Canid^e. MAMMALIA. CAisiDAi. 1 U.‘i 
and, catching him by the tail, drove my hunting-knife 
deep into his side. But I had to repeat the operation 
more tlian once before I could put an end to his exist- 
ence. I am at a loss how to account for his mangled 
condition. It certainly could not have been from age, 
for his teeth were good. Could it be possible that from 
want of food he had become too weak for further exer- 
tions, and that as a last resource he had attacked his 
own body ? Or was he an example of that extraordi- 
nary species of cruelty said to be practised by the lion 
on the hyaena, when the latter has the insolence to 
interfere with the monarch’s prey?” We are inclined 
to believe neither of these ingenious views are correct, 
but that the poor beast had gnawed its limbs on account 
of some local disease. We noticed, a few years ago, 
an unfortunate hyaena in the Dublin Zoological Gar- 
dens, which, from some local irritation at the part, had, 
by constant biting and sucking, so reduced its caudal 
appendage, that scarcely any trace of the tail remained. 
We suggested to Dr. Ball that it should be destroyed, 
but that distinguished naturalist did not seem inclined 
to adopt Mr. Andersson’s judicious method of consol- 
ing the alhicted ; expressing his belief that the animal 
would get better 1 
THE WOOLLY HY^NA {Hycena villosa). 
species was first described by Dr. Andrew Smith in 
the 15th volume of the Liuncean Society’s Transac- 
tions. It is called the “ Strand-wolf” by the Cape 
colonists, and, when young, bears a very close resem- 
blance to the striped h 3 '€ena, from which circumstance 
some have stated that the latter is also found in South 
Africa. This is not the case, unless, indeed, the per- 
suasion that the Woolly hyrena is nothing more than a 
well-marked variety of the species under consideration, 
should gain universal acceptance. The distinguished 
author of the “ Catalogue of Mammalia,” preserved in 
the British Museum, entertains this view. In the 
meantime we may observe, that a fourth kind has been 
described — the Brown hyaena {Hymna rufa ) — which is 
also a South African species. The fur of the Woolly 
hyaena is long and coarse, but it does not form an 
erectile mane along the central line of the back. The 
body has a greyish-brown colour, with indistinct mark- 
ings of a darker hue, transversely arranged on the sides 
and hips, and other more conspicuous ones on the legs. 
The tail has a deep-brown tinge, and is longer than in 
the ordinary striped hyaena. The head is lined with 
dark patches beneath the ej’es, on the chin, and at the 
point of junction of the cheeks and neck. The ears 
are comparatively large, straight, and pointed. Its 
habits are similar to those of other hyaenas, but it fre- 
quently resorts to the sea-coast, where it greedily 
devours carcases of whales, and the semiputrid remains 
of any other animals which by chance may have been 
washed ashore. It is not so common a species as the 
spotted hyaena. 
Family V.— CANIDS. 
The Dogs form a small natural group, although the 
individual members of the family are extremel}' nume- 
rous, owing to the circumstance that a solitary species 
has given origin to a multitude of well-marked and more 
or less permanent varieties, forming a series of domesti- 
cated races. Besides the ordinary complement of twelve 
incisive and four canine teeth, the dogs are usually 
furnished with twenty-six molars, but in some instances 
as many as thirty-two have been present. Ordinarily, 
there are six molars on either side above, and seven cor- 
respondingly opposed below. Of these, the last pair on 
either side, above and beneath, are generally tubercu- 
lated ; sometimes the latter three of each series are thus 
characterized. The tongue is soft, and not armed with 
horny papillse. The feet are digitigrade, and furnished 
with five toes in front, but the hind limbs are, in most 
cases, only tetradactylous. Dogs have no anal glan- 
dular pouch. The coecum is well developed, and of a 
spiral form. These animals are found in all parts of the 
habitable globe. Fossil remains of dogs and wolves 
have been found in the bone-caverns of Liege, and also 
in England, at Overton near Plymouth, and at Pavi- 
land ill Glamorganshire. A careful examination of 
these fossils has led Professor Owen to advocate the 
view, that all the varieties of dogs are specifically iden- 
tical with the common Wolf. 
THE MARBLED LYCAON {Lycaon venatica ). — This 
is the wild dog or Wilde Hond of the Cape colonists. 
In external appearance it very closely resembles a 
hyaena, and it was originally described by Burchell as 
a member of that genus, under the title of Hycena picta. 
It is, however, a nearer approach to the true dogs. 
This is more especially seen in the character of the 
dentition, and in the structure of the skeleton. Its 
height at the shoulder is rather under two feet from the 
ground, but it looks somewhat taller at first sight on 
account of its slight, gaunt figure. The limbs are long 
and narrow, all of them terminating in tetradactylous 
feet. The fur has a yellowish-brown colour, and is 
irregularly marbled with black and variegated spots of an 
exceedingly irregular shape. The head is like that of 
a hyaena ; the muzzle is pointed, and of a black colour. 
The ears are remarkably large. The tail is moderately 
long, bushy like that of a fox, and divided near the 
middle by a black ring, above which the colour is sandy, 
and white below. According to Mr. Burchell, from 
whose description these characters are partly dei ived, 
the Lycaon hunts in large organized packs, by prefer- 
ence at night, but occasionally also by day. It appears 
to be a bolder animal than the hyrena, very swift of 
foot, attacking sheep openly, but employing more cau- 
tion in the case of horses and large cattle. 
THE LALANDE {Otocyon Lalandii ). — This animal 
is rather smaller than an ordinary fox, and is also an 
inhabitant of Southern Africa. The fur is greyish. The 
tail is moderately long, hushy, black at the upper part, 
and also at the extremity. The body stands compara- 
tively high, the limbs being lengthy and slender. The 
head is furnished with remarkably large, long, and 
straight ears. The teeth are forty-eight in number, 
there being no less than thirty-two molars. One of the 
most distinctive peculiarities of the Lalande has refer- 
ence to the character of these molar teeth, fifteen of 
which are tuberculated — all the true grinders, in short, 
four of them belonging to each lateral division above, 
and three correspondingly opposed in each series below. 
The food of the Lalande is principally frugivorous. 
