The Pecora or true Ruminants form at the present time an extremely homogeneous group, one of the best-defined and most closely united of any of the Mammalia. But, though the original or common type has never been departed from in essentials, variatión has been very active among them within certain limits; and the great difficulty which all zoologists have felt in subdividing them into natural minor groups arises from the fact that the changes in different organs (feet, skull, frontal appendages; teeth, cutaneous glands, &c.) have proceeded with such apparent irregularity and absence of correlation that the different modifications of these parts are most variously combined in different members of the group. It appears, however, extremely probable that they soon branched into two main types, represented in the present day by the Cervidae and the Bovida,otherwise the Antlered and Horned Ruminants. Intermediate smaller branchcs produced the existing Musk-Deer and Giraffe, as well as the extinct Helladotherium inclining to the firstnamed group and the extinct Siratherium, Brahmatherium, Hydaspitherium and others more allied to the latter, although upon the true relationship of these forins there is a difference of opinion between the two paleontologists w..o have paid most attention to the group, Rütimeyer and Lydekker, but the materials forthcoming at present are scarcely sufficient for forming a decided opinion. The earliest forms of true Pecora, as Gelocus and Dremotherium (Miocene), had no frontal appendages, and some few forms (Moschus and Hydropotes) continue to the present day in a similar case. the very large majority, however, either in both sexes or in the male only, a pair or occasionally two pairs (Tetraceros and the extinct Sivatherium) of processes are developed as weapons of offence and defence from the frontal bones, these being almost always formed on one or other of two types.

"

In

1. "Antlers are an outgrowth of true bone, covered during their growth with vascular, sensitive integument coated with short hair. In this state they remain permanently in the Giraffe, but in the true Cervida, when the growth of the antler is complete, the supply of blood to it ceases, the skin dies and peels off, leaving the bone bare and insensible, and after a time, by a process of absorption near the base it becomes detached from the skull and is "shed." A more or less elongated portion or "pedicle" always remains on the skull, from the summit of which

branched or palmated, this condition is only gradually acquired in several successive annual growths. An interesting parallel has been observed here, as in so many other cases, between the development of the race and that of the individual. The earliest known forms of Deer, those of the Lower Miocene, have no antlers, as in the young of the existing species. The Deer of the Middle Miocene have simple antlers, with not more than two branches, as in existing Deer of the second year. Species occur in the Upper Miocene with three branches to the antlers, but it is not until the Upper Pliocene and Pleistocene times that Deer occur with antlers developed with that luxuriance of growth and beauty of form characteristic of some of the existing species in a perfectly adult state. Among recent Cervida, antlers are wanting in the genera Moschus and Hydropotes; they are present in both sexes in Tarandus (the Reindeer), and in the male sex only in all others

2. The "horns" of the Bovide consist of permanent, conical, usually curved, bony processes, into which air-cells continued from the frontal sinuses often extend, called "horn-cores," ensheathed in a case of true horn, an epidermic development of fibrous structure, which grows continuously, though slowly, from the base, and wears away at the apex, but is very rarely shed entire. The only existing species in which such a process occurs regularly and periodically is

FIG. 113.-Head of Antelope (Garella granti), showing Horns. From Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1878, p. 724.

the American Prong-Buck (Antilocapra), in which the horns also differ from those of all others in being bifurcated. Horns are not present at birth, but begin to grow very soon afterwards. The males of all existing Bovide possess them, and they are also present (though usually not so fully developed) in the females of all except the genera Portax, Tragelaphus, Procapra, Antilope, Epyceros, Saiga, Kobus, Cervicapra, Pelea, Nanotragus, Neotragus, and Tetraceros.1 Another character by which the different members of the Pecora can be distinguished is derived from the characters of the molar teeth. Although there is nothing in the general mode and arrangement of the enamel folds, or in the accessory columns, absolutely distinctive between the two principal families, existing species may generally be distinguished inasmuch as the true molars of the Cervidæ are "brachyodont," and those of the Bovida "hypsodont," i.c., the teeth of the former have comparatively short crowns, which, as in most mammals, take their place at once with the neck (or point where the crown and root join) on a level with or a little above the alveolar border, and remain in this

