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This e-text is based on ‘Cassell’s Natural History, Vol. II,’ from
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[Illustration: THE QUEEN’S LION IN THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, LONDON.
(_From a Photograph by Symmons and Co., Chancery Lane, taken expressly
for this work._)]
CASSELL’S
NATURAL HISTORY
EDITED BY
P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.
PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON;
CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA
VOL. II.
_ILLUSTRATED_
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED
_LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE_
1896
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE LAND CARNIVORA.
PROFESSOR W. KITCHEN PARKER, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c., AND PROFESSOR T.
JEFFERY PARKER
THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIVORA.
JAMES MURIE, M.D., LL.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
CETACEA.
JAMES MURIE, M.D., LL.D.
SIRENIA.
JAMES MURIE, M.D., LL.D.
PROBOSCIDEA.
PROFESSOR WILLIAM BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., &c., AND H. W. OAKLEY.
HYRACOIDEA.
PROFESSOR WILLIAM BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., AND H. W. OAKLEY.
UNGULATA:--
PERISSODACTYLA:
EQUIDÆ,
TAPIRIDÆ,
RHINOCEROTIDÆ,
ARTIODACTYLA:
SUIDÆ,
HIPPOPOTAMIDÆ.
PROFESSOR WILLIAM BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., H. W. OAKLEY,
AND PROFESSOR A. H. GARROD, M.A., F.R.S.
CONTENTS.
THE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS--THE CAT FAMILY. PAGE
THE CARNIVORA--Division into Terrestrial (Fissipedia)
and Aquatic (Pinnipedia)--Introductory Remarks on the
FISSIPEDIA--Their Relations to Man and to other Animals--Their
Distribution over the Surface of the Globe--Their
Structure--The Diversity of their Form and Habits--Their
Division into Lesser Groups--THE CAT FAMILY--Their Geographical
and Chronological Distribution--Their Skeleton--The
Peculiarities of their Skull, Teeth, &c. 1
CHAPTER II.
THE CAT FAMILY--THE LION.
THE LION--Its Geographical Distribution at the Present
Day and in Ancient Times--Its Haunts--Varieties of the
Lion--Distinction between the Lion and other Cats--Its Courage,
Speed, and Strength--Its Roar--Its Supposed Magnanimity--Its
Habits--Man-eating--Occasional resort to Vegetable
Diet--Love-making--The Lion-cubs and their Education--Old
Age--Breeding in Captivity--Lion Hunting 14
CHAPTER III.
THE CAT FAMILY--THE TIGER AND THE LEOPARD.
THE TIGER--Its Colour, Size, &c.--Geographical
Distribution--Mention of the Tiger by Ancient
Writers--Habits of the Tiger--Its Destructiveness--Native
Superstitions--Tiger-hunting--THE LEOPARD--Historical
Account--External Characters--Size--Geographical
Distribution--Varieties--Habits--Love of Dog-meat--Clay-eating
Propensities--Attracted by Small-pox Patients 30
CHAPTER IV.
THE CAT FAMILY--THE JAGUAR--THE SMALLER WILD CATS--THE DOMESTIC CAT.
THE JAGUAR--Its Character, Distribution, and Habits--Fondness
for Negroes--THE PUMA--Its Character, Geographical Range,
and Habits--Mode of Hunting the Puma--THE OUNCE--THE CLOUDED
TIGER--The Character of its Fur, &c.--Its Habits--THE
OCELOT--THE MARBLED TIGER-CAT--THE VIVERRINE CAT--THE
PAMPAS CAT--THE LONG-TAILED TIGER-CAT--THE MARGAY--THE
COLOCOLO--THE JAGUARONDI--THE EYRA--THE SERVAL--THE
RUSTY-SPOTTED CAT--THE LEOPARD CAT--THE BAY CAT--THE SPOTTED
WILD CAT--THE MANUL--THE EGYPTIAN CAT--THE COMMON WILD
CAT--THE DOMESTIC CAT--Historical Sketch--Characters of Skin,
&c.--Connection between Whiteness and Blindness--Habits--Use
of Whiskers--Diet--Poaching Propensities--Fondness for
Offspring--For Foster-children--Madness in Cats--Varieties--The
Angora Cat, Manx Cat, Persian Cat, and Chinese Cat 44
CHAPTER V.
THE CAT FAMILY--THE HYÆNA FAMILY--THE CRYPTOPROCTA FAMILY--THE
AARD-WOLF FAMILY.
THE COMMON JUNGLE CAT--THE COMMON LYNX--Historical
Sketch--Geographical Distribution--Distinctive
Characters--Habits--Uses--THE PARDINE LYNX--THE CANADIAN
LYNX--THE RED LYNX--THE CARACAL--THE CHEETAH--Distinctive
Characters--Geographical Distribution--Employment in
Hunting--THE HYÆNA FAMILY--External Characters--Skull
and Teeth--THE SPOTTED HYÆNA--Geographical
Distribution--Habits--Laughing Propensities--THE
BROWN HYÆNA--THE STRIPED HYÆNA--THE CRYPTOPROCTA
FAMILY--Characteristics of the CRYPTOPROCTA--Its Occurrence
and Habits--THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY--Characters and Habits of the
AARD-WOLF 70
CHAPTER VI.
THE CIVET FAMILY.
General Characteristics of the Civet Family--Their Scent,
Skull, and Teeth--THE AFRICAN CIVET--Its Characters and
Habits--THE ASIATIC CIVET--THE LESSER CIVET--THE GENETTE--THE
MUNGOOS, OR ICHNEUMON--Curious Superstition regarding it--THE
CRAB MUNGOOS--THE PARADOXURE--THE BINTURONG 87
CHAPTER VII.
THE DOG FAMILY--THE DOMESTIC DOG.
Section _Cynoidea_--Geographical Distribution--Skull of
Dog--Teeth--Legs--Walk--Claws--Internal Anatomy--The Cæcum,
or “Cul de sac” of the Intestine--Size--THE DOMESTIC DOG--Its
Fidelity and Love--Differences between the Domesticated
and Natural Species of the Family--Barking a Civilised
Habit--Antiquity of the Dog--The Dog among the Hebrews
and Egyptians--The Dog in the Bible--“Dog” as a Term of
Reproach--Venerated by many Ancient Nations--The Dog among
the Greeks and Romans--Pre-historic Dogs--Dogs in the New
World--Peruvian Dogs--Superstitions about the Dog--The
Dog as an article of Diet--Origin of the Dog--Identity
of Structure of Wild and Domestic Dogs--The independent
Training of Wild _Canidæ_ by Savages in many parts of
the World--Voice--Results of the whole question as to
Origin--Anecdotes about Instinct, Reason, Docility--Muscles
of Dog’s Head--Consociation of Dogs--Anecdotes of Sense of
Right, Wrong, Duty, Conscience--Sensitiveness, Honesty,
Theft, Cunning, Quarrelsomeness, Magnanimity, the
reverse, Revenge, Hatred--Conjugal Affection--Devotion to
Man--Fickleness--Despair--Rabies and Hydrophobia--Wonderful
Variety of Breed 96
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DOG FAMILY--DOGS OF SAVAGES--DOGS OF CIVILISED
NATIONS--WILD DOGS.
THE HARE INDIAN DOG--Its Characters, Disposition, &c.--THE
ESKIMO DOG--The Dependence of the Greenlanders on its
Existence--The Probability of its Speedy Extinction--Its
Characters and Savage Disposition--Its Uses--DOMESTIC DOGS OF
OTHER SAVAGE TRIBES--African Breeds--South American Breeds--THE
DALMATIAN DOG--THE GREYHOUND--THE SCOTCH GREYHOUND--THE
DEERHOUND--THE TURKISH GREYHOUND--THE GRECIAN GREYHOUND--THE
PERSIAN GREYHOUND--THE ITALIAN GREYHOUND--THE COCKER--THE
SPRINGER--THE KING CHARLES’S SPANIEL--THE BLENHEIM SPANIEL--THE
CHINESE PUG-DOG--THE WATER-SPANIEL--THE POODLE--THE MALTESE
DOG--THE LION-DOG--THE TURKISH DOG--THE ST. BERNARD DOG--THE
NEWFOUNDLAND DOG--THE SHEEP-DOG--THE POMERANIAN DOG--THE
CUR--THE LURCHER--THE BEAGLE--THE HARRIER--THE FOXHOUND--THE
STAGHOUND--THE BLOODHOUND--THE SETTER--THE POINTER--THE
RETRIEVER--THE OTTER-HOUND--THE TURNSPIT--THE DACHSHOUND--THE
BULL-DOG--THE BULL-TERRIER--THE MASTIFF--THE CUBAN MASTIFF--THE
TIBET DOG--THE ENGLISH TERRIER--THE SCOTCH TERRIER--PARIAH
DOGS--THE INDIAN WILD DOG--THE DINGO 127
CHAPTER IX.
THE DOG FAMILY--WOLVES--JACKALS--FOXES, ETC.
THE WOLF--Historical Account--Geographical
Distribution--Characteristics--Habits--Destructiveness--Tame
Wolves--Varieties of the Wolf--THE PRAIRIE WOLF--THE
RED WOLF--THE JACKAL--Its Character--Habits--“Jackal’s
Horn”--Occurrence--THE BLACK-BACKED JACKAL--THE SENEGAL
JACKAL--THE AGUARA--THE COMMON FOX--Characters distinguishing
it from the true Dogs--Its Habits--Cunning--Occurrence--THE
ARCTIC FOX--Its supposed Change of Colour according to
Season--Its Habits--The Value of its Skin--THE FENNEC--THE
LONG-EARED FOX--Why made a Distinct Genus--THE RACOON DOG--THE
HYÆNA DOG--Its Character and Habits 149
CHAPTER X.
