o o * THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID THE ANIMAI, . NEW YORK: . which are distinguished by a pyramidal head, the upper jaw of which descends much below the cranium, as the branches of the lower one ascend very high for the purpose of lodging a bony drum, formed by a vesicular inflation of the hyoid bone, which communicates with the larynx, and gives to their voice astonishing power, and a most frightful sound. Hence their name of Howling Monkeys. The prehensile portion of the tail is naked .beneath. There are several species, whose distinguishing characters are not yet well ascertained, for the colour of the fur on which they are established varies with the age and sex. Simia seniculus, Buff. (Red Howling Monkey.) It is often sent to us from the forests of Guiana, where it lives in troops; size that of a large fox; colour, a reddish chesnut, rather deeper at the head and tail. The COMMON SAPAJOUS have the head flat, and the projection of the muzzle very moderate facial angle 60. In some of them, the anterior thumbs are either totally, or nearly so, hid- den under the skin, and the prehensile part of the tail naked beneath. M. Geoff, has formed them into a genus by the name of ATELES. LAGOTHHIX, Geoff. GASTRIMARGUS, Spix. Head round, a thumb like the Alouattes; tail partly naked. Such are the L. Humboldii, Geoff, the Capparo, and the Grison or the Silver-haired Monkey; Monkeys from the interior of South America, said to be remark- able gluttons. The other Sapajous have a round head, distinct thumbs, and the tail hairy, though prehensile. The species are more numerous than those of the Alouatte, and are characterised with nearly as much difficulty. Some of them have the hairs on the forehead of a uniform length, such as the Sim. appella, L. (The Sajou); and the S> capucina, L. (The Capuchin.) H 58 MAMMALIA. Both of them of different browns; in the first, the circumference of the face is blackish; in the second it is whitish; but the shade of colour in all the rest of their bodies varies between a brownish black and a fawn-colour, sometimes even a white. The shoulders and breast are however generally lighter and the calotte and hands darker. Others, again, have the hairs of the forehead so disposed as to form a kind of aigrette, such as the Sim. fatuellus, Gm. (The Horned Sajou.) This animal has a tuft of black hairs on each side of the forehead. The disposition of these Monkeys is mild and gentle, their motions quick and light, and they are easily tamed. Their name of Weeping Monkeys is derived from their soft plaintive voice. In the SAIMIRI the tail is depressed, and almost ceases to be prehensile; the head is very much flattened; in the interorbitar partition of the skeleton there is a membranous space. There is only one known; the Simla sciurea, Buff. (The Siamiri.) Size of a Squirrel; of a yellowish grey; fore-arms, legs, and the four extremities of a yellowish fawn-colour; end of the nose black. Those of the American monkeys, whose tails are not at all prehensile, are called SAKIS. Several of them have that appendage long and tufted, whence they have been also termed Fox-tailed Monkeys: their teeth project for- wards more than those of the others. They are the PITHECIA of Desmarets and Illiger. Simia pithecia t t>. (TheYarke.) Blackish; circumference of the face whitish. Spix distinguishes those species whose tails, although tufted, are shorter than the body, by the name of BRACHITJBUS. His Br. Ouaraki has a fawn- coloured body; head, neck, arms and feet black. In some, also, the CAIUTHH.IX, Geoff, or Sagouins, Fr. Cuv. the tail is slender, and the teeth do not project. The Saimiri were associated with them for a long time, but the head of the Sagouins is higher, and their canine teeth much shorter. Such is the Call, personata, Geoff. (The Masked Monkey.) A yellowish grey; head and hands black. The NOCTHOB.TJS, Fred. Cuv. Only differs from the Sagouins in its great nocturnal eyes, and in the ears, which are partly hidden under the hair. One species only is known, Nocth. trivirgata, Fred. Cuv. (TheDouroucouli.) Ash-coloured above, yellowish beneath; a black vertical line on the middle of the forehead, and one on each temple. It is a nocturnal animal of South America. They are all from Guiana or Brazil. OUISTITIS. A small genus, similar to the Sakis, and for a long time confounded with them in the great genus of monkeys. In fact, like the generality of the QUA DRUM AN A. 59 American monkeys, they have the head round; visage flat; nostrils lateral; no cheek-pouches, and, like the Sakis in particular, the tail not prehensile. They have only, however, twenty grinders, like the monkeys of the east- ern continent; all their nails are compressed and pointed, those of the hind thumbs excepted, while their anterior ones are so slightly separated from the fingers, that it is with hesitation we assign to them the name of quad- rumana. They are pretty little creatures, of agreeable forms, and easily tamed. M. Geoffrey distinguishes the Ouistitis, properly so called, which he names JACCHTJS and whose peculiar characters are pointed inferior incisors, arranged on a curved line, equal to the canines. Their tail is annulated and well covered with hairs; the ears generally ornamented with a tuft. Sim. jacchus, Lin. ; in Paraguay the Titi, (The Common Ouistiti.) Tail tolerably well tufted, coloured in rings of brown and white; body greyish- brown; two large tufts of white hairs before the ears. From nearly every part of South America. LEMUR, Lin. The Lemurs, according to Linnaeus, comprehend all the Quadrumana which have in either jaw incisors differing in number from four, or at least diffe- rently directed from those of the Monkeys. This negative character could not fail to embrace very different beings, while it did not even unite those which should be combined. Geoffroy has established several divisions in this genus which are much better characterized. The four thumbs of these animals are well developed and opposable, and the first hind finger is armed with a pointed, raised nail; all the other nails are flat. Their fur is woolly; and their teeth begin to exhibit sharp tubercles catch- ing in each other as in the Insectivora. LEMUB. MAKIS, properly so called. Six incisors in the lower jaw compressed and slanting forwards, four in the upper that are straight, the intermediate ones being separated from each other; trenchant canines; six molares on each side above, six below; ears small. They are very active animals, which, from their pointed heads, have been called Fox-nosed Monkeys. Their food is fruit. Their species are very numerous, and are only met with in the island of Madagascar, where they appear to replace the Monkeys, none of which it is said are to be found there. Nearly all the difference that exists between them is in the colour. . LICHAITOTUS, 11%. Teeth like the preceding, except that there are only four below. One species only is known; it has no tail; is three feet high; black; face grey; the Lemur Indri of Sonnerat, Voy. I, pi. 86. The inhabitants of Madagascar tame and train it like a dog for the chase. 