a new antler is developed. In the greater number of existing species of Deer this process is repeated with great regularity at the same period of each year. The antler may be simple, straight, subcylindrical, tapering and pointed, but more often it sends off one or more branches called "tynes" or "snags." In this case the main stem is termed the "beam." Commonly all the branches of the antler are cylindrical and gradually tapering. Sometimes they are more or less expanded and flattened, the antler being then said to be "palmated." In young animals the antlers are always small and simple, and in those species in which they are variously

1 Sir Victor Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1878, p. 884.

position throughout the animal's life; whereas in the other forms, the crown being lengthened and the root small, the neck does not come up to the alveolar level until a considerable part of the surface has worn away, and the crown of the tooth thus appears for the greater part of the animal's life partially buried in the socket. In this form of tooth (which is almost always most developed in the posterior molars of the permanent series), the constituent columns of the crown are necessarily nearly parallel, whereas in the first-described they diverge from the neck towards the free or grinding surface of the tooth. In the more complete hypsodont form the interstices of the lengthened columnar folds of enamel and dentine are filled up with cementum, which gives stability to the whole organ, and which is entirely or nearly wanting in the short-crowned teeth. The same modification from low to high crowns without essential alteration of pattern is seen in an even still more marked manner in some of the Perissodactyle Ungulates, the tooth of the Horse bearing to that of Anchitherium (see HORSE, vol. xii. p. 174) the same relation as that of an Ox does to the early Selenodont Artiodactyles. A parallel modification has been also shown to have taken place in the molar teeth of the Proboscidea (see p. 423).

As the hypsodont tooth essentially a modification of and, as it were, an improvement upon the brachyodont, it is but natural to expect that all intermediate forms may be met with. Even among the Deer themselves, as pointed out by Laitet, the most ancient have very short molars, and the depressions on the grinding surface are so shallow that the bottom is always visible, while in the Cervide of the more recent Tertiary periods, and especially the Pleistocene and living species, these same cavities are so deep that whatever be the state of the dentition the bottom cannot be seen. Some existing Deer, as the Axis, are far more hypsodont than the majority of the family, and, on the other hand, many of the Antelopes (as Tragclaphus) retain much of the brachyodont character, which is, however, completely lost in the more modern and highly specialized Sheep

and Oxen.

Family CERVIDE.

Frontal appendages, when present, in the form of antlers. First molar at least in both jaws brachyodont. Two orifices to the lacrymal duct, situated on or inside the rini of the orbit. An anteorbital vacuity of such dimensions as to exclude the lacrymal bone from articulation with the nasal. Upper canines usually present in both sexes, and sometimes attaining a very great size in the male (see fig. 114). Lateral digits of both fore and hind feet almost

Family BOVIDE.

Frontal appendages when present in the form of horns. Molars usually hypsodont. Usually only one orifice to the lacrymal canal, situated inside the rim of the orbit. Lacrymal bone almost always articulating with the nasal. Canines absent in both sexes. The lateral toes may be completely absent, but more often they are represented by the hoofs alone, supported sometimes by a very rulimentary skeleton, consisting of mere irregular nodules of bone. Distal ends of the lateral metapodals never present. Gall-bladder almost always present. Placenta with many cotyledons. The Bovide, or hollow-horned Ruminants (Cavicornia), form a most extensive family, with members widely distributed throughout the Old World, with the exception of the Australian region; but in America they are less numerous, and confined to the Arctic and northern temperate regions, no species being indigenous either to South or Central America, There is scarcely any natural and welldefined group in the whole class which presents greater difficulties of subdivision than this; consequently zoologists are as yet very little agreed as to the extent and boundaries of the genera into which it should be divided. The principal species will be found more particularly described under the headings ANTELOPE, BISON, BUFFALO, CATTLE, CHAMOIS, ELAND, GNU, GOAT, HARTEBEEST, IBET, MUSK-OX, NYLGHAU, OX, SAIGA, and SHEEP.