THE BEAR FAMILY--THE BEARS.
Characters of the URSIDÆ--Their Mode of
Progression--Teeth--Skull--Geographical
Distribution--THE BROWN BEAR--Its
Occurrence--Character--Habit of Hibernating--Diet--Moral
Characteristics--Bear-baiting--Varieties--THE AMERICAN BLACK
BEAR--Its Habits--Superstitions of the Indians regarding
it--THE GRIZZLY BEAR--THE SYRIAN BEAR--THE HIMALAYAN
BEAR--THE SUN BEAR--THE SLOTH BEAR--Its Ant- and Bee-eating
Propensities--THE SPECTACLED BEAR--THE POLAR BEAR--Its
Size--Characteristics--Habits--Method of Hunting--The supposed
Poisonous Properties of its Liver 163
CHAPTER XI.
THE RACOON FAMILY--THE PANDA FAMILY--THE WEASEL FAMILY--FOSSIL
CARNIVORA.
THE RACOON FAMILY--Characters of their Skull, Teeth,
&c.--Geographical Distribution--THE RACOON--Its Habit of
Washing its Food--Its External Characters and Habits--Racoon
Hunting--The Crab-eating Racoon--THE COATI--THE KINKAJOU--Its
Lemur-like Appearance, Prehensile Tail, &c.--THE
CACOMIXLE--THE PANDA FAMILY--THE PANDA--Its Character
and Habits--The Ailuropus--THE WEASEL FAMILY--Anatomical
Characters--Tail-glands--Division of the Family into Three
Sub-families--Importance of the Mustelidæ as Fur-producing
Animals--THE GLUTTON--Its Characters--Superstitions Regarding
it--Its Cunning--THE MARTEN--THE PEKAN--THE SABLE--THE
WEASEL--THE STOAT, OR ERMINE--The Difference between its Winter
and Summer Dress, and the manner in which the Change takes
place--THE POLECAT--THE FERRET--THE MINK--THE GRISON--THE
TAYRA--THE RATEL--THE COMMON BADGER--Its Habits--Burrowing--THE
AMERICAN BADGER--THE TELEDU--THE CAPE ZORILLA--THE COMMON
SKUNK--Its Noxious Secretion--Hydrophobia produced by Skunk
Bite--The Little Striped Skunk--The White-backed Skunk--THE
COMMON OTTER--The Adaptation of its Structure to Aquatic
Life--Use of Tame Otters for Fishing--The Canadian Otter--The
Margined-tailed Otter--THE SEA OTTER--Its Affinities with
the Seals--How it is Hunted--GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE LAND
CARNIVORA--FOSSIL CARNIVORA--The Tendency of these to
bridge over Existing Groups--Appendix to Chapter VI. (Civet
Family)--THE CYNOGALE--THE CYNICTIS--THE MANGUE--THE SURICATE 177
THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--THE WALRUS, OR MORSE.
Pinnipedia distinctly Aquatic--The Three Families--Their
Common Characteristics--Skeleton--Mobility of
Figure--Feet--Dentition--Skull--Tongue--Stomach--Intestine--Peculiar
Disposition of Blood-vessels of Liver--Lungs--Sense
of Smell--Larynx--Brain--Sense of Hearing--The Walrus
Family--Characteristics--THE WALRUS, OR MORSE--Geographical
Distribution--Fossil Forms--Weight--Size--Appearance
in Old Age--Mode of Walk--Habits--On Guard--In the
Water--Attacked--Tusks--Dentition of the Young--Uses of the
Tusks--Food--Long Fasts--Story of “Jamie,” a Tame Walrus--The
Young--Maternal Affection--Massacre--Walrus as an Article of
Diet 209
CHAPTER II.
II.--THE SEA LION FAMILY (OTARIIDÆ).
Various Names--Peculiarities of Distribution--Characteristics
of the Family--Dentition--Skull--Fossil Remains--Distinction
between Fur and Hair Seals--Preparation of the Seal-skin--THE
NORTHERN FUR SEAL--History--The Pribyloff Islands--Male,
Female, Young--“Hauling-grounds”--Wintering--Males at
the Islands in Spring--Desperate Battles for Seaward
Positions--Approach of the Females--Struggles for Wives--The
Young--Abstinence from Food, Water, and Sleep for more than
Two Months--Neutral Ground in the “Rookeries”--Habits of
the Young--Food--Annual Slaughter--Estimated Numbers--Mode
of Killing--STELLER’S SEA LION--GILLIESPIE’S HAIR
SEAL--HOOKER’S SEA BEAR--The Wreck of the _Grafton_--Musgrave’s
Narrative--Sufferings of the Castaways--Their
Experiences among the Sea Bears--THE WHITE-NECKED
OTARY--Distribution--Description--“Counsellor Seal”--THE
PATAGONIAN SEA LION--Historical Associations--Impetus to
the Study of the Family--François Lecomte--Its Docility and
Intelligence--Its various Performances--Voracity--Lecomte’s
Observations--Habits--THE FALKLAND ISLAND FUR
SEAL--Habitat--The Hunter’s Boats--Driven from their
Haunts--Captain Weddell’s Observations--Great Wariness and
Speed--Size--Habits--THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE FUR SEAL--THE
NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL--THE ASH-COLOURED OTARY--Peron’s Services
to Science 216
CHAPTER III.
III.--THE EARLESS SEAL FAMILY (PHOCIDÆ).
General Characteristics--Peculiar Formation
of the Hind Legs--Dentition--Swimming--THE
COMMON SEAL--Range--Fight between a Seal and
Salmon--Colour--Appearance--Annual Catch--Use of Skins in
Greenland--Habits--THE RINGED SEAL--Appearance--Various
Names--Odour--Flesh--Skin Clothes--Haunts--Modes
of Capture--Range--THE GREENLAND, OR SADDLEBACK
SEAL--Habits--Appearance--Names--Range--Migrations--“Seals’
Weddings”--Five Stages of Colour--Females--Weight--Seal
Fisheries--Hunting--Implements of Slaughter--Various
Operations--The Sealers--Oil, Skins, &c.--THE BEARDED SEAL--THE
GREY SEAL--THE MONK SEAL--THE CRESTED OR BLADDER-NOSE
SEAL--Range--Size--Ferocity--Character of the so-called
Crest--Dentition--Colour--THE ELEPHANT SEAL--Peculiar
Range--Proboscis--Scammon’s Account--Habits--Hunting--Hardships
of the Hunters--Recreations of the Men--Blubber, Oil, and
Skins--ROSS’S LARGE-EYED SEAL--THE SEA LEOPARD--WEDDELL’S
SEAL--THE CRAB-EATING SEAL--Concluding Remarks--The Slaughter
of Seals--Remedies 231
ORDER CETACEA.--WHALES.
Whales--Vulgar Notions--Characteristics External and
Internal--Larynx--Tail--Skeleton--Classification--THE
TOOTHED WHALES--ZEUGLODONS--SQUALODONS--PHOCODONS--RIVER
DOLPHINS--SUSU, OR GANGETIC
DOLPHIN--Description--Habits--Teeth--INIA--PONTOPORIA--ZIPHIOID
WHALES--CUVIER’S WHALE--VAN BENEDEN’S WHALE--SOWERBY’S
WHALE--NEW ZEALAND BERARDIUS--BOTTLEHEAD, OR COMMON
BEAKED WHALE--SPERM WHALES, OR CACHALOTS--SPERM
WHALE--Description--Range--Fishery--Incidents
of the Chase--Habits--Harpooned--Treatment of
the Carcass--SHORT-HEADED WHALE, OR SNUB-NOSED
CACHALOT--DOLPHINS--CAAING, OR PILOT WHALE--RISSO’S
GRAMPUS--COMMON PORPOISE--KILLER WHALE, OR ORCA--Ferocity--TRUE
DOLPHINS--COMMON DOLPHIN--BOTTLE-NOSE DOLPHIN--WHITE
WHALE--NARWHAL--THE WHALEBONE WHALES--Whalebone--GREENLAND,
OR RIGHT WHALE--BISCAY WHALE--JAPAN WHALE--CAPE WHALE--SOUTH
PACIFIC WHALE--Description of the Greenland Whale--Their
Food and Mode of Feeding--Habits--Hunting--Treatment of
Carcass--HUMP-BACKED WHALES--FIN WHALES, OR RORQUALS--SIBBALD’S
RORQUAL--SULPHUR-BOTTOM WHALE--COMMON RORQUAL, OR
RAZOR-BACK--LESSER RORQUAL--Concluding Remarks 245
ORDER SIRENIA (THE MANATEES).
Introductory Remarks--Mermaids--Position--General Characteristics
of the Order--STELLER’S RHYTINA--Habits--Extinct--Dugong--Range--
Habits--Uses--Teeth--MANATEE--Distribution--Peculiar Mouth--Mode
of Feeding--Story of “Patcheley,” a Tame Manatee--Halitherium and
other Fossil Forms 268
ORDER PROBOSCIDEA (ELEPHANTS).
Order Proboscidea--Antiquity of the Elephant--Referred
to in the Bible--Mentioned in the Apocrypha--War
Elephants--Their Accoutrements--Hannibal’s Elephants--Elephants
amongst the Romans--Skull--Dentition--Vertebræ--Odd
Delusion about its Legs--Proboscis--Species--THE
INDIAN ELEPHANT--Size--Range--Habits--Various Modes of
Capture--Keddah--Used as a Labourer or Nurse--Sagacity--White
Elephants--THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT--Characteristics--Range--Habits
and Haunts--Hunting--Pitfalls--Aggageers
Chasing--Elephant-Shooting--How the Natives Cut it up--FOSSIL
ELEPHANTS AND THEIR ALLIES--Absurd Stories--MAMMOTH--How
it was first Found--Story of the Fourth or Benkendorf’s
Discovery--Range--MASTODON--DINOTHERIUM 273
ORDER HYRACOIDEA (CONIES).