60 MAMMALIA. Loms. STEWOPS, Illig. The Lazy Monkeys, as they are called, have teeth like the Makis, the grinders excepted, the points of which are more acute; the short muzzle of a mastiff; body slender; no tail; large eyes; tongue rough. They feed on insects, occasionally on small birds and quadrupeds, their gait is excessively slow, and mode of life nocturnal. Two species only are known, both of them from the East Indies: one is the Lent, tardigradus, L. (The Slow Loris, or Sloth of Bengal.) Fawn- coloured grey, a brown streak along the back; two of the upper incisors sometimes wanting. The second species is called the Slender Loris. GALAGO, Geoff. OTOUNCUS, Illig. The teeth and insectivorous regimen of the preceding; elongated tarsi which produce a disproportion in the dimensions of their hind feet; a long tufted tail; large membranous ears and great eyes, which announce noc- turnal habits. There are several species known, all from Africa. It appears also that we should refer to them an animal of that country (Lemur potto, Gm.)> whose gait is said to be as slow as that of the Loris and Sloths. TARSIUS. Elongated tarsi, and all the other details of form belonging to the pre- ceding division; but the space between the molars and incisors is occupied by several shorter teeth; the middle superior incisors are lengthened and resemble canini. The muzzle is very short, and the eyes still larger than those of the Galago. They are nocturnal animals, and feed on insects. From the Moluccas. Lemur spectrum, Pall. ORDER III. CARNARIA(l). This order consists of a considerable and varied assemblage of unguiculated quadrupeds, possessing like Man and the Quadru- mana the three sorts of teeth, but which have no opposable thumb to their fore-feet. Their food is animal, and the more exclusively so, as their grinders are the more trenchant. Such as have them wholly or partly tuberculous, take more or less vegetable aliment, (1) Flesh eating animals. CARNARIA. 61 and those in which they are bristled with points live principally on Insects. The articulation of their lower jaw, being transversely directed and hinge-like, allows of no lateral motion; it can only open and shut. Although the convolutions of the brain are still tolerably well marked, it has no third lobe, nor does it cover the cerebellum any more than in the following families; the orbit is not separated from the temporal fossa in the skeleton; the cranium is narrowed and the zygomatic arches widened and raised, in order to give more strength and volume to the muscles of their jaws. Their predominant sense is that of smell, and their pituitary membrane is generally spread over numerous bony laminae. The fore-arm has still the power of revolving in nearly all of them, although with less facility than in the Quadrumana, and they never have the thumb of the anterior extremities opposed to the other toes. On account of the substan- tial nature of the aliment, and to avoid the putrefaction it would undergo by remaining too long in an elongated canal, their intes- tines are less voluminous. There is a great variety in their forms and in the details of their organization, which produces analogous differences in their habits, and to such an extent as makes it impossible to arrange their ge- nera on one line, and compels us to form them into several families, which are variously connected by multiplied relations. FAMILY I. CHEIROPTERA. This family still retains some affinity with the Quadrumana. Their distinguishing character consists in a fold of the skin, which, commencing at the sides of the neck, extends between their four feet and toes, supports them in the air, and even enables such of them to fly as have their hands sufficiently developed for that pur- pose. This disposition required strong clavicles and large scapulas to give the necessary solidity to the shoulder, but it was incompati- ble with the rotation of the fore-arm, which would have diminished the force of the stroke requisite for flight. They have all four great canini, but the number of their incisors varies. They have long been divided into two genera, founded upon the extent of their or- 62 MAMMALIA. gans of flight. The first of these, however, requires several subdi- visions. VESPERTILIO, Lin. The arms, fore-arms and fingers of the Bats are excessively lengthened, forming-, with the membrane that occupies their intervals, true wings, pos- sessing even a greater extent of surface than those of Birds they conse- quently fly very high, and with great rapidity. The thickness of their pectoral muscles is proportioned to the motions they have to execute, and there is a ridge in the middle of the sternum like that of Birds, to which they are attached. The thumb is short and armed with a claw, by which they are enabled to creep and to suspend themselves. Their hind feet are weak and are divided into five toes, almost always of equal length, armed with trenchant and pointed nails. Their eyes are excessively small, but their ears are frequently very large, and together with the wings form a vast membranous surface, which is almost naked, and so extremely sensi- ble that it is probable they guide themselves through all the sinuosities of their labyrinths, even after their eyes have been plucked out, solely by the diversity of the impressions of the air. They are nocturnal, and in our climate pass the winter in a state of stupor. During the day they suspend themselves in obscure places. They generally produce two young ones at a birth, which cling to their mammx, and whose size is considerable in proportion to that of the mother. This genus is very numerous, and offers many subdivisions. We must begin by separating from it the PTEROPTTS, Bris. Trenchant