FIG. 114.-Skull of Hydropotes inermis (adult male), a Deer without Antlers, but with largely-developed upper canine teeth. x. From Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1872, p. 524.

always present, and frequently the distal ends of the metapodals. Placenta with few cotyledons. Gall-bladder absent (except in Moschus). This family contains numerous species, having a wide geographical distribution, ranging in the New World from the Arctic Circle as far south as Chili, and in the Old World throughout the whole of Europe and Asia, but absent in the Ethiopian and Australian regions. For the characters of the generic subdivisions and their distribution, see STAG, also DEER, MUNTJAC, and MUSKDEER.

Family CAMELOPARDALIDE.

Frontal appendages consisting of a pair of short, erect, pern lanent bony processes, ossified from distinct centres, and for a time suturally connected with the frontals, though afterwards ankylosed to them, covered externally with a hairy kir, present in both sexes, and even in the new-born animal. Ant erior to these is a median protuberance on the frontal and con tiguous parts of the nasal bones, which increases with age, and is sometimes spoken of as a third horn. No upper canines. Molars brachyc dont. Lateral digits entirely absent on both fore and hind feet, even the hoofs not developed.

This family contains but a single species, the well-known and very remarkable animal the Giraffe, or Camelopard (Cameloparlis giraffa). See GIRAFFE.

FIG. 115.-Skull of Tillotherium fodiens. nat. size. From Marsh. that of the Bears, but the molar teeth were of the Ungulate type, while the large incisors were very similar to those of the Rodents. The skeleton resembled that of the Carnivores, but the scaphoid and iunar bones were distinct, and there was a third trochanter on the femur. The feet were plantigrade, and each had five digits, all with long pointed claws. In the allied genus Stylinodon all the teeth were rootless. Some were as large as a Tapir.

These, with other similar animals, constituting a group called Taniodonta, are included by Cope in his large order Bunotheria, to which also the existing Insectivora are referred. The constantly increasing knowledge of these annectant forms adds to the difficulty so often referred to in this article of establishing anything like a definite classification of the heterodont mammals.

ORDER CARNIVORA.

Though the Carnivora as at present restricted1 form a very natural and well-defined order among the Mammalia, it is difficult to find any important common diagnostic characters by which they can be absolutely separated; but, as in the case of so many other natural groups, it is by the possession of a combination of various characters that

1 The Feras of Linnæus included all the then known species of the modern orders Carnivora, Insectivora, and Marsupialia.

they must be distinguished. They are unguiculate, and have never less than four well-developed toes on each foot, with nails more or less pointed, rarely rudimentary or absent. The pollex and hallux are never opposable to the other digits. They are regularly diphyodont and heterodont, and their teeth are always rooted. Their dentition consists of small pointed incisors, usually three in number, on each side of each jaw, of which the first is always the smallest and the third the largest, the difference being most marked in the upper jaw; strong conical, pointed, recurved canines; molars variable, but generally, especially in the anterior part of the series, more or less compressed, pointed, and trenchant; if the crowns are flat and tuberculated they are never complex or divided into lobes by deep inflexions of enamel. The condyle of the lower jaw is a transversely placed half-cylinder working in a deep glenoid fossa of corresponding form. The brain varies much in relative size and form, but the hemispheres are never destitute of well-marked convolutions. The stomach is always simple and pyriform. The cæcum is either absent or short and simple, and the colon is not sacculated or greatly wider than the small intestine. Vesiculæ seminales are never present. Cowper's glands are present in some, absent in other groups. The uterus is bicornuate. The mammæ are abdominal, and very variable in number. The placenta is deciduate, and almost always zonary. The clavicle is often entirely absent, and when present is never complete. The radius and ulna are distinct. The scaphoid and lunar bones are always united into one, and there is never a distinct os centrale in the adult. The fibula is always a distinct slender bone.

