148 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
below, all conical, blunt, and singularly large ; their 
upper carnivorous tooth has a small tubercle within 
and in front, but the lower one has none, presenting 
only two stout cutting points. This powerful 
armature enables them to crush the bones of the 
largest prey. Their tongue is rough, exhibiting a 
circular collection of retroflected spines; all their 
feet have each but four toes, as in the surikate; and 
under the anus is a deep and glandular pouch, 
which led the ancients to believe that these animals 
were hermaphrodite. . . . Three species are known 
—the striped hyaena ( H ’. Vulgaris , Canis hyczna , L.), 
found from India to Abyssinia and Senegal; the 
spotted hyaena [C. crocuta , L.), from South Africa ; 
and the woolly hyaena ( H . villora , Smith), also 
from South Africa.” 
I know nothing about the last-named species. 
Cuvier omits to mention the prodigious muscle 
which works the lower jaw, without which the 
crushing power of the teeth would be impossible. 
An examination of the skull of this animal will 
exhibit the remarkable size of the aperture through 
which this muscle passes; it is this which gives the 
broad and repulsive appearance to the head of the 
hyaena. 
In portions of Abyssinia these creatures are so 
numerous, that immediately after sundown they visit 
the outskirts of the towns, in search of any offal or 
dead animals that may have accumulated during the 
day. Although the spotted hyaena appears to be 
the same as that of India, the cry is totally different. 