incisors in each jaw, and grinders with flat crowns; the food, consequently, consists chiefly of fruit, of which it destroys considerable quantities; it also successfully pursues birds and small quadrupeds. It is the largest Bat known, and the flesh is eaten. It inhabits the East Indies. They have never been found out of the south of Asia or the Indian Ar- chipelago. a. Without tails, and four incisors in each jaw. P. edulis, Geoff. (The Black Roussette.) Blackish brown, deepest be- neath, wings nearly four feet from tip to tip. From the Moluccas and the straits of Sunda, where they are found in great numbers during the day suspended to the trees. b. With a small tail and four incisors in each jaw. M. Geoffrey was the first who described the species of this subdivision. One of them grey and woolly, Pter. aegypticus, is found in the caves of Egypt. The Pteropi being taken away, we have the true BATS left, which are all insectivorous, and have three grinders on each side in each jaw, bristled CARNARIA. 63 with conical points, they are preceded by a variable number of false molars. Their index never has a nail, and, one submenus excepted, the membrane is always extended between the two legs. They should be divided into two principal tribes. The first has three ossified phalanges in the middle finger of the wing, but the remainder, in- cluding the index itself, consists of but two. The tribe of true bats is now divided into numerous subgenera such as JMblossus, Nodilio, Vampirus, &c. &c., distinguished by the absence or presence of a tail, the fact of its being free above the membrane or in- volved in it, the presence of a membrane on the nose, number of incisors, &c. &c. GALEOPITHECUS, Pall. The Galeopitheci differ generically from the Vespertilios, in the fingers, all armed with trenchant nails, which are not longer than the toes, so that the membrane which occupies their intervals, and extends to the sides of the tail, can only act as a parachute. The canini are denticulated and short like the molars. There are two upper denticulated incisors widely separated from each other, below there are six, split into narrow strips, like a comb, a structure altogether peculiar to this genus. The animals belonging to it are found in the Indian Archipelago, on the trees, among which they pursue Insects, and perhaps Birds. If we can judge by the injury the teeth sustain from age, they use fruit also. One species only is well ascertained, the Flying Lemur. Fur greyish red above, reddish below; spotted and striped with various shades of grey when young. From the Molucca islands, straits of Sunda, 8cc. All the other Carnaria have the mammae situated under the ab- domen. FAMILY II. INSECTIVORA. The animals of this family, like the Cheiroptera, have grinders studded with conical points, and lead a nocturnal or subterraneous life. Their principal food is Insects, and in cold climates many of them pass the winter in a torpid state. Unlike the Bats, they have no lateral membranes, although they always have clavicles. Their feet are short and their motions feeble. In walking they all place the whole sole of the foot on the ground. They differ from each other by the relative position and propor- tions of their incisors and canini. 64 MAMMALIA. Some have long incisors in front, followed by other incisors and canini, all even shorter than the molars, a kind of dentition of which the Tarsiers, among the Quadrumana, have already given us an example, and which somewhat approximates these animals to the Rodentia. Others have large separated canini, between which are placed small incisors, the most usual disposition of these parts among the Quadrumana and the Carnaria; and these two systems of dental arrangement are found in genera, otherwise very similar in the te- guments, shape of the limbs, and mode of life. ERINACEUS, Lin. The body of the Hedgehog is covered with spines instead of hairs. The skin of the back is furnished with such muscles, as, by inclining the head and feet towards the abdomen, enable the animal to shut himself up in it, as in a purse, presenting 1 his spines on all sides to the enemy. The tail is very short, and there are five toes to each foot. There are six incisors in each jaw, the middle ones being the longest, and on each side three false molars, three bristled with points, and a small one studded with tu- bercles(l). E. europseus, L. ; Buff. (The Common Hedgehog.) Ears short; com- mon in the woods and hedges; passes the winter in its burrow. To Insects, which constitute its ordinary diet, it adds fruit, by which at a cer- tain age its teeth become worn. The skin was formerly used to dress hemp. CENTENES, Illig. The body of the Tenrec is covered with spines like the Hedgehog. It does not however possess the faculty of rolling itself so completely into a ball: there is no tail; the muzzle is very pointed, and the teeth are very different. There are four or six incisors, and two great canini in each jaw. Behind the canini are one or two small teeth, and four triangular and bristled molars. Three species are found in Madagascar, the first of which has been naturalized in the Isle of France. It is a nocturnal animal, which passes three months of the year in a state of lethargy, although inhabiting the torrid zone. Brugiere even assures us that it is during the greatest heats that they grow torpid. Erinaceus ecaudalus, L. (The Tenrec.) Covered with stiff spines; only four notched incisors below. It is the largest of the three, and exceeds the Hedgehog in size. (1) Pallas has noted as an interesting fact, that the Hedgehog eats hun- dreds of Cantharides without inconvenience, while a single one produces the most horrible agony in the Dog and the Cat. CARNARIA. 