The large majority of the species composing this order subsist chiefly upon some variety of animal food, though many are omnivorous, and some few chiefly, though not entirely, vegetable eaters. The more typical forms live altogether on recently killed warm-blooded animals, and their whole organization is thoroughly adapted to a predaceous mode of life. In conformity with this manner of obtaining their subsistence they are generally bold and savage in disposition, though some species are capable of being domesticated, and when placed under favourable circumstances for the development of such qualities exhibit a very high degree of intelligence and fidelity. The order is naturally divided into two suborders, the members of one being the more typical, and mainly terrestrial in their mode of life, while those of the other are aberrant, having the whole of their organization specially modified for living habitually in water. These are called respectively the True or Fissiped and the Pinniped Carnivora.

SUBORDER CARNIVORA VERA OR FISSIPEDIA.

The

Generally adapted for terrestrial progression and mode of life, though some may be partially aquatic in their habits. The fore limbs never have the first digit, or the hind limbs the first and fifth digits, longer than the others. Incisors on each side, with very rare exceptions. Cerebral hemispheres more or less elongated; always with three or four gyri on the outer surface forming arches above each other, the lowest surrounding the Sylvian fissure. molar series of teeth have not the uniform characters of those of the Pinnipedia. There is always one tooth in each jaw which is specially modified, and to which the name of "sectorial" or "carnassial" tooth has been applied. The teeth in front of this are more or less sharp-pointed and compressed; the teeth behind it are broad and tuberculated. The characters of the sectorial teeth deserve special attention, as, though fundamentally the same

1 The tusks of the Walrus, altogether so aberrant in its dentition, are

partial exceptions to this statement, but in old individuals the pulp

Lavity fills up, and they cease to grow.

FIG. 116.-Upper Sectorial Teeth of Carnivora. I, Felis; II, Canis; III, Ursus. 1, anterior, 2, middle, and 3, posteer cusp of blade; 4, inner lobe supported on distinct root; 5, inner lobe, poor in position, and without distinct root, characteristic of the Urside.

blade supported on two roots and an inner lobe supported by a distinct root (see fig. 116). The blade when fully developed has three cusps (1, 2, and 3), but the anterior is always small, and often absent. The middle lobe is conical, high, and pointed; the posterior lobe has a compressed straight knife-like edge. The inner lobe (4) varies very much in extent, but it is generally placed near the anterior end of the blade, though sometimes it is median in position.

FIG. 117.-Modifications of the Lower Sectorial Tooth in Carnivora. 1, Felis; II, Canis; III, Herpestes; IV, Lutra; V, Meles; VI, Ursus. 1, anterior lobe of blade; 2, posterior lobe of blade; 3, inner tubercle; 4, heel. It will be seen that the relative size of the two roots varies according to the development of the portion of the crown they have respectively to support.

In the Ursidæ alone both inner lobe and root are wanting, and there is often a small internal and posterior cusp (5) without root. In this aberrant family also the sectorial is relatively to the other teeth much smaller than in the rest of the Carnivora.

The lower sectorial (see fig. 117) is the most anterior of the teeth without predecessors in the milk series; it is therefore reckoned the first true molar (m 1). It has two roots supporting a crown, consisting when fully developed of a compressed bilobed blade (1 and 2), a heel The lobes of the blade, of which the hinder (2) is the larger, are separated by a notch, (4), and an inner tubercle (3). -XV. 55

in the most

generally prolonged into a linear fissure. specialized Carnivora, as the Felida (I.), the blade alone is developed, both heel and inner tubercle being absent or rudimentary. In others, as Meles (V.) and Ursus (VI.), the heel is greatly developed, broad, and tuberculated. The blade in these cases is generally placed obliquely, its flat or convex (outer) side looking forwards, so that the two lobes are almost side by side, instead of anterior and posterior. The inner tubercle (3) is generally a conical pointed cusp, placed to the inner side of the hinder lobe of the blade. The special characters of these teeth are more disguised in the Sea Otter (Enhydra) than in any other form, but even in it they can be traced.