What is the Coney?--Mention in the Bible--General
Appearance--Real Place--Range--Varieties--Coney of the
Bible--Cape Coney--Ashkoko of Abyssinia--Mr. Winwood Reade’s
Account of the Habits of the Cape Coney--Skull, Dentition,
Ribs, &c. 292
ORDER UNGULATA (HOOFED QUADRUPEDS).
CHAPTER I.
PERISSODACTYLA--THE EQUIDÆ, OR HORSE FAMILY.
Order
_UNGULATA_--Divisions--PERISSODACTYLA--Characteristics--
EQUIDÆ--Species--Descent--First Domestic Horses in Europe--Used
for Food--Mention of the Horse in the Bible--War-Chariots--The
Horse among the Greeks and Romans--In Britain--Attempts
to Improve the Breed--Colour--Teeth--“The Mark”--The
Foot--Skull--Disease from the Gad-fly--RACE-HORSE--TROTTING
HORSE OF AMERICA--DRAY HORSE--SHETLAND PONY--ARAB AND
BARB--PERSIAN HORSE--WILD HORSES IN AMERICA--Habits--Byron’s
“Mazeppa”--Capture and Breaking in--WILD HORSES IN AUSTRALIA--THE
ASS--Species--Stripes--Characteristics--MULE AND HINNY--WILD
ASS OF TIBET--ONAGER--WILD ASS OF ABYSSINIA--ZEBRAS--BURCHELL’S
ZEBRA--QUAGGA--FOSSIL EQUIDÆ--Distribution--HIPPARION 295
CHAPTER II.
PERISSODACTYLA--THE TAPIR AND RHINOCEROS FAMILIES.
Introductory Remarks on the Tapirs--Foot--Anatomical
Features--Skull--Compared with that of Hog--Skull of Asiatic
Tapir--Proboscis--Dentition--Species of Tapir--THE AMERICAN
TAPIR--Habits--Colour--Modes of Hunting--Docility--THE
HAIRY TAPIR--THE MALAYAN TAPIR--FOSSIL TAPIRS--THE
RHINOCEROSES--General Characteristics--Is it the Reèm of
the Bible?--Ludicrous Ideas respecting it--At Rome--First
Rhinoceroses in Europe--Skeleton--Skull--Horns--Curious
Dental Law--Fore and Hind Limbs--Dentition--AFRICAN
RHINOCEROSES--“WHITE” RHINOCEROS--OSWELL’S RHINOCEROS--BLACK
RHINOCEROS--KEITLOA--RHINOCEROS BICORNIS MINOR--Hunting--Sir
Samuel Baker’s Extraordinary Chase--Gordon Cumming’s Account
of the Characteristics and Habits of the Black and White
South African Rhinoceroses--Rhinoceros Birds--THE ASIATIC
RHINOCEROSES--Connection between Dentition and Horns--THE
INDIAN RHINOCEROS--An Inveterate Enemy of the Elephant--THE
JAVAN RHINOCEROS--THE SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS--THE HAIRY-EARED
RHINOCEROS--How a Specimen, “Begum,” was Captured--THE
FOSSIL RHINOCEROSES--The Extinct Families Palæotheridæ and
Macraucheniadæ 317
CHAPTER III.
ARTIODACTYLA--THE PIG OR HOG FAMILY.
Introductory Remarks on the Artiodactyla--Character of their
Feet--The Wanting Digit--Comparison of the Bones of the Fore
Feet of Representative Animals--Other Characters in the
Artiodactyla--Classification--SUIDÆ, OR HOG FAMILY--Groups
of the Family--Snout--Sense of Smell--Libels--Mention
in the Bible--Among the Jews--Range--Teeth--THE WILD
BOAR--General Features--Habits--Historical Mention--THE
INDIAN HOG--Habits--A Wild Boar Hunt--A Noble Foe--THE
DOMESTIC HOG--The “Irish Greyhound Pig”--Effects of
Domestication--THE SOLID-HOOFED BREED OF PIGS--Description
of the Bones of Foot--MASKED PIG--BUSH HOG--BABIRUSA--THE
WART HOGS--ÆLIAN’S WART HOG--THE ETHIOPIAN WART
HOG--PECCARIES--Habits--Dentition--Feet--Species--THE FOSSIL
HOGS 335
CHAPTER IV.
ARTIODACTYLA--THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FAMILY.
Present Representatives--Two Species--THE COMMON RIVER
HORSE--General Appearance--Characteristics: Skin, Head,
Nostrils, Eyes, Ears, Legs, Tail, Mouth, Tusks, Dentition,
Skeleton, Stomach--Habits--Food--Under Water--Behemoth of the
Bible--Used in the Roman Sports--As described by the Ancient
Naturalists--As portrayed by the Ancient Artists--The First
Hippopotamus in England--Subsequent Inmates of the Zoological
Gardens--Herds of Hippopotami--Harpoon for Hunting--Sir Samuel
Baker’s Accounts of Hippopotamus Hunts--Various Methods
of Capture--Occasional Fits of Blind Fury--A Night Attack
upon a Diahbeeah--Uses of the Hippopotamus--THE LIBERIAN
HIPPOPOTAMUS--Fossil Forms--THE ANOPLOTHERES 348
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Queen’s Lion _Frontispiece._
Lion of Guzerat 1
Upper View of Lion’s Skull 4
Skeleton of Lion--Skeleton of Polar Bear 5
Stomach of Lion--Brain of Dog--Longitudinal Section through a
Dog’s Nose, showing the Spongy Bones 7
Side View of Lion’s Skull--Under View of Lion’s Skull 11
Tendons and Ligaments of a Cat’s Toe--Lion’s Claw, Sheathed and
Unsheathed 12
Permanent Teeth of Lion--Milk Teeth of Lion 13
Lion of Senegal 16
Lion of Barbary 17
Lion and Lioness Attacking an Elephant 20
The Kiss of Peace 26
In the Jungle 32
The Tiger _To face page_ 33
The Dying Man-eater 33
A Tiger Hunt 37
The Leopard 41
The Jaguar 45
The Snow Leopard 48
The Ounce 49
The Clouded Tiger 50
The Ocelot 51
The Marbled Tiger-Cat 52
Skull of Viverrine Cat 53
The Long-tailed Tiger-Cat 54
The Margay 55
The Jaguarondi 56
The Eyra 57
The Bay Cat 58
The Egyptian Cat 60
The Common Wild Cat 61
Teeth of Domestic Cat--Mummy of Egyptian Cat--Skeleton of
Domestic Cat 62
The Domestic Cat 64
Angora Kittens 65
Domestic Cats: a Study 69
The Common Lynx 72
The Canadian Lynx 73
The Caracal 74
Skull of Cheetah 76
The Cheetah 77
Skull of Hyæna--Teeth of Hyæna.--Lower Jaw of
Hyæna 79
Skeleton of Hyæna 80
Teeth of Spotted Hyæna 81
Hyænas in an Arabian Cemetery 83
Striped Hyænas and Jackals _To face page_ 83
The Aard-Wolf 85
Skull of Aard-Wolf 86
Skeleton of Civet 87
Teeth of Civet 88
The African Civet 89
The Lesser Civet 90
Ichneumons 92
The Common Paradoxure 94
The Binturong 95
Side View of Wolf’s Skull 96
Upper View of Wolf’s Skull--Under View of Wolf’s Skull--Teeth
of Wolf 97
Skeleton of Wolf 98
Greyhounds (_From an Egyptian Monument_) 100
Skull of Domestic Dog--Skull of Young Dog 103
Hare Indian Dog 104
Eskimo Dogs 105
The Mastiff 109
The Black Retriever 113
Muscles of Dog’s Head 114
The Italian Greyhound 116
The Greyhound 117
The Colley, or Sheep Dog 120
Newfoundland Dogs 121
The Pomeranian Dog 125
King Charles’s Spaniels 133
Poodles 134
St. Bernard Dogs _To face page_ 135
Foxhounds 136
Head of Bloodhound 137
Pointers 140
Dachshounds, or Badger-Dogs 142
The Bull Dog _To face page_ 143
The Tibet Dog 144
The Dingo 147
The Common Wolf 152
Young Wolves _To face page_ 153
Coyote, or Prairie Wolf 155
The Jackal 156
The Jackal of Senegal 157
The Common Fox 158
Fennecs and Jerboas 161
The Hyæna Dog 163
Teeth of Polar Bear 164
Feet of Bear--Under View of Bear’s Skull 165
The Common Brown Bear 166
The Grizzly Bear 168
The Isabelline, or Indian White Bear 169
The Malayan Sun Bear 170
Polar Bears 171
The Sloth Bear 173
Polar Bears 175
Skull of Racoon--Half of Skull of Racoon 177
The Racoon 178
The Coati--Skull of Kinkajou 179
Skull of Cacomixle--The Cacomixle 180
The Panda 181
Skeleton of Weasel 182
The Glutton 183
The Sable 186
The Common Weasel 187
The Weasel and the Ermine in their Winter Clothing 189
Skull of Polecat--The Polecat--The Ferret 190
The Grison 192
The Ratel 193
The Badger _To face page_ 195
The Skunk 197
Under View of Skull of Common Otter--Side View of Skull of
Common Otter 198
Common Otters 200
Side View of Skull of Sea Otter--Under View of Skull of Sea
Otter 201
Female Sea Otter Swimming on her Back with Young in her Arms 202
The Sea Otter 203
Skull of Machærodus 204
Skull of Arctocyon--Lower Jaw of Hyænodon 205
Skull of Proviverra--The Cynogale 206
The Mangue 207
The Suricate 208
Skeleton of Otaria in the Attitude of Walking 210
Upper Surface of Brain of Otaria--Tongue and Parts Back of
Mouth of Otaria 211
Head of Walrus--Skull and Dentition of Walrus 212
Walruses on the Ice 215
Sea Lion _To face page_ 217
Ear of Otaria--Teeth of Otaria 217
Diagram of a Vertical Section of the Skin of the Fur Seal 218
“Rookery” of Fur Seals 220
A Seal Fight 221
Sea Lions on the Farallone Islands 223
Palate of Hooker’s Sea Bear--Palate of Patagonian Sea Lion 224
Sea Lion Dozing on his Back--Sea Lion Fast Asleep--Sea Lion
Climbing--Sea Lion in Watchful Attitude--Sea Lion Licking his
Leg--Sea Lion Scratching with Hind Foot 227
The Falkland Island Fur Seal 229
Left Fore and Hind Flipper of New Zealand Fur Seal 230
Hind Flippers of Ringed Seal 231
Teeth of Common Seal--Skeleton of Seal 232
The Ringed Seal 234
Eskimo Hunters at an Atluk, waiting for a Seal 235
Saddle-backs on the Ice 236
The Crested Seal 239
Teeth of the Crested Seal 240
The Elephant Seal 241
Sea Leopard Seals 242