65 CLADOBATES, Fr. Cuv. This is a new genus from the Indian Archipelago. The teeth have much affinity with those of the Hedgehog; their middle upper incisors, however, are proportionally shorter, and the four lower ones elongated; there is also no tubercular one behind. The animal is covered with hair, has a long shaggy tail, and, contrary to the habits of other Insectivora, climbs trees with the agility of a Squirrel; the pointed muzzle, however, makes the animal easily distinguishable even at a distance. SOREX, Lin. The Shrews are generally small, and covered with hair. Under this, and upon each flank, there is a small band of stiff, thickly set set, from be- tween which oozes an odorous fluid, the product of a peculiar gland. The two middle upper incisors are hooked and dentated at their base, the lower ones slanting and elongated: five small teeth on each side follow the first, and two only the second. There are moreover in each jaw three bristled molars, and in the upper one the last is a small tuberculous tooth. This animal lives in holes it excavates in the earth, which it seldom leaves till evening, and lives on worms and insects. Sor. araneus, L. (The Common Shrew.) Grey above; ash-coloured beneath; tail square, and not so long as the body by one-third; teeth white; ears naked and exposed; common in the fields, &c. There are several other species, one of which (the Rat-tailed Shrew) the Egyptians were in the habit of embalming. MYGALE, Cuv. The Desmans differ from the Shrews in two very small teeth placed be- tween the two great lower incisors, and in their two upper incisors which are flattened and triangular. Behind these incisors are six or seven small teeth and four bristled molars. Their snout is drawn out into a little flexi- ble proboscis, which they keep constantly in motion. Their long tail, scaly and flattened on the sides, with their feet of five fingers all united by membranes, evidently proclaim them to be aquatic animals. Their eyes are very small, and they have no external ears. Sorex moschatus, L. (The Russian Muskrat) Nearly as large as a Shrew; above blackish, beneath whitish; tail not so long as the body by one-fourth. Southern Russia. CHRYSOCHLORIS, Lacep. Animals of this genus, like those of the preceding one, have two incisors above and four below; but their grinders are long, distinct and almost all shaped like triangular prisms- Their muzzle is short, broad, and recurved, and their fore-feet have only three nails, of which the external, that is very large, much arcuated and pointed, serves them as a powerful instrument I 66 MAMMALIA. for excavating and piercing the earth; the others regularly decrease in size. The hind feet have five of an ordinary size. They are subterraneous ani- mals, whose mode of life is similar to that of Moles. To enable them to dig the better, their fore-arm is supported by a third bone placed under the cubitus. C. asiaticus. (The Golden Mole.) A little smaller than the European Mole; no apparent tail; is the only known quadruped that presents any appearance of those splendid metallic tints which brighten and adorn so many Birds, Fishes and Insects. Its fur is a green, changing to a copper or bronze; there is no conch to the ear, and the eye is not perceptible. TALPA, Lin. No one is ignorant of this curious animal, the Mole, whose form so per- fectly qualifies it for a subterraneous mode of life. A very short arm attached to a long scapula, supported by a powerful clavicle and furnished with enormous muscles, sustains an extremely large hand, the palm of which is always directed either outwards or backwards; the lower edge of this hand is trenchant, the fingers are scarcely perceptible, but the nails in which they terminate are long, flat, strong and sharp. Such is the instru- ment employed by the Mole to tear the earth and throw it behind it. Its sternum, like that of Birds and Bats, has a process which gives to the pec- toral muscles the size that is required for their functions. To pierce and raise up the earth, it makes use of its long pointed head, whose muzzle is armed at its extremity with a peculiar little bone, and whose muscles are extremely powerful. There is even an additional bone in the cervical ligament. It has but little power behind, and moves as slowly above ground as it advances rapidly under it. Its sense of hearing is very acute, and the tympanum very large, although there is no external ear; its eyes are so small and so hidden by the hair, that for a long time their existence was positively denied. The jaws are weak, and the food consists of Worms, Insects, and some soft roots. There are six incisors above and eight below. The canini have two roots, which causes them to partake of the nature of false molars; back of them are four false molars above and three, below, after which are three bristled molars. T. europaea, L.; Buff. (The Common Mole.) Pointed muzzle, hair soft and black; individuals are found white, fawn-coloured and piebald a vexatious animal in cultivated grounds. CONDYLURA, Illig. In the animals belonging to this genus, the two kinds of dentition peculiar to the Insectivora seem to be combined. In the upper jaw are two large triangular incisors, two extremely small and slender ones, and on each side a strong canine. In the lower one are four incisors slanting forwards, and a pointed but small canine. The superior false molars are triangular and separated, the inferior trenchant and denticulated. In their feet and the whole of their exterior they resemble the Mole, but CARNARIA. 67 their tail is longer, and what more particularly serves to distinguish them from the former is, that their nostrils are surrounded with little movable cartilaginous points, which, when they separate, radiate like a kind of star. One species particularly is found in North America Sorex cristatus, L. (The Radiated Mole) similar to the Mole of Europe, the nose excepted, but having a tail more than double the length of that of the latter. SCALOPS, CUV. Teeth very similar to those of the Desmans, except that the small or false molars are less numerous, the muzzle is simply pointed, like that of the Shrew; their hands are widened, armed with strong nails fitted to excavate the earth, and exactly similar to those of Moles: in fact their mode of life is the same; their eyes are equally as small, and their ears quite as much hidden. The only species known is the aquaticus. It appears to inhabit a great part of North America, along rivers, &c. Its external resemblance to the common Mole of Europe (1) is so great, that it is easy to mistake the one for the other. FAMILY III. CARNIVORA. Although the term carnivorous is applicable to all unguiculated animals, not quadrumanate, that have three sorts of teeth, inasmuch as they all use more or less animal aliment, there are, however, many of them, the two preceding families especially, which are compelled by weakness and the conical tubercles of their grinders to live almost entirely on Insects. It is in the present family that the sanguinary appetite for flesh is joined to the force necessary to obtain it. There are always four