The toes are nearly always armed with large, strong, curved, and tolerably sharp claws, ensheathing the ungual phalanges, and held more firmly in their places by broad

laminæ of bone reflected over their attached ends from the bases of the phalanges. In some forms, most notably the Felida, these claws are "retractile." The ungual phalanx, with the claw attached, folds back in the fore foot into a sheath by the outer or ulnar side of the middle phalanx of the digit, being retained in this position when the animal is at rest by a strong elastic ligament. In the hind foot the ungual phalanx is retracted on to the top, and not the side of the middle phalanx. By the action of the deep flexor muscles, the ungual phalanges are straightened out, the claws protruded from their sheath, and the soft "velvety' paw becomes suddenly converted into a most formidable weapon of offence. The habitual retraction of the claws preserves their points from wear in ordinary progression.

The Fissipedal Carnivora were divided by Cuvier into two groups, according to the position of the feet in walking,— the Plantigrada, or those that place the whole of the soles to the ground, and the Digitigrada, or those that walk only on the toes; and the difference between these groups was considered of equal importance to that which separated from them both the Pinnigrada or Seals. The distinction is, however, quite an artificial one, and every intermediate condition exists between the extreme typical plantigrade gait of the Bears and the truly digitigrade walk of the Cats and Dogs; in fact, the greater number of the Carnivora belong to neither one form nor the other, but may be called "subplantigrade," often when at rest applying the whole of the sole to the ground, but keeping the heel raised to a greater or less extent when walking.

A more natural classification is into three distinct sections, of which the Cats, the Dogs, and the Bears may be respectively taken as representatives, and which are hence called Eluroidea, Cynoidea, and Arctoidea. This division is founded mainly on characters exhibited by the base of the skull, but is corroborated by the structure of other parts. The presence or absence of a bridge of bone, covering the external carotid artery in a part of its course by the side of the alisphenoid bone, and enclosing the "alisphenoid canal," a character to which the late Mr H. N. Turner first drew attention, might seem unimportant at first sight, but it is curiously constant in certain groups, which we have other reasons, derived often from a combination of less easily definable characters, to regard as natural. It is therefore generally mentioned in the following family definitions.

Section ELUROIDEA.

Family FELIDE,

True molars reduced to one above and below, that of the upper jaw very small and transversely extended. Only two inferior premolars. Auditory bulla not externally constricted, but internally

divided by a septum. No alisphenoid canal. Carotid canal very minute. Digits 5-4. Dorsal vertebræ 13.

Felis.-The whole structure of the animals of this genus exhibits the carnivorous type in its fullest perfection. Dentition: it, ct, pt, m; total 30. The upper auterior premolar, always small, may soinctimes be absent without any other modification in the dental or other structures. Such a variation should not therefore be considered as of generic importance. Incisors very small. Canines large, strong, slightly recurved, with trenchant edges and sharp points, and placed wide apart. Premolars compressed and sharp-pointed. The most posterior in the upper jaw (the sectorial) a very large tooth, consisting of a subcompressed blade, divided into three unequal cusps supported by two roots, with a very small inner lobe placed near the front end of the tooth and The upper true molar a very small supported by a distinct root. tubercular tooth placed more or less transversely at the inner side of the hinder end of the last. In the lower jaw the true molar (sectorial) reduced to the blade alone, which is very large, trenchant, ally it has a rudimentary heel, but never an inner tubercle. The skull and much compressed, divided into two subequal lobes. Occasiongenerally is short and rounded, though proportionally more elongated in the larger forms. The facial portion is especially short and broad, and the zygomatic arches very wide and strong. The auditory bullæ are large, rounded, and smooth. Vertebre: C 7, D13, L7, S 3, C 13-29. Clavicles better developed than in other Carnivora, but not articulating with either the shoulder bones or sternum. Limbs digitigrade. Anterior feet with five tocs, the third and fourth nearly equal and longest, the second slightly and the fifth considerably shorter; the rollex still shorter, not reaching as far Hind feet as the metacarpo-phalangeal articulation of the second. with only four toes. The third and fourth the longest, the second and fifth somewhat shorter and nearly equal; the hallux represented only by the rudimentary metatarsal bone. The claws all very large, strongly curved, compressed, very sharp, and exhibiting the retractile condition in the highest degree. The tail varies greatly in length, being in some a mere stump, in others nearly as long as the body. Ears of moderate size, more or less triangular and pointed. Eyes rather large. Iris very mobile, and with a pupillary aperture which contracts under the influence of light in some species to a narrow vertical slit, in others to an oval, and in some to a circular aperture. Tongue thickly covered with sharppointed, recurved horny papilla. Cecum small and simple.