Teeth of the Sea Leopard 243
Stomach of Pilot Whale--Upper Surface of the Brain of the
Porpoise 245
Interior View of Larynx of Risso’s Grampus--Skeleton of Sperm
Whale 246
Restoration of Skull and Tooth of Zeuglodon 247
Side and Upper Views of Skull; Rearward and Forward Tooth of
Young of Gangetic Dolphin 248
The Gangetic Dolphin--Flipper of Gangetic Dolphin 249
Head of Mesoplodon 251
A Tooth of the Sperm Whale 252
The Sperm Whale 253
The Caaing, or Pilot Whale 255
Risso’s Grampus 256
Shoal of Porpoises 257
The Killer Whale, or Orca--The Bottle-Nose Dolphin 258
Dolphins Pursuing a Boat 259
The Narwhal 260
Narwhal with the two Tusks Developed 261
Median Section showing Inside Left Half of Skull of Whalebone
Whale, with Baleen in Position 262
The Greenland or Right Whale _To face page_ 263
Views to illustrate Position and Structure of Baleen 263
Harpoon 265
Hump-back Whale Suckling her Young 266
Common Rorqual 267
Skeleton of Manatee 268
Manatees 271
Mounted Skeleton of Halitherium 272
Skeleton of Indian Elephant 273
Section of Skull of Indian Elephant 275
Side View of Molar Tooth of Indian Elephant--Last Lower Tooth
of African Elephant--Last Lower Tooth of Indian Elephant 276
Trunk or Proboscis of Elephant 277
The Indian Elephant 279
Elephant in the Zoological Gardens, London 281
The African Elephant 283
Aggageers Hunting an Elephant 285
Skeleton of Mammoth 288
The Mammoth (_Restored_) 291
Conies 293
Skull of Coney--Dentition of Coney 294
The Kiang, or Wild Ass of Tibet 295
The Tarpan 296
Wild Horse of Tartary 297
Dentition of Horse--Vertical Section of Incisor of Horse 300
Incisors and Canines of Horse and Mare--Bones of Fore and Hind
Limbs of Horse 301
Skeleton of Horse 302
Brain of Horse 303
The English Race-Horse 304
Shetland Ponies 305
English Dray Horse, from the Stud of Messrs. Barclay,
Perkins, & Co. _To face page_ 307
The Arab Horse 307
The Domestic Ass 310
The Onager 311
The Wild Ass of Abyssinia 312
Zebra 313
Burchell’s Zebra 314
The Quagga 315
Fore and Hind Foot of Tapir--Skull of American Tapir 317
Head of Malayan Tapir, showing Muscles of Short Trunk and
Face--Teeth of Malayan Tapir 318
American Tapirs 319
The Malayan Tapir 320
Skeleton of the Rhinoceros 323
Femur of Rhinoceros--Dentition of Rhinoceros 324
The “White” Rhinoceros 325
The Keitloa 326
The Rhinoceros Hunt 328
Rhinoceros _To face page_ 329
Front and Side Views of Head of Sumatran Rhinoceros 330
The Indian Rhinoceros 331
The Hairy-eared Rhinoceros 333
Skull of Fossil Rhinoceros 334
Bones of the Left Fore Limb of Common Pig, African Deerlet,
Javan Deerlet, Roebuck, Common Sheep, and Camel 335
Dentition of Wild Boar 338
The Wild Boar 339
Domestic Sow and Young 341
Head of Domestic Pig--Head of Wild Boar--Milk Dentition of
Pig--Irish Greyhound Pig 342
Bones of Pig’s Foot--Foot of Solid-hoofed Pig 343
The Masked Pig--The Bush Hog 344
The Babirusa 345
Skull of the Ethiopian Wart Hog--The Ethiopian Wart Hog 346
The Peccary--Dentition of Peccary 347
Hippopotami in a Meadow by the Senegal 348
Base of Skull of Hippopotamus--Lower Jaw of
Hippopotamus--Stomach of Hippopotamus 349
The Common Hippopotamus 352
The Hippopotamus _To face page_ 353
Hunting Hippopotami with the Harpoon 353
Hippopotami at the Falls of the River Senegal 356
The Anoplothere Restored 360
CASSELL’S NATURAL HISTORY.
[Illustration: LION OF GUZERAT.]
THE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS--THE CAT FAMILY.
The Carnivora--Division into Terrestrial (Fissipedia) and Aquatic
(Pinnipedia)--Introductory Remarks on the FISSIPEDIA--Their Relations
to Man and to other Animals--Their Distribution over the Surface
of the Globe--Their Structure--The Diversity of their Form and
Habits--Their Division into Lesser Groups--THE CAT FAMILY--Their
Geographical and Chronological Distribution--Their Skeleton--The
Peculiarities of their Skull, Teeth, &c.
The Carnivora, or flesh-eating Mammals, form a fourth order of the
Mammalia, and are divided into two great groups, or sub-orders as they
are called by zoologists, one terrestrial, and the other aquatic. The
first is the group of the _Fissipedia_, or “split-feet,” so called from
the fact that the feet are divided into well-marked toes; the second is
the group of the _Pinnipedia_, or “fin-feet” (Seals, &c.), so called
from the fact that the toes are bound together by skin, forming fins or
flippers rather than feet.
THE LAND CARNIVORA.[1]
This group, which comprises all the great “beasts of prey,” is one of
the most compact, as well as one of the most interesting among the
Mammalia. So many of the animals contained in it have become “familiar
in our mouths as household words,” bearing as they do an important
part in fable, in travel, and even in history: so many of them are of
such wonderful beauty, so many of such terrible ferocity, that no one
can fail to be interested in them, even apart from the fact likely to
influence us more in their favour than any other--that the two home
pets which of all others are the commonest and the most interesting
belong to the group.
No one who has had a Dog friend, no one who has watched the wonderful
instance of maternal love afforded by a Cat with her kittens, no one
who loves riding across country after a Fox, no lady with a taste for
handsome furs, no boy who has read of Lion and Tiger hunts, and has
longed to emulate the doughty deeds of the hunter, can fail to be
interested in an assemblage which furnishes animals at once so useful,
so beautiful, and so destructive.
It must not be supposed from the name of this group that all its
members are exclusively flesh-eaters--and, indeed, it will be hardly
necessary to warn the reader against falling into this mistake, as
there are few people who have never given a Dog a biscuit, or a Bear a
bun. Still, both the Dog and several kinds of Bears prefer flesh-meat
when they can get it; but there are some Bears which live almost
exclusively on fruit, and are therefore in strictness not carnivorous
at all. The name must, however, be taken as a sort of general title for
a certain set of animals which have certain characters in common, and
which differ from all other animals in particular ways.
Comparatively few of the flesh-eaters are of direct use to man, at any
rate while alive, yet one member of the group--the Dog--is the most
useful of all domestic quadrupeds, though derived from one of the most
savage of all--the Wolf. The Ferret, the Cheetah and the Cat are also
more or less domesticated; but they come far below the Dog in amiable
qualities, and in value to man. Below their value in service comes the
use of their most beautiful skins; and still lower down the scent,
derivable from a few species. Yet from these two last sources our fair
ones seek to derive new charms, not heeding the poet Cowley’s quaint
objurgation:--
“The adorning thee with so much art
Is but a dangerous skill;
Like to the poisoning of a dart,
Too apt, before, to kill.”
Most of the Carnivora may be looked upon as man’s natural enemies, for
he has no chance of making headway unless he can keep “the beast of the
field” from “increasing upon him.” Amongst primæval men, the tribes
who made the best weapons to keep off these, the destroyers of their
families, were certain to succeed best in the struggle for existence,
so that the act of sharpening a flint-stone to repel the attack of
some wild beast may be said to have prepared the way for civilisation,
for flint knives led to bronze hatchets, bronze hatchets to axes
and hammers of iron, and when once iron-working was understood and
appreciated, civilisation went on with gigantic strides.
Besides acting as one of the severest of schoolmasters in the hard
school of adversity in which man has been trained, the flesh-eaters
serve to keep in check, and indirectly to bring to perfection, the
grass-eating tribes. Upon these--the Oxen, Antelopes, Wild Asses,
&c.--the large Carnivora delight to prey; in so doing they have to put
forth all their powers, their agility, strength, and cunning, while the
Herbivores, at the same time, have acquired caution and swiftness of
foot in the highest degree, in order to escape from their ruthless and
implacable destroyers.