stout, long, and separated canini, between which are six incisors in each jaw, the root of the second of the lower ones being placed a little more inwards than the others. The molars are either wholly trenchant, or have some blunted tu- berculous parts, but they are never bristled with conical points. These animals are so much the more exclusively carnivorous, as their teeth are the more completely trenchant, and the proportions of their regimen may be calculated from the extent of the tubercu- lous surface of their teeth, compared with that which is trenchant. The Bears, which can subsist altogether on vegetables, have nearly all their teeth tuberculated. (1) It is the Common Mole of the United States. Am. Ed. 68 MAMMALIA. The anterior molars are the most trenchant; next comes a molar, larger than the others, usually furnished with a larger or smaller tuberculous heel; then follow one or two small teeth, that are per- fectly flat. It is with these small teeth in the back part of the mouth that the Dog chews the grass he sometimes swallows. We will call, with M. Fr. Cuvier, this large upper molar, and its cor- responding one below, carnivorous teeth; the anterior pointed ones, false molars; and the posterior blunted ones, tuberculous teeth. It is easy to conceive that those genera which have the fewest false molars, and whose jaws are the shortest, are those best adapted for biting. It is upon these differences that the genera can be most surely established. It is necessary, however, that the consideration of the hind foot should be added to them. Several genera, like those of the two preceding families, in walk- ing, or when they stand erect, place the whole sole of the foot on the ground, a fact proved by the total want of hair on that part of it. Others, and by far the greater number, walk on the ends of the toes, by raising up the tarsus. They are much swifter, and to this first difference are added many others of habits, and even of inter- nal conformation. In both the clavicle is a mere bony rudiment suspended in the muscles. The PLANTIGRADA Form this first tribe, in which the whole sole of the foot is placed on the ground in walking, a circumstance which gives them a greater facility in standing vertically upon their hinder feet. They partake of the slowness and nocturnal life of the Insectivora; most of those that inhabit cold countries pass the winter in a state of tor- por. They all have five toes to each foot. URSUS, Lin. Bears have three large molars on each side in each jaw, altogether tuber- culous, and of which the posterior upper, and anterior lower are the longest. They are preceded by a tooth a little more trenchant, which is one of the carnivorous teeth of this genus, and by a variable number of very small false molars, which are sometimes shed at a very early period. This almost frugivorous sort of dentition is the reason why, notwithstanding their great strength, they seldom eat flesh unless from necessity. They are large, stout-bodied animals, with thick limbs, and a very short tail: the cartilage of the nose is elongated and movable. They excavate CARNARIA. 69 dens or construct huts, in which they pass the winter in a state of somno- lency more or less profound, and without food. It is in these retreats that the female brings forth her young. The species are not easily distinguished by apparent characters. U. americanus, Gm. (The North American Black Bear.) A very dis- tinct species, with a flat forehead, smooth and black fur, and fawn-coloured muzzle. We have always found the small teeth behind the canini more numerous in this Bear than in the European species. Individuals have been seen that were entirely fawn-coloured. Its usual food is wild fruits; it devastates the fields, and, where fish is abundant, proceeds to the shores for the purpose of catching it. It is only for want of other aliment that it attacks quadrupeds. The flesh is held in great esteem. Various species are known, such as the Polar Bear, Thibet Bear, Malay Bear, Thick-lipped Bear, and our Grisly-Bear. PROCYON, Storr. The Raccoons have three back tuberculous molars, the superior of which are nearly square, and three pointed false molars in front, forming a con- tinuous series to the canines, which are straight and compressed. The tail is long, but the remainder of the exterior is that of a Bear in miniature. They rest the whole sole of the foot on the ground only when they stand still; when they walk, they raise the heel. P. ktor. (The Raccoon.) Greyish brown; muzzle white; a brown streak across the eyes; tail marked with brown and white rings. This animal is about the size of a Badger, is easily tamed, and remarked for a singular habit of eating nothing it has not previously dipped in water. From North America lives on eggs, Birds, &c. AILURUS, Fred. Cuv. The Panda appears to approximate to the Raccoon in its canini, and what is known of its other teeth; with this exception, that it has only one false molar. The head is short; tail long; walk plantigrade; five toes with re- tractile claws. One species only is known, the A. refulgens, Fred. Cuv. Size of a large Cat; fur soft and thickly set; above of the most brilliant cinnamon red; behind more fawn-coloured; be- neath of a deep black. The head is whitish, and the tail marked with brown rings. From the north of India. ICTIDES, Valen. The Benturong is somewhat related to the Raccoon by its teeth, but the three upper back molars are much smaller and less tuberculous, the last one in each jaw particularly, which is very small and nearly simple. It is covered with long hair, and has a tuft at each ear. The tail is long, hairy, and has a propensity to curl, as if prehensile. From India. let albifrons, Fr. Cuv. Grey; tail and sides of the muzzle black; size that of a large Cat. From Bootan. 