As in structure so in habits, the Cats may be considered the most specialized of all the Carnivora. All the known members of the genus feed, in the natural state, almost exclusively on warm-blooded animals which they have themselves killed. One Indian species (F. viverrina) is said to prey on fish and even freshwater molluscs Unlike the Dogs, they never associate in packs, and rarely hunt their prey in open ground, but from some place of concealment wait until the unsuspecting victim comes within reach, or with noiseless and stealthy tread, crouching close to the ground for concealment, approach near enough to make the fatal spring. In this manner they frequently attack and kill animals considerably exceeding their own size. They are mostly nocturnal, and the greater number, especially the smaller species, more or less arboreal. None are aquatic, and all take to the water with reluctance, though some may habitually haunt the banks of rivers or pools, because they more easily obtain their prey in such situations. The numerous species of the genus are very widely diffused over the greater part of the habitable world, though most abundant in the warm latitudes of both hemispheres. No species are, however, found in the Australian region, or in Madagascar. Although the Old-World and New. World Cats (except perhaps the Northern Lynx) are all specifically distinct, no common structural character has been pointed out by which the former can be separated from the latter. On the con trary, most of the minor groups into which the genus has been divided have representatives in both hemispheres.

Notwithstanding the considerable diversity in external appearance and size between different members of this extensive genus, the structural differences are but slight, and so variously combined in different species that the numerous attempts hitherto made to subdivide it are all unsatisfactory and artificial. The principal differences are to be found in the form of the cranium, especially of the nasal and adjoining bones, the completeness of the bony orbit

1 See W. H. Flower, "On the Value of the Characters of the Base of the Cranium in the Classification of the order Carnivora," Proc. Zool. Soc., 1869, p. 4: St George Mivart, "On the Classification and Distribution of the Eluroidea," ibid., 1882, p. 135; and Id., The Cat, an Introduction to the Study of Backboned Animals, especially Mammals, 1881.

inner lobe of the upper sectorial, the length of the tail, the form of the pupil, and the condition and coloration of the fur, especially the presence or absence of tufts or pencils of hair on the external ears. There is one decidedly aberrant form, which enables us to divide the genus into two sections, to which the rank of genera is sometimes accorded.

1. Felis proper. A distinctly cusped inner lobe to the upper sectorial tooth. Claws completely retractile. There are about

known.

A. Old- World Species.

For F. leo, see LION; and for F. tigris, see TIGER. With regard to F. pardus, the Leopard or Panther, it is still a matter of uncertainty whether the large spotted Cats to which these names are given, found chiefly in wooded districts through nearly the whole of Africa and the warmer parts of Asia as far as Japan, belong to one or several species. See LEOPARD. F. uncia, the Ounce, inhabits the highlands of Central Asia, from the snowy mountains of Tibet to the southern parts of Siberia, at altitudes of from 9000 to 18,000 feet abovo the sea. It is about the size of the common Leopard, but lighter in colour, with longer fur and less distinct spots. Its skull differs in shape from that of all the other Felida, the facial portion being very broad, the nasal bones especially being wide and depressed, and the zygomatic arches very strong and deep. F. macrosclis, the Clouded Tiger, is a beautifully marked species, with elongated head and body, long tail, and rather short limbs. The canine teeth are proportionally longer than in any existing member of the genus. It is thoroughly arboreal, and is found in the forests of south-east Asia and the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Formosa. F. serval, the Serval, from South Africa, is yellow with black spots, and has a short tail and large ears. Numerous smaller species called Tiger Cats and Wild Cats, many of them by no means clearly defined zoologically, are found throughout the warmer parts of Asia and Africa. The Wild Cat of Europe, F. catus, still inhabits the mountainous and wooded parts of Great Britain. The Domestic Cat is an introduced species, and generally supposed to be derived from F. maniculata of Egypt and Syria. Moderate-sized Cats, with short tails, rather long limbs, especially the hinder ones, and tufts or pencils of hair on their ears, are called Lynxes. See LYNX.

