, and 
which they are enabled to draw up into a sheath 
between the toes, whence they are called retractile, so 
as to prevent the points from touching the ground | 
by which construction they are constantly preserved 
sharp, and always ready for action, advantages de- 
nied to all other animals, at least in so perfect a 
degree. 
Their teeth are more exclusively carnivorous than 
those of any other animal, and a figure of them, with 
the jaws and occiput of the principal species, the 
lion, is given in the plate annexed. 
The incisive teeth offer nothing remarkable. They 
are uniform, except that the next tooth to the canine 
is longer than the rest, and there are six in each 
jaw. 
The canine teeth are very long and angular, with 
the edges of the angles toward the inside of the 
mouth ; so that, when the animal has caused them to 
meet or cross each other in the flesh of its prey, these 
formidable teeth will cut. or tear a way through, by 