70 MAMMALIA. NASUA, Storr. The CoatiSj to the teeth, tail, nocturnal habit, and slow dragging gait of the Raccoon, add a singularly elongated and flexible snout. The feet are semi-palmate, notwithstanding which they climb trees. Their long claws are used for digging. They inhabit the warm climates of America, and their diet is nearly the same as that of the Marten of Europe. Viverra nasua, L. (The Red Coati.) Reddish fawn colour; muzzle brown? tail with brown rings. This is perhaps the only proper place for the singular genus of the Kiir- KAJOUS or POTTO, Cuv. which, to a plantigrade walk, adds a long prehen- sile tail like that of the Sapajous, a short muzzle, a slender and extensible tongue, two pointed grinders before, and three tuberculous ones behind. Only one species is known, the Viverra caudivolvula, Gm. From the warm parts of America and from the great Antilles, where it is called Potto; size of a Polecat; hair woolly, and of a grey or yellowish brown; habits nocturnal; of a mild disposition, and lives on fruit, milk, honey, blood, &c. MELES, Storr. The Badgers, which Linnaeus placed with the Raccoons in the genus Ursus, have a very small tooth behind the canine, then two pointed molars followed in the upper jaw by one that we begin to recognize as carnivorous from the trenchant vestige it exhibits on its outer side; behind this is a square tuberculous one, the largest of all. Below, the penultimate begins to show a resemblance to the inferior carnivorous teeth, but as there are two tubercles on its internal border as elevated as its trenchant edge, it acts as a tuberculous one; the last below is very small. The slow movements of the Badgers and their nocturnal habits are like those of the preceding animals; their tail is short, the toes are much en- veloped in the skin, and they are otherwise peculiarly distinguished by a sac under the tail, from which oozes a fatty, fetid humour. The long claws of their fore-feet enable them to dig with great effect. M. europ&a. (The European Badger.) Greyish above, black beneath, a blackish band on each side of the head(l). GULO, Storr. Linnxus also placed the Gluttons among the Bears, but they approximate much nearer to the' Weasels in their teeth as well as in their habits, the only relation they have to the former consisting in their plantigrade mo- tion. They have three false molars above and four below, immediately antecedent to the carnivorous teeth, which are well characterized, and be- hind them two small tuberculous ones, the upper being more broad than long. Their superior carnivorous tooth has only one small tubercle on the (1) The American Badger. Mel. hudsonius is a different species. Am. Ed. CARNARIA. 71 inner side, and in fact, the whole dental system is nearly the same as that of the Weasels. The tail is of a middling size, with a plait or fold beneath in place of a sac, and the port of the animal is very similar to that of the Badger. The most celebrated species is the Glutton of the north, the Ursus gulo, L. (The Common Glutton.) About the size of the Badger; usually of a fine deep maronne colour, with a disk on the back of a darker brown; sometimes, however, the shades are lighter. It inhabits the most glacial regions of the North, is considered very sanguinary and ferocious, hunts during the night, does not become torpid during the winter, and masters the largest animals by leaping upon them from the top of a tree. Its vora- city has been ridiculously exaggerated by some authors. The Wolverene of North America (Ursus luscus, Lin.) does not appear, to differ from it in any constant character its colours, however, are generally lighter. Hot climates produce some species which can only be placed near the Gluttons, as they differ from them merely in having one false molar less in each jaw, and in a long tail. Such are the animals, termed by the inhabit- ants of South America Ferrets, which, having the teeth of our Ferrets and Polecats, have, in fact, similar x habits they are distinguished from them however, by their plantigrade motion. Fiverra vittata, L. (The Grison.) Black; top of the head and neck grey; a white'band, reaching from the forehead to the shoulders. RATELUS, F. C. The Raids have a false molar in each jaw less than the Grison, and their upper tuberculous tooth is but slightly developed, so that in the teeth they approach the Cat, while their whole exterior is that of the Grison or Bad- ger. The legs are short; feet plantigrade, and five toes to each; nails very strong, &c. &c. One species only is known, the Viverra mellivora, Sparm. Size of the European Badger; grey above; black beneath, with a white line that sepa- rates the two colours; sometimes it is nearly all white above. It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and digs up the earth with its long claws, in search of the honey-combs of the wild bees. The DIGITIGRADA Form the second tribe of the Carnivora. The animals which compose it walk on the ends of their toes. In the first subdivision there is only one tuberculous tooth behind the upper carnivorus; these animals, on account of the length of their body, and the shortness of their legs, which permit them to pass through the smallest openings, have been styled vermiform. They are not torpid during the winter. Linnaeus placed them all in one genus, that of 72 MAMMALIA. MUSTELA, Lin. , Or the Weasels, which we will divide into four subgenera. PUTOKITTS, Cuv. The Polecats are the most sanguinary of all; the lower carnivorous tooth has no inner tubercle, and the superior tuberculous one is more broad than long; there are only two false molars above and three below. These ani- mals are externally recognised by their muzzle, which is shorter and thicker than that of the Weasel. They all diffuse a most horrible stench. Mustela putorius, L. Buff. (The Common Polecat.) Brown; flanks yellowish; white spots on the head; the terror of poultry yards and warrens. M. lutreola, Pall. (The Mink or Norek.) It frequents the shores of rivers, &c., in the north and east of Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and lives on frogs and crabs. The feet are slightly palmated at the base of the toes, but the teeth and round tail approximate it nearer to the Polecat than the Otter. It is of a reddish brown; the circum- ference of the lips and the under part of the jaw white; it exhales a musky odour, and is much esteemed for its well known fur. It is the Mink of the United States. MUSTELA, Cuv. The true Weasels differ from the Polecats in having an additional false molar above and below, and in the existence of a small internal tubercle on their inferior carnivorous tooth, two characters which somewhat diminish the cruelty of their nature. M. martes, L. (The Common Marten.) Brown, a yellow spot under the throat. Inhabits the woods. Siberia produces the M. zibellina, Pall. (The Sable.) Highly valued for its rich fur, brown, spotted with white about the head, and distinguished from the preceding ones by the extension of the hair to the under surface of the toes. It inhabits the coldest mountains, and the hunting to obtain it, in the midst of winter and tremendous snows, is a perilous and painful under- taking. It is to the pursuit of this animal that we owe the discovery of the eastern countries of Siberia. North America also possesses several Martens indicated by naturalists and travellers, under the indefinite names of Pekan, Vison, Mink, &c. One of them, the White Vison of the furriers, Mus. leutreocephala, Harl., has as hairy feet and almost as soft afur as the Sable, but is of a light fawn colour, and almost white about the head. That which we call the Pekan; Must, canadensis, Gm., and which comes from Canada and the United States; is of a brownish colour, mixed with white on the head", neck, shoulders and top of the back; nose, crupper, tail and limbs blackish. MEPHITIS, Cuv. The Skunk, like the Polecat, has two false molars above and three be- CARNARIA. 