B. New-World Species.

F. concolor, the Puma or Couguar, commonly called "Panther" in the United States, is about the size of a Leopard, but of an uniform brown colour, spotted only when young, and is extensively distributed in both North and South America, ranging between the parallels of 60° N. and 50° S. F. onca, the Jaguar, is a larger and more powerful animal than the last, and more resembles the Leopard in its colours. It also is found in both North and South America, but with less extensive range, reaching northwards only as far as Texas, and southwards nearly to Patagonia. See JAGUAR. F. pardalis, and several allied smaller elegantly-spotted species inhabiting the intratropical regions of America, are commonly confounded under the name of Ocelot or Tiger Cat. F.Jaguarundi, rather larger than the Domestic Cat, with an elongated head and body, and of a uniform brownish-grey colour, ranges from Mata moras to Paraguay. F. eyra is a small Cat, very Musteline in form, having an elongated head, body, and tail, and short limbs, and is also of a uniform light reddish-brown colour. It is a native of South America and Mexico. F. pajeros is the Pampas Cat. Four species of Lynx are described from North America, but it is doubtful whether these are specifically distinct from each other and from the Lynx of northern Europe.

2 Cynælurus.-Sometimes considered as a distinct genus. The Cheetah or Hunting Leopard, F. jubata, is distinguished from the other Felide by the inner lobe of the upper sectorial, though supported by a distinct root, having no salient cusp upon it, by the tubercular molar being more in a line with the other teeth, and by the claws being smaller, less curved, and less completely retractile, owing to the feebler development of the elastic ligaments. The skull is short and high, with the frontal region broad and elevated in consequence of the large development of the frontal air-sinuses. The head is small and round, the body light, the limbs and tail long. Its colour is palo yellowish-brown with small black spots. The Cheetah is less savage and more easily tamed than most of the Cats. In Asia it has been trained for the chase of the Antelope. It has rather an extensive geographical range from the Cape of Good Hope, throughout Africa and the south-western parts of Asia, as far as southern India..

Fossil Felide.-Numerous extinct species of the genus are found in Pleistocene, Pliocene, and even later Miocene deposits in Europe, Asia, and America. Among them is the Cave Lion, F. spelæa, which can scarcely be separated specifically from F. leo, and of which abundant remains are found in caves in England and other parts of Europe. F. cristata, from the Siwalik Hills, intermediate in size between a Tiger and Jaguar, is distinguished from the other Felida by the shortness of the face as compared with the cranial part of the skull. These and many others, mostly of smaller size, present no greater modifications of form than the various existing members of the genus Felis, and can therefore be properly included within its limits; but numerous other forms are gradually becoming known, especially through the researches of American paleontologists, which, though evidently animals of the same general type and therefore to be included in the family Felide, depart so much in various details of structure that they must be placed in different genera. As one of the points in which Felis manifests its special

