72 
the HYiENA. 
terrible. His teeth grind bone, cartilage, ao^ 
flesh, with almost equal facility, and his ap' 
petite is immoderately voracious. 
If the hyaena is an annoyance and a scour^^ 
in the countries where he dwells, his presence 
is nevertheless beneficial, inasmuch as he 
one of those animals appointed by Providen^^ 
to act the part of scavengers in the tropica^ 
regions, by devouring the carcases whic^* 
might otherwise generate infectious diseases* 
For this purpose he is endowed with th® 
faculty of acute smell, which conducts him 
his food. Thus in the very hour when aw/ 
quadruped falls, the sharp-scented hysenas iiO' 
luediately make their appearance, and rusl’ 
into the encampments of man for their shar^ 
of the prey. At Cape Town they formerly 
came down into the streets unmolested by th® 
inhabitants to clear the shambles of their re' 
fuse. Sparriuan relates an amusing story el 
their boldness, for the truth of which, ho'fi' 