73 low, but the superior tuberculous one is very large, and as long as it is broad, and the inferior carnivorus has two tubercles on its internal side, circumstances which ally it to the Badger just as the Polecat approximates to the Grison and Glutton. Independently of this, the anterior nails of the Skunk, like those of the Badger, are long and fitted for digging; they are moreover semi-plantigrade, and the resemblance extends even to the distribution of their colours. The whole family are remarkable for their fetid exhalations, but the Skunk is pre-eminently distinguished by its most horrible and suffocating stench. Skunks are generally marked with white stripes on a black ground, but the number of stripes appears to vary in the same species. The most common species of North America is the M. putorius. (The American Skunk.) Black, with stripes of white, larger or smaller, and more or less numerous; the tail is black, and the tip white. The odour it produces resembles that of the Polecat, mingled with a strong smell of garlic nothing is more nauseous. LUTKA, Storr. The Otters have three false molars in each jaw, a strong heel to the su- perior carnivorus, a tuberculus on the inner side of the inferior one, and a large tuberculous tooth above that is nearly as long as it is broad. The head is compressed, and the tongue demi-asperate. They are otherwise distinguished from all the preceding subgenera by palmated feet, and a horizontally flattened tail, two characters which render them aquatic. Their food is fish. L. vulgaris. (The Common Otter.) Brown above, whitish round the lips, on the cheeks and the whole inferior surface of the body. It is sometimes found spotted and whitish. From the rivers of Europe. Several otters differ but little from the above. That of Carolina, L. lataxina, Fr. Cuv., becomes a little larger, is sometimes more deeply co- loured, and has a brownish tint beneath; very frequently, however, there is no difference even in the shades of colour. Mustela lutra brasiliensis, Gm. (The American Otter.) Brown or fawn- coloured; throat white or yellowish; a little larger than the European Ot- ter; the body is also longer, and the hair shorter. It is distinguished by the end of the nose, which is not naked as in most animals, but is covered with hair like the rest of the chanfrin. From the rivers of both Americas. Mustela lutris, L. (The Sea-Otter.) Size, double that of the European species; body much elongated; tail one-third the length of the body; the hind feet very short. There is sometimes white about the head. It has only four incisors below, but the molars are like those of the other Otters. Its blackish velvet looking- fur is extremely valuable to obtain which the English and Russians hunt the animal throughout the northern parts of the Pacific ocean. K 74 MAMMALIA. In the second subdivision of the Digitigrada there are two flat tuberculous teeth, behind the superior carnivorous tooth, which is itself furnished with a large heel. They are carnivorous, but do not exhibit a courage proportioned to their powers, and frequently feed on carrion. CANIS, Lin. Dogs have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous teeth behind each of the carnivori; the first of these upper tuberculous teeth is very large. Their superior carnivorus has only a small inner tubercle, but the posterior portion of the inferior is altogether tuberculous. The tongue is soft; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind ones four. C. familiaris, L. (The Domestic Dog). Distinguished by his recurved tail, otherwise varying infinitely, as to size, form, colour and quality of the hair. He is the most complete, singular and useful conquest ever made by man; the whole species has become his property; each individual is devoted to his particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his possessions, and remains his true and faithful friend till death and all this neither from constraint nor want, but solely from the purest gratitude and the truest friendship. The swiftness, strength and scent of the Dog have rendered him Man's powerful ally against all other animals, and were even, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. Of all animals, he is the only one which has followed Man through every region of the globe. Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he is a domesti- cated Jackal, and yet those dogs which have become wild again in desert islands resemble neither the one nor the other. The wild dogs, and those that belong to savages, such as the inhabitants of New Holland, have straight ears, which has occasioned a belief that the European races, which approach the most to the original type, are the Shepherd's Dog and Wolf Dog,- but the comparison of the crania indicates a closer affinity in the Mastiff and Danish Dog, subsequently to which come the Hound, the Pointer, and the Terrier, differing between themselves only in size and the proportions of the limbs. The Greyhound is longer and more lank; its frontal sinuses are smaller, and its scent weaker. The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf Dog re- sume the straight ears of the wild ones, but with a greater cerebral devel- opment, which continues to increase together with the intelligence in the Barbel and the Spaniel The Bull Dog, on the other hand, is remarkable for the shortness and strength of his jaws. The small pet-dogs, the Pugs, Spaniels, Shocks, &c. are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit the most striking marks of that power