with concomitant shortening of the jaws, it might be supposed that in the earlier and perhaps ancestral forms these teeth would be more numerous and approach more nearly to the primitive or typical number of the heterodont mammals, viz., seven on each side. This is actually the case. One European form (also recently found in America) to which Gervais has given the name of Pscudælurus, of Miocene age, has the dentition of Felis with an addition of one premolar in the lower jaw; but others have a still larger number, as Archælurus debilis of Cope from the American Miocene, about the size of a Panther, which has four premolars and a tubercular molar in the upper jaw, and three premolars and two molars in the lower jaw. A tubercular molar in the lower jaw, behind the sectorial, also occurs in Elurogale, Dinictis, and Nimravus. Another tendency to generalization is the existence in some forms, as Hoplophoncus, of a posterior lobe or heel to the inferior sectorial, found in nearly all Carnivores except the existing Felide. On the other hand some of the extinct Felide show a most remarkable tendency towards a specialization not occurring in any of the surviving members of the family, viz., an enormous development of the upper canines, with which is usually associated an expansion downwards and flattening of the anterior part of the ramus of the lower jaw, on the outer side of which the canine lies, when the mouth is closed. In Smilodon næogeus, the Sabre-toothed Tiger, from the caves of Brazil and also from Pleistocene deposits near Buenos Ayres, an animal about the size of a Tiger, these teeth are 7 inches in length, greatly compressed, and finely serrated on the trenchant anterior edges. Similar serrations are seen on a much fainter scale in the unworn teeth of modern Tigers. Many modifications of this commonly-called "macharodont" type have been met with both in the Old and New World to which the names of Machærodus, Drepanodon, Smilodon, Hoplophoneus, Dinictis, Pogonodon, &c., have been given. A very remarkable form, Eusmilus, differs from all other known Felines in having only four incisors in the lower jaw, and a pair of small canines separated by a very long diastema from the next teeth, which consist only of one premolar and one sectorial true molar. The lower jaw is enormously expanded towards the symphysis to protect the large upper canines. This animal then, although of Eocene age, appears to form the culminating development of the sabre-toothed or macherodont dentition, the most specially carnivorous type of structure known.

Copo divides all the known Feline animals into two families, Felide and Nimrovidæ, distinguished by the characters of the foramina at the base of the cranium, the former being of more modern origin than the latter, the members of which are all extinct, and which seen to connect the Cats with still more primitive types of Carnivora.

Family VIVERRIDE.

Premolars ort. Molars for . Auditory bulla externally constricted, and divided by a septum. An alisphenoid canal (with very rare exceptions). Carotid canal distinct as a groove on the side of the bulla. Digits usually 5-5, but sometimes the pollex or hallux or both may be wanting. Dorsal vertebræ 13 or 14. Limited in distribution to the Old World.

The subfamily Cryptoproctinæ contains the single genus Cryp toprocta. Dentition: i, ct, pt, m -f; total 36. The teeth generally closely resemble those of the Felide. The first premolar of both jaws is very minute and early deciduous. The upper sectorial has a very small inner lobe, quite at the anterior part of the tooth. The true molar is very small and placed transversely. The lower sectorial has a large trenchant bilobed blade, and a very minute heel, but no inner tubercle. Skull generally like that of Felis, but proportionately longer and narrower. Orbit widely open behind. Vertebra: C 7, D 13, L 7, S 3, C 29. Body elongated. Limbs moderate in size. Feet subplantigrade; five well-developed toes on each, with sharp, compressed, retractile claws. Ears modeTail long and cylindrical.

rate.

The only known species, C. ferox, the "Foussa" of the Malagasy, is peculiar to Madagascar, being the largest carnivorous animal in the island. It is about twice the size of the common Cat (5 feet from nose to end of tail), with short close fur of nearly uniform pale brown. Little is as yet known of its habits, except that it is nocturnal, frequently attacks and carries off goats, and especially kids, and shows great ferocity when wounded, on which account it is much dreaded by the natives.

The remaining numerous specific and generic modifications found in the existing animals belonging to this family seem to group themselves mainly into two tolerably distinct groups, distinguishable by the characters of the auditory bulla and neighbouring parts of the base of the skull, and by the structure of the feet. The one form has the genus Viverra or Civet Cats for its most typical representative, and the other Herpestes or the Ichneumons.

Subfamily Viverrinæ.-Auditory bulla oval or rather conical, broad and truncated and not everted behind, narrow in front and

1 "On the Extinct Cats of America," American Naturalist, December 1880,