While the larger beasts of prey keep in check the troops of great
hoofed animals, the smaller kinds, such as Cats and Ferrets, have a
most important office in thinning the constantly multiplying ranks of
gnawing animals, such as Rats and Mice, which would otherwise prove a
plague of the worst description. Indirectly, too, our Carnivora may
even influence largely the spread of certain kinds of vegetation: for
instance, as Mr. Darwin has shown, where there are no Cats there is
no clover! This seems strange, not to say fabulous, but it is known
that clover will only flourish when there are plenty of Humble-bees,
the only insects able to carry the fertilising pollen from flower to
flower, and so ensure a good supply of seed for the next crop. Now,
Field Mice are particularly hostile to Humble-bees, knowing quite well
where to find their nests and combs, and how to get at their honey,
of which they are very fond. Thus, where Field Mice exist in great
numbers, Humble-bees will be comparatively few. But Mice are chiefly
kept down by Cats, and so the end of this biological “house that Jack
built” is that to ensure a good crop of clover it is advisable to have
plenty of Cats about!
The conception of the fearful struggle for existence going on between
beast and beast has been caught by Shakspere in a wonderful passage in
his “Timon of Athens.” Apemantus would “give the world to the beasts
to be rid of the men,” whereupon Timon asks him whether he would have
himself “fall in the confusion of men, and remain a beast with the
beasts.” Apemantus answers in the affirmative, and Timon’s rejoinder is
as follows: “A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain
to! If thou wert the Lion, the Fox would beguile thee: if thou wert
the Lamb, the Fox would eat thee: if thou wert the Fox, the Lion would
suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accused by the Ass: if thou
wert the Ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou livedst
but as a breakfast to the Wolf: if thou wert the Wolf, thy greediness
would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy
dinner: wert thou the Unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee,
and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert thou a Bear,
thou wouldst be killed by the Horse: wert thou a Horse, thou wouldst
be seized by the Leopard: wert thou a Leopard, thou wert german to the
Lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life: all thy
safety were remotion, and thy defence, absence.” To learn the truth of
these words, one has only to turn to any book of travel in Africa or
India, where one is certain to read of a wholesale destruction which it
is melancholy to think of.
In Great Britain this conflict is a thing of the past; but two
terrible enemies of man even there have been extirpated within the
historic period--namely, the Wolf and the Bear; of these and of their
extirpation we shall speak when we come to describe those types. Now,
happily, these greedy Carnivora are “scattered and peeled--meted out
and trodden down.” Far in the north of the island there is the wild
Cat, the two Martens are becoming scarcer and scarcer; the Badger is
found here and there; the Polecat is rare; so that the Fox, the Stoat,
and the Weasel--the last being the very least and meanest of the order
alone are common.
But in the later geological epoch--pre-historic as to us--the nobler
types abounded, and Great Britain was then as much the land of savage
beasts as Africa and India are now.
The Carnivora are found all over the world, from the equator to
the poles: in most parts of the globe they are abundant, the great
exception being the Australian region of zoological geography, namely,
the immense island of Australia, which can only boast of a Dog,
doubtfully native, and New Zealand and the adjacent Polynesian Islands,
which are quite devoid of members of the group, the native Dog of New
Zealand having probably been recently introduced.
Many forms have become extinct, and, as we shall see when we come
to speak of these bygone creatures, the lower we dig in the strata
which compose the rocks of which our earth is made, the lower do the
types become, that is to say, among the extinct Carnivora we have no
animals so perfectly constructed for flesh-eating as the Cat family,
for instance, but the various kinds get nearer and nearer, the lower
we go, to what may be called the general plan of Mammalian structure,
and farther and farther from the special type of structure found in the
higher Carnivores of the present day.
There is considerable range of size among the various members of the
group, the Lion and Tiger being the largest, the Weasel and Suricate
the smallest. As to their habits, the Carnivore are very varied;
leaving out as we do for the present the fin-footed Seals, Sea Bears,
and Walruses, we yet have the semi-aquatic Otter and the _Enhydra_, or
Sea Otter, both at home in the watery element, and most expert swimmers
and divers; but for the most part the flesh-eaters are inhabitants of
the copse, the jungle, and the forest. Many are nimble climbers, some
are arboreal in their habits, living entirely in trees, and most are
crepuscular, that is, hunt their prey after dusk.
As to their diet, we mentioned above that they are by no means all
flesh-eaters; in fact there is every gradation from those which live
exclusively on animal food, such as the Lion, Tiger, &c., to the purely
herbivorous kinds of Bear. Some again, such as the Cat family, seem
to prefer flesh-meat, others, such as the Otter, adopt a Lenten diet,
and feed on fish or eggs. This matter, however, is, of course, largely
determined by the habitat of the animal, those whose habitation is
inland being compelled to devour land animals, while those living by
the sea or by river-banks usually take to fish either occasionally or
as a regular thing.
Turning to the structure of the group, one of the first things that
strikes us is the looseness of their skin, which, instead of being
stretched on the body as tightly as a drum parchment, as it is in
grass-eaters--for instance, the Ox or Hippopotamus--is quite “baggy,”
having between it and the flesh of the beast a layer of the loosest
possible fibres. It is for this reason that the skin of any but a
_very_ fat Dog can be pinched up so readily, while of a Herbivore it
may be said, in the words of eulogy uttered by Mr. Squeers of his son
Wackford, “Here’s firmness, here’s solidness! why you can hardly get up
enough of him between your fingers and thumb to pinch him anywheres.”
In consequence of this the operation of skinning a Lion or Bear is a
comparatively easy one. After the first cut the beast may be _pulled_
out of his skin, almost without further use of the knife; while with
an Antelope or an Ox the skin has to be _cut_ away carefully and
laboriously from the underlying flesh.
The use of this loose skin will be very evident to any one who will
take the trouble to watch the great Cats playing together at the
Zoological Gardens. They are continually scratching one another, but
the loose skin is dragged round by the claws which, in consequence, can
get no hold, and do no harm; with a tight skin, on the other hand, the
slightest scratch of such a claw as a Tiger’s would cause a serious
wound. The looseness of the skin is very evident in the Puma and
Jaguar, in which it hangs in a fold along the middle of the belly, like
a great dewlap.
In the Carnivora the skeleton, or bony framework of the body, attains
its utmost perfection, both as a _tissue_ and as machinery. Its tissue
is dense, white, and ivory-like, every bone is exquisitely moulded
and polished, so that there are few more beautiful objects of study
than a well-prepared Cat’s skeleton, and almost none more instructive
or better calculated to give an idea of the perfection of “animal
mechanics.” The flexibility and strength of the spine, the exquisite
fitting of its joints, the small head capable of being turned in almost
any direction in the search for prey or the avoidance of danger, the
wonderful arrangement of levers afforded by the limbs, which exhibit
at once the greatest amount of strength and the greatest amount of
elasticity, all combine to fill the mind with wonder and admiration,
as great as that excited by the most perfect work of art or the most
stupendous phenomenon of inanimate nature.
[Illustration: UPPER VIEW OF LION’S SKULL.]
The skull of nearly all Carnivora is distinguished from that of most
other Mammals by its immense strength, and its evident adaptation to
the habits of its possessor--to the effective seizing and devouring of
living prey. It is remarkable for the immense roughened bony ridges,
developed in many parts of it, which serve for the attachment of the
mighty jaw-muscles, the great size of which causes an increase in
the width of the bony _jugal arch_, extending from under the eye to
just in front of the ear. Another point worthy of notice is the great
shortening of the jaws, or of the _facial_ in relation to the _cranial_
portions of the skull. In this respect Carnivores, especially the
most typical forms, the Cats, are very markedly distinguished from
Herbivores, in which the brain-case is small and the face immensely
prolonged. This has to do with the different kind of food used by the
two groups--that of vegetable-eaters requiring long grinding, that of
flesh-eaters powerful mincing. Connected also with this same function
of mastication is the form of the _condyle_, or bony projection of the
lower jaw, by which it moves on the skull, and of the smooth surface of
the latter which receives it. These are in Carnivora greatly elongated
transversely, and narrowed from before backwards, so that no motion
from side to side, but only an up-and-down motion, is possible. The
higher Carnivora, therefore, cannot _chew_ or _grind_ their food, but
only _mince_ it, their sharp teeth acting exactly like scissor-blades.
In the interior of the skull should be noticed a large plate of bone
which extends inwards and separates the great brain, or cerebrum, from
the lesser brain, or cerebellum, and prevents the jarring of that
important organ likely to arise from the animal’s vigorous movements.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF LION.]
In the spine, or vertebral column, there is not much to notice beyond
the great size of the first two vertebræ, or those which support
the head, and the development of strong spines or processes for the
attachment of muscles.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF POLAR BEAR.]
In the limbs there are certain points of considerable interest and
importance. If a Bear and a Lion be watched while walking, a great
difference will be observed in their gait: the Bear’s movements are
far clumsier and less springy than those of the Lion. A little further
observation will show that this is due, chiefly, to the manner in which
their feet are set on the limbs, for it will be seen that the Bear
keeps the sole of his foot flat on the ground, and, as his foot is very
large, he has something of the awkward, sprawling movement of a man
walking in shoes too big for him. The Lion, on the other hand, has his
wrist and his heel lifted well above the ground, and so walks, not on
the sole of his foot, but on his toes, the under surfaces of which are
furnished with beautifully soft leathery pads, so as to ensure a soft,
silent footstep. Then what looks like the knee of a Lion, Cat, or Dog
is really his _wrist_. and what looks like a backward turned knee in
his hind leg is his heel, the true elbow and knee being almost hidden
by the skin.
The reason of this arrangement is seen by looking at the skeletons of
the two animals. In the Bear the _metacarpals_ and _metatarsals_, or
five long bones extending between the wrist and the ankle respectively,
and the joints of the toes, are kept in a horizontal position, as
in ourselves; in the Lion, on the contrary, the metacarpals and
metatarsals are lifted almost into a vertical position, the walking
surface being now afforded by the under surface of the toe-bones, or
phalanges. By reason of this the Lion gets an extra lever in his leg,
in addition to the two levers which the Bear possesses, namely, those
afforded by the bones of the arm and fore-arm and of the thigh and leg
respectively; and consequently his springiness is greatly increased. An
animal which walks like the Bear, on the sole of its foot, is said to
be _plantigrade_: one which walks on its fingers, like the Lion, Cat,
or Dog, is called _digitigrade_.
As in all animals in which the fore limbs are used for support, and
not for prehension, the collar-bone, or clavicle, is either wholly
absent or quite rudimentary, and the fore limb has therefore no bony
connection with the trunk, but is attached simply by muscles and
ligaments. The Carnivores, in leaping or running, often come down with
their whole weight upon the fore legs, and if a large bony clavicle,
like that of a Monkey or Bat, were present, it would infallibly be
broken.
The bones are all strongly bound together by elastic bands, or
_ligaments_, and are covered by the great fibrous masses, or _muscles_,
which, forming as they do the flesh, take the chief share in giving
to each animal its characteristic shape. These muscles are, in most
instances, attached to the bones by strong cords or bands resembling
the ligaments, and called _tendons_. The bones being, in great measure,
articulated or jointed to one another by smooth surfaces, sometimes
flat, sometimes round, sometimes pulley-like, act as levers. The
muscles are usually attached at one end to a fixed at the other to a
movable bone; when they act, by shortening in length and widening in
diameter, they make the more movable bone to turn upon the other. In
this way they cause the limbs to be straightened or bent, the jaws to
be opened or shut, the claws extended or retracted, and perform all the
other movements of which the animal is capable. The development of the
muscles in the larger Carnivora is wonderfully great. A Lion will kill
an Ox with a blow of his paw, and drag it off to his lair as easily as
his humble relation, the Cat, disposes of a Rat or Mouse.
We now have to consider a most important series of organs--the organs
of _alimentation_ or _nutrition_; those, in fact, which serve the
purposes of taking in, preparing, and digesting the food. They are the
mouth with its tongue, teeth, and salivary glands, the gullet, stomach,
and intestines, with the liver, and sweetbread, or pancreas.
We are all familiar in ourselves with _four_ kinds of teeth, namely
(1), the “incisors,” or cutting teeth, in front; (2), the “canines,”
the pointed eye-teeth that come next; (3), the “false grinders,” or
“premolars;” and (4), the true grinders, or “molars.” Man has a very
even and full-mouthed series; the Carnivora, on the other hand, possess
a most irregular series, and in this series there are certain gaps
or interspaces. Our own even orderly set is best adapted for a mixed
diet, that has for the most part undergone a great amount of change
by cooking. But the Carnivora, in their wild state, must eat flesh
raw, and for the most part reeking, and this has to be torn from the
conquered prey. So that the teeth have to be applicable to the first,
or destructive process, and then to the tearing to pieces of the
fleshly substance, and the scraping of the bones; they may even have
to crush the bones themselves, the more spongy parts serving for food;
and, greatest feat of all, to break the hardest long bones for the
succulent marrow.
The mode of feeding and the form and number of the teeth of necessity
correspond: tearing and gnawing are processes that need teeth like
knives and scissors, while grinding or chewing require teeth like
millstones. Both these kinds exist in the Bear. In the Dog the crushing
teeth become less in size and importance; in the Lion they are
suppressed, and all the teeth have a cutting character, their number
being at the same time much reduced.
The teeth are often all that remains of certain extinct creatures; they
are, therefore, a most important part of the anatomy of an animal,
as well as being of great service in the matter of classification or
grouping. They are the hardest of all the organs; their relation to the
food of the species, and their necessary correlation to the digestive
organs, makes them serve as a key to the rest of the creature’s
structure, which structure is in absolute harmony with its habits and
daily life.
[Illustration: STOMACH OF LION.]
The tongue is covered with horny projections, or papillæ, and in
the Cat tribe serves as a rasp to rub and scrape off the smaller
fragments of flesh from the bones. The stomach is always simple, that
is, consists of a bagpipe-like cavity not divided into compartments,
as in the Ruminants and some other animals. A great difference from
herbivorous animals is also seen in the length of the intestine. As the
food is of a highly nourishing nature it requires less time for its
digestion, and a smaller surface for its absorption into the blood,
and the intestine is therefore remarkably short--not more than three
times the length of the body in the Lion and Wild Cat, instead of being
fifteen to thirty times the length, as in some vegetable feeders. The
Carnivora have, therefore, the manifest advantage of a more compact and
smaller “barrel” than the Herbivora, and, in consequence, have less
weight to carry, and are slim and slender-waisted.
As might naturally be expected, the organs by which the blood, loaded
with nourishment from the digestive canal, is carried to all parts
of the body, are well developed. The heart, if not “as hard as the
nether millstone,” is yet compact and strong in the highest degree: the
circulation is vigorous, and the result is seen in great courage and
astonishing powers of endurance.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF DOG.]
In the lungs, with the windpipe and larynx, in which the multitudinous
cries of the group--barks, howls, roars, and whines--are produced,
there is nothing to merit any special mention.
The brain of Carnivora is, as a rule, remarkably large and well formed,
in conformity with their high degree of intelligence. Its surface
is thrown into well-marked ridges with intervening depressions, and
presents a great contrast with the almost smooth brain of a Shrew or
a Hedgehog. From it are given off nerves to the tongue, teeth, skin,
muscles, and other parts of the head, as well as some to organs at a
considerable distance from the head, as the heart, lungs, and stomach,
and, most important of all, three pairs of nerves, one for each of the
organs of the higher senses--the nose, eye, and ear.
[Illustration: LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH A DOG’S NOSE, SHOWING THE
SPONGY BONES. (_Nat. Size. From a Sketch by T. J. Parker_)
_a._ The smelling region; _b._ The sneezing region; _c._ A bristle
passed through the nostril into the nasal chamber; d. A bristle
passed from the nasal chamber into the passage by which the latter
communicates with the mouth.]
The two nerves of smell pass through a beautifully-perforated
bone--hence called the “sieve-bone,” or _ethmoid_--and proceed one
on each side of a bony and gristly wall which divides the two nasal
chambers from one another, to a delicate membrane covering a pair
of bones of wonderful complexity--a labyrinth which must be seen to
be understood, for the beautiful manner in which it enfolds itself
can hardly be imagined. These “spongy-bones,” as they are called,
the membrane covering which forms the true organ of smell, lie in
the upper and hinder part of each nasal cavity, but in front of them
is a large scroll of bone, also covered by a membrane of exquisite
sensitiveness, but not taking cognisance of odours. This anti-chamber,
as it were, of the nose, is extremely sensitive, and its sensibility is
a safeguard against intrusive dust, and deadly disease-germs. It is the
_sneezing_ region, and is the natural and most careful porter of the
gates of the breath.
The way in which the eyes of the Carnivora are set in their head
indicates their habits of life. They look straight forward, and are
expressive, in the nobler kinds, of the energy and cruelty of their
owner’s disposition. As in many of the Lemurs, the eye possesses what
is called a _tapetum_, a sort of reflecting mirror in the bottom of the
eye, which redoubles, as it were, the faint rays of evening, evidently
a very important thing for these, mostly nocturnal, animals.
The sense of hearing is as perfect as that of sight; not, perhaps, in
the higher, musical sense of the word, but for catching the faintest
and feeblest undulations of the air. The Mole is supposed to be most
sharp of hearing; but it is a question whether he is quicker of hearing
than his cruel neighbour the Rabbit-killing Weasel. Any one who has
watched a Cat sitting demurely by a Mouse-hole, or a Terrier on the
look out for a Rat, will give these Carnivores credit for the most
acute sense of sound. Anatomy corroborates what simple observation
suggests, and the internal as well as external organs of hearing in the
Carnivora are most exquisitely perfect.
Many members of the group live in families, that is, a male and female
with their young form a little _coterie_ by themselves, and associate
very little with other families. Very few live in great societies or
herds, after the manner of the grass-eating animals, such as Oxen,
Antelopes, or Wild Horses, but an exception to this is afforded by the
Wild Dogs of Constantinople, which roam the streets in great numbers,
and by Wolves, which invariably hunt in packs.
The Dogs and Wolves, besides being gregarious, resemble the Herbivora
in another and far less amiable characteristic, that is, they do not
choose a mate for life or even for a season, but let their affections
run wild and practise the most unmitigated polygamy and polyandry. Many
of the larger Cats, on the contrary--the Lion, for instance--choose a
mate, to whom they are wonderfully faithful.
The young are always born in a comparatively helpless condition, not
able to run about at once like a new-born Calf or Foal; they are
generally blind for some time after birth, and are entirely dependent
on the mother for food and warmth.
The higher Carnivora are most kind parents, and to the best of their
ability, _educate_ their young. This was well known to the ancients:
Ezekiel the prophet (xix. 2, 3) gives this character of the Lioness in
inimitable language: “What is thy mother? A Lioness: she lay down among
Lions, she nourished her whelps among young Lions. And she brought up
one of her whelps: it became a young Lion, and it learned to catch the
prey; it devoured men.” All writers bear witness to the painstaking way
in which the parent Lion or Tiger trains up its young and practises
them for their trade of slaughter. Sometimes both parents, sometimes
only one, go out with their offspring, and by example and precept show
them the safest places to hide, the proper moment to spring, the best
place to seize the victim, and so on. And the future tyrants are very
apt, they thoroughly enjoy their schooling, and make the best possible
use of their opportunities; so much so that the young of the great
Cats are far more dreaded than the old ones, as they not only kill to
satisfy hunger, but commit wholesale slaughter, simply for practice and
to keep their paws in.
The diversity of form and structure in the group of land Carnivora
is very great. We find, as in the groups we have considered
previously, many different kinds or _species_, amongst which are
creatures so different as the great and powerful Lion and the
small and insignificant Weasel, the active Tiger and Jaguar, and
the lazy Glutton. These species, as very little observation shows
us, naturally fall into certain larger groups or _genera_, having
important characteristics in common; for instance, the Lion, Tiger,
Leopard, Jaguar, Lynx, and all the small Cats, are so much like one
another, and so different from all other animals, as to be put in
the one genus _Felis_, which is distinguished by having retractile
claws, and by being quite devoid of true grinding teeth. Again, the
Dog and Wolf have so many points in common, that they are placed in
the single genus _Canis_, the Dog being called _Canis familiaris_, the
Wolf _Canis lupus_. If a number of genera are found to agree pretty
closely with one another in essential matters, they are grouped into
a _family_; thus we have the family _Mustelidæ_, which includes not
only the Weasel (_Mustela_), but a number of other genera, such as
the Otter, Badger, Skunk, and many others. Furthermore, the families
are conveniently grouped into _sub-orders_, according to characters
considered to be of greater importance than those which determine
genera or families. We may roughly compare this method of grouping to
the way in which the soldiers in an army are arranged. Thus, individual
men--corresponding to species--are arranged in _companies_, which
we may take to represent genera; several companies are united into
a _regiment_, just as a number of genera are united into a family;
a greater or less number of regiments go to form a _battalion_, in
the same way as the families go to form a sub-order; and, lastly,
two or three battalions constitute an _army_, which is the complete
assemblage, and corresponds, in our rough illustration, to an _order_.
We suppose that nine persons out of ten, if asked to give three common
examples of land Carnivores, would, almost without hesitation, name
the Cat, the Dog, and the Bear. The most accomplished naturalist would
be unable to give a better answer to this question, as those three
well-known animals are types of the three primary sections into which
the whole sub-order is divided, and which may, in fact, be termed
respectively the groups of the Cats, Dogs, and Bears. It must be borne
in mind, however, that the words are here used in the broadest and most
general sense, for the group of “Cats” includes not only the animals
properly so-called, but also the Civets, Ichneumons, Hyænas, whilst
amongst “Bears” are grouped Racoons, Otters, Badgers, Weasels, and many
others.
It will, perhaps, be as well to give the scientific names for these
three groups which we have, most unscientifically, called Cats, Dogs,
and Bears. We have first the _Æluroidea_,[2] or Cat-like animals;
next the _Cynoidea_,[3] or Dog-like animals; and, lastly, the
_Arctoidea_,[4] or Bear-like animals. We also give below a list of the
families of land Carnivores arranged under their respective sections,
with the most important forms belonging to each family; as such a list
will, in all probability, be useful for reference.[5]
The splitting up of our flesh-eaters into these sections is not an
arbitrary matter, but is determined by certain definite anatomical
characters, one of the chief of which is the structure of the base of
the skull. These matters will, however, be better discussed under the
various families, when we shall also devote a short time to that very
important branch of anatomy, the form, number, and arrangement of the
teeth.
THE CAT FAMILY.[6]
This is the chief of the families of Carnivora, containing as it does
all the great beasts of prey. Its members are the most perfectly
constructed of animals for a life of rapine; their weapons--teeth and
claws--attain the utmost degree of perfection, and their elegant form,
silent movements, and often beautiful colouring, make them in every
respect the culminating forms of the flesh-eating group, and one of the
chief of the upper branches of the great Mammalian tree.
Both the Old and New World are well stocked with Cats. Everywhere they
are the correlates, geographically speaking, of the beautiful forms of
the Herbivora, and are their natural checkmates in the earth-peopling
process. Their terrible office is to cull out the surplus number
of Goats, Antelopes, Deer, Oxen, and Sheep; they also are not good
neighbours to the Monkey tribes, nor to Rats, Cavies, Hares, Squirrels,
and other gnawing animals. The smaller Cats also add feathered game to
their diet. Everywhere they are the terror of woodland and of field, of
plain and of forest. All are of the kindred of the Lion, and, like him,
all “go about, seeking whom they may devour.”
Man has half tamed one of the smallest--we say _half tamed_, for does
not the demon that possesses all Cats still only slumber in the heart
of the tamest domestic variety? As for the Hunting Leopard, he is
deceived in the services he renders, and, in his own mind, is hunting
for himself, and not for his master.
It is only necessary to mention the animals belonging to this noble
family of “gentlemen caterers” to assure oneself that in it are
contained the best known, the most skilled, the most perfectly armed
of all the Carnivorous order. We have the Wild Cats existing under
many forms nearly all over the world, the Lion the great tyrant of
Africa, the Tiger the despot of India, the Puma and Jaguar taking their
place in America, the Leopard helping the work of the Lion and Tiger
in Africa and Asia, the Lynxes found in both Old and New Worlds, and
the Cheetah, or Hunting Leopard of Asia and Africa. To these need only
be added the Wolf, Hyæna, and Bear, to exhaust the list of “beasts of
prey” in the ordinary acceptation of the term, that is, of beasts which
are dangerous to man, for we “lords of creation” are not sufficiently
generous to include under the term beasts of equal cruelty which prey
on the lower animals.
By most naturalists all these animals are grouped together under the
single genus _Felis_, which is thus said to include a great number
of species, as _Felis leo_ (the Lion), _Felis tigris_ (the Tiger),
_Felis catus_ (the wild Cat), &c. It is very usual to separate from the
rest the Hunting Leopard, and make it constitute by itself a distinct
genus, _Cynælurus_, or _Gueparda_, distinguished from its cousins by
its great length of leg, and a slight difference in the form of its
teeth. Some naturalists separate, in addition, the Lynxes, making of
them the genus _Lyncus_, and others, again, prefer to make separate
genera of all the chief kinds, calling the Lion _Leo nobilis_, the
Tiger _Tigris regalis_, and so forth. This separation or union is,
however, a mere conventional matter, and we prefer to consider all
_Felidæ_ as belonging to the one genus _Felis_, as the simplest and
most comprehensible plan.
The _Felidæ_ are found over almost the whole world, being absent
only in Australia, New Zealand, the south-eastern part of the Malay
Archipelago, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, and the Antilles. In
all other parts of the world Cats--using the word in a wide sense--are
found, and, wherever they are found they are feared, for such a compact
assemblage of bloodthirsty tyrants and ruthless destroyers has no
parallel in the whole animal kingdom.
Remains of fossil Felidæ have been found as far back as the Miocene or
even the Eocene epoch, in the South of England, and Central and South
Europe, in North-west India, in Nebraska, in North America, and in the
caves of Brazil. Of these the best known is the great cave Lion or
Tiger, the _Felis spelæa_.
Every part of these animals is so altered and specialised from the
usual type of Mammalian structure as to assist in the best possible way
the capturing, killing, and devouring of living prey. Looking merely at
the outside, we are struck with the lithe, agile form, the small head,
the total absence of anything like a “pot-belly,” the well-proportioned
limbs, the usually close fur, the stealthy, silent movements, and the
eager, restless glance: all characters suited to an animal to which
powers of quiet rapid movement through jungle or long grass, of quick
observation, and of great strength and agility, are of the utmost
importance.
In the skeleton there are two points of importance, as relating
both to the habits of the Cat tribe and to the determining of their
systematic position in zoology. These are the character of the skull,
and the structure and arrangement of the bones of the toes. Both these
points furnish characters by which the Cats may be separated from
all other families. To these two points, therefore, we will proceed
at once, as, without going into lesser details, there is nothing of
special importance in the vertebral column, large limb bones, &c.
All the points mentioned in the introduction to the group as being
characteristic of the Carnivorous type of skull are here carried to
their extreme. The bony ridges for the attachment of the jaw-muscles
are immense; the jaws attain their utmost limit of structure and
strength, and the lower jaw being perfectly incapable of motion from
side to side, the teeth, as we shall see by-and-by, act like scissors
and not like mill-stones.
If the skull of a Cat be examined, there will be seen on its under
surface, near the hinder end, a pair of rounded swellings, directed
somewhat obliquely. On looking at the skull from the side, there is
seen to be a roundish aperture, the auditory meatus, leading into each
of these swellings, which are found to be thin-walled half globes,
stuck on, as it were, to the under surface of the skull. Round the
aperture is fixed, in the living state, the Cat’s prominent external
ear, and stretched across it, like the parchment of a drum, is a thin
membrane, which vibrates with every sound. The rounded cavity is called
the “drum of the ear,” the membrane stretched across it the “drum
membrane,” or “tympanic membrane,” and the bony half-globe, which forms
the floor of the drum cavity, is the “bulb of the drum,” or _bulla
tympani_.
[Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF LION’S SKULL.
_a.m_, auditory meatus; _b.ty_, bulla tympani; _j_, jugal arch
or zygoma; _o.c_, occipital condyle for the articulation of the
skull with the first vertebra; _c_, condyle of the lower jaw; _g_,
glenoid cavity with which the condyle of the lower jaw articulates;
_p_, the bony clamp, or paroccipital process.]
Closely pressed against the hinder wall of this bulla is a sort of
bony clamp, which seems to keep the bulla in its place, and running
obliquely along the surface of the swelling is an indistinct groove,
corresponding to which, in the interior of the drum, is a bony wall,
dividing the drum cavity into an inner and an outer compartment, these
two divisions being formed from separate bones, as an examination of a
very young skull will show.
The almost globular form and great relative size of the _bulla
tympani_; the absence of any distinct bony passage leading from its
cavity to the interior, the opening being quite flush with the wall
of the drum; and the division of the cavity into two parts by a bony
partition, are all very important as distinctive characters of the Cat
family, and also, with lesser modifications, of the whole Æluroid group.
[Illustration: UNDER VIEW OF LION’S SKULL.
The letters have the same significance as in the side view.]
The power of retracting the claws, so characteristic a feature of all
the true Cats (which are, without exception, digitigrade), is brought
about by certain peculiarities of structure of the last two joints of
the toes. Of the three _phalanges_, or bones which make up the skeleton
of the toe, the first, or that nearest to the wrist or ankle, is of
the ordinary shape: about three times as long as broad, with a regular
cylindrical shaft, and pulley-like ends, for articulation with the bone
to which it is joined. The second, or middle phalanx, is pretty much
like the first, except that its shaft is scooped out on one side, so
as to make a greater distance between it and the corresponding bone of
the next toe than there would otherwise be. The third and last joint,
called the _ungual phalanx_, from the fact of its supporting the
claw, has the regular pulley-surface to articulate with the preceding
joint, but its farther end is strongly curved downwards and pointed
at the end; it has, in fact, the shape of the horny talon of which it
forms the supporting core. Further support is afforded to the claw by
an outgrowth of the phalanx, which commences near its articular end,
and grows over the end of the claw like a sort of hood, thus giving
the ungual phalanx of the Cat a most peculiar and unmistakable shape.
Between the upper surfaces of the last phalanx and the last but one
passes a strong and very elastic ligament, which so pulls upon the
ungual phalanx as to bend it on its predecessor, and so cause the two
to be almost parallel, the hood of the claw-bearing bone being received
between the preceding joint of its own toe and that of the next; hence
the scooping out of the middle phalanges. Thus, by the action of this
ligament, the claw under ordinary circumstances is pulled back within
its covering of skin, which forms for it a sort of protecting pouch,
and effectually prevents its being worn down by rubbing against the
ground. But when the Cat strikes its prey, it bends the paw upon the
wrist by means of the strong _flexor_ (or bending) muscles, which are
placed along the under surface of the fore-arm and hand. The end of the
string-like tendons of one of these muscles divides into four slips,
one for each toe, and, running along the under surface of the first two
phalanges, is inserted into the corresponding surface of the third,
and, this under surface being bent upwards by the elastic ligament, the
tendon is, when the claw is retracted, put upon the stretch. But when
the flexors come into play, they pull upon the ungual phalanx, causing
it to turn through a quarter-circle upon its articulation, and thus
protruding the claw from its pouch. Immediately the flexors relax the
elastic ligament is again allowed to act, and the claw springs back
into its place of repose.
[Illustration: TENDONS AND LIGAMENTS OF A CAT’S TOE.
(_Twice Natural Size. From a Sketch by T. J. Parker._)
A, with the claw retracted; B, with the claw
exserted; _mtc_, the metacarpal; _ph. 1 _, the first; _ph. 2_, the
second; _ph. 3_, the third phalanx; _h_, the bony “hood;” _c_, the
claw; _l_, the elastic ligament; _t_, the flexor tendon; _a_, a
ligamentous loop, through which the tendon passes.]
This arrangement is of great importance, as the Cat family always
attack their prey in the first instance by a stroke of the powerful
fore-paw, and not, as do the Dogs, by a grip of the teeth.
Not less characteristic of the Cat family than the points we have just
considered are the number and form of the teeth, which here attain
the most perfectly carnivorous character, being so constructed as to
be wholly incapable of grinding, thus making it impossible for their
possessor to live upon any but highly nourishing animal food.
In the front part of the Cat’s upper jaw are six small teeth with
chisel-like edges--three on each side of the middle line. These teeth
are, in shape, not unlike our own front teeth, and, like them, are
single-fanged, but their small size, when compared with those that
follow, is remarkable. They are borne by a bone quite distinct in
young skulls from that which carries the other teeth--the premaxillary
bone--and are, therefore, classed as _incisor_ teeth. Corresponding
with them in the lower jaw are six similar teeth--the lower incisors;
so that the incisors of the Cat are said to be (3-3)/(3-3), that is,
three on each side above and below.
[Illustration: LION’S CLAW, SHEATHED AND UNSHEATHED.]
Following the last incisor, and separated from it by a short interval,
comes on each side in both jaws a long, pointed fang, the chief
means by which the Cats seize and hold on to their prey. These are
the _canines_, or dog-teeth, and correspond to the “eye-teeth” in
ourselves, those adze-like teeth immediately following and slightly
projecting beyond the last incisor. When the mouth is closed the lower
canines are seen to bite in front of the upper, and to fit into the
space between the latter and the incisors. The canines of the Cat are
written thus, (1-1)/(1-1).
Following the canines, but separated from them by a slight interval
or _diastema_, are, in the upper jaw four, in the lower three teeth,
which correspond to our “grinders,” or molars and premolars. In the
upper jaw the foremost tooth of this set is as small as one of the
incisors, and its crown is simple, or nearly so. The next two teeth
are larger and have sharp, cutting edges, divided into three points,
or _cusps_. The second of these two teeth is much the larger, its edge
is more blade-like, and the front part of its inner edge sends off a
strong blunt process, which is supported by a distinct root, so that
this tooth has three roots instead of two like its predecessor; it is
also of much greater size than any of those in front, and, biting like
a scissor-blade against the corresponding tooth of the lower jaw, is
called the _sectorial_, or _carnassial_ tooth. Behind it comes the last
of the set, a small tooth with a transversely-set, almost flat crown.
[Illustration: PERMANENT TEETH OF LION.
_i. 3_, the third incisor; _c_, the canine; _p. 1_, _p. 2_, _p. 3_, the
premolars; _m_, the molars.]
In the lower jaw, the grinding series is represented by only three
teeth, all more or less resembling the second of the series in the
upper jaw. Of these the third is the largest, and is called the lower
carnassial, biting, as it does, against the upper tooth of that name.
In every case the teeth of the lower jaw bite _within_ those of the
upper, and, the jaws being so articulated as to allow only of up and
down motion, and being incapable of play from side to side, the molars
and premolars entirely lose their character of grinders, and become
trenchant, cutting up the food, in fact, in precisely the same manner
as a pair of scissors.
Now comes the question, which of these teeth are premolars, and which
molars? This is decided by finding which of them have their place
occupied in the young kitten by its first set of back-teeth, the
_deciduous_ or _milk molars_, and which, on the other hand, have no
predecessors: those which replace the milk molars being the premolars
of the adult, those which arise as altogether new teeth, and have no
representatives in the young animal, molars. The examination of a young
Cat shows that there are, behind the canines, in the upper jaw three,
and in the lower two teeth; that is to say, one less on each side of
each jaw than in the adult. As age advances these deciduous or milk
molars all drop out, and are replaced by the permanent premolars, while
behind the last milk molar of each jaw an entirely new tooth makes its
appearance--the true or permanent molar. Thus it is seen that only the
last tooth in each jaw is a molar, and that the carnassials are of
different natures in the two jaws, the upper being the last (third)
premolar, the lower the single molar.
[Illustration: MILK TEETH OF LION, EXPOSED BY CUTTING AWAY THE OUTER
PORTIONS OF BOTH JAWS.
(_Natural size. From Owen, after Rousseau._)
_d.i_, deciduous incisors; _d.c_, deciduous canines; _d.m.1_,
_d.m.2_, _d.m.3_, deciduous molars. The remaining letters have the
same significance as in the preceding figure.]
We therefore write the premolars of the Cat (3-3)/(2-2), and the molars
(1-1)/(1-1), so that the whole “dental formula” is as follows:--_i._,
(3-3)/(3-3), _c._, (1-1)/(1-1), _p._, (3-3)/(2-2), _m._, (1-1)/(1-1)
= 30. In the milk dentition, the number of incisors and canines is
the same as in the adult, and, as we have just stated, the molars are
absent, so that the formula is _di._, (3-3)/(3-3), _dc._, (1-1)/(1-1),
_dm._, (3-3)/(2-2) = 26, _di_, _dc_, _dm_, standing for deciduous
incisors, canines, and molars.
The tongue in this family becomes an important adjunct to the teeth,
almost losing its character as a delicate organ of taste. The little
elevations or papillæ which beset the tongue in all animals--in
ourselves for instance--are formed into strong horny spines set closely
together like the teeth of a file, and, as may be seen any day at
feeding-time at the Zoological Gardens, used to rasp the flesh from the
bones as effectively as any file would do it. Most people must have
noticed the different texture of a Cat’s and a Dog’s tongue. In the
latter it is as smooth as in ourselves, in the former it has more of
the texture of a piece of coarse sandpaper.
In some _Felidæ_, such as the Domestic Cats, the pupil, or small
aperture in front of the eye which lets in light to the sensitive
retina beyond, has the round shape it possesses in man, only in the
dark, when it is dilated to receive every ray of light available. In
the day, on the other hand, when more light is to be had than the
animal requires, the pupil contracts to an ellipse, or in the strongest
light to a mere line. This is not the case in the larger Cats, such as
the Lion, Tiger, and Leopard, in which also the eyes themselves and the
cavities in the skull for their reception are smaller, proportionally,
than in the Domestic Cat.
Taking the structure of the Cat tribe, all in all, there is nothing
whatever to make it the least difficult to suppose that they all sprang
from one stock, and that size and colour, and every other point in
which they now differ from each other, may have been brought about,
through long periods of time, as the result of the influence of their
surroundings. It is necessary to presume this, for classifiers from
necessity lay hold on the most minute differences, for the sake of
making proper specific distinctions, although these differences may
be merely the outcome of some change of locality, warmer, or colder,
drier, or moister, higher upon the hills, or lower down on the plains.
Once developed, however, it becomes hereditary, and then a _variety_
becomes a _race_, and a race solidifies into a _species_. Yet, the
result once obtained, however it arose, the profit is great to us
who are careful observers and enthusiastic admirers of the infinite
fecundity of Nature.