to which man subjects all nature. The dog is born with his eyes closed; he opens them on the tenth or twelfth day; his teeth commence changing in the fourth month, and his full growth is attained at the expiration of the second year. The dog is old at fifteen years, and seldom lives beyond twenty. His vigilance, bark, and susceptibility of education are well known to every one. CARNAR1A. 75 C. lupus, L. (The Wolf.) A large species with a straight tail; legs fawn-coloured, with a black stripe on the fore-legs when adult; the most mischievous of all the Carnaria of Europe. It is found from Egypt to Lap- land, and appears to have passed into America. Towards the north, in winter, its fur becomes white. It attacks all our animals, yet does not ex- hibit a courage proportioned to its strength. It often feeds on carrion. Its habits and physical development are closely related to those of the Dog. C. jubatus, Cuv.; Jlgoura-Gouazou, Azzar. (The Red Wolf.) A fine cinnamon-red: a short black mane along the spine. From the marshes of South America. C. aureus, L. (The Chacal or Jackal.) Less than the preceding; the muzzle more pointed; of a greyish brown; thighs and legs of a light fawn colour; some red on the ear; the tail scarcely reaching further than the heel. It is a voracious animal, which hunts like the Dog, and in its con- formation and the facility with which it is tamed, resembles the latter more closely than any other wild species. Jackals are found from the Indies and the environs of the Caspian sea, as far as, and in Guinea; it is not cer- tain, however, that they are all of one species. Those of Senegal for in- stance, C. anthus, Fr. Cuv., stand higher, appear to have a sharper muzzle, and the tail a little longer. FOXES may be distinguished from the Wolf and Dog by a longer and more tufted tail, by a more pointed muzzle, by pupils which during the day form vertical fissure, and by the upper incisors being less sloping. They diffuse a fetid odour, dig burrows, and attack none but the weaker animals. This subgenus is more numerous than the preceding one. C. vulpes, L. (The Common Fox.) More or less red; tip of the tail white; found from Sweden to Egypt. Those of the north have merely a more brilliant fur. The prairies of North America produce a little Fox, C. velox, Harl. and Say; which lives in burrows. C. cinereo-argenteus, Schreb. (The Tri-coloured Fox of America. ) Ash- coloured above; white beneath; a cinnamon-red band along the flanks. From all the warm and temperate parts of the two Americas. C. argentatus. (The Silver or Black Fox. ) Black; tips of the hairs white, except on the ears, shoulders and tail, where they are of a pure black. The end of the tail is all white. From North America. Its fur is most beautiful, and very costly. The interior of Africa produces Foxes remarkable for the size of their ears, and the strength of the hairs of their mustachios; they are the MEGA- I.OTIS of Illiger. Finally, we may place after the Dogs, as a fourth subgenus, distinguished by the number of toes, which is four to each foot, the Hyxna venatica, Bursch. (The Wild Dog of the Cape.) It has the dental system of the Dog and not that of the Hyena; a long and thin form; the fur mottled, with white and fawn colour, grey and black; size of the wolf; large ears with black tips, 8cc. It is gregarious, and frequently approaches Cape Town, devastating its environs. 76 MAMMALIA. VlVERRA. The Civets have three false molars above and four below, the anterior of which sometimes fall out; two tolerably large tuberculous teeth above, one only below, and two tubercles projecting- forwards on the inner side of the inferior carnivorus, the rest of that tooth being more or less tuberculous. The tongue is bristled with sharp and rough papillae. Their claws are more or less raised as they walk, and near the buttock is a pouch more or less deep, where an unctuous and frequently an odorous matter oozes from peculiar glands. They are divided into four subgenera. VIVERRA, Cuv. In the true Civets there is a deep pouch divided into two sacs, filled with an abundant pommade of a strong musky odour, secreted by glands which surround it. This substance is an article of commerce, and is used by the perfumers. It was more employed when musk and ambergrease were unknown. The pupil of the eye remains round during the day, and their claws are only semi-retractile. V. civetta, L. (The Civet.) Ash-coloured, irregularly barred and spot- ted with black; the tail less than the body, black towards the end, with four or five rings near its base; two black bands encircling the throat, and one surrounding the face; a mane along the whole length of the spine and tail that bristles up at the will of the animal. From the hottest parts of Africa. GENETTA, Cuv. In the Genets the pouch is reduced to a slight depression formed by the projection of the glands, and has scarcely any visible excretion, although an odour is diffused from it that is very perceptible. In the light the pupil forms a vertical fissure, and the nails are completely retractile, as in the Cat. V. genetta, L. (The Common Genet.) Grey spotted with brown or black, the muzzle blackish; white spots on the eyebrows, cheeks and each side of the end of the nose; tail the length of the body, annulated with black and white, the black rings being from nine to eleven in number. Found from the south of France to the Cape of Good Hope, frequents the edges of brooks, near springs, Sec. The skin forms an important article of trade. PARADOXURUS, Fr. Cuv. Has the teeth and most of the characters of the Genets, with which it was a long time confounded; it is however more stout-limbed; the feet are semi-palmate, and the walk nearly plantigrade, but what particularly dis- tinguishes it is the spiral inclination of the tail, which is not prehensile. Only one species is known, the P. typus, Fr. Cuv. (The Pougoune of India.) A yellowish-brown, with some spots of a deeper brown than the rest; the feet, muzzle and part of the tail blackish; eye-brows white, and a white spot under the eye. CARNARIA. 77 MANGCSTA, Cuv. HERPESTES, Illig. The pouch is voluminous and simple. The hairs are annulated with light and obscure tints, which determine their general colour on the eye. The Mangouste of Egypt, so celebrated among the ancients under the name of Ichneumon, is grey, with a long tail terminated with a black tuft; it is larger than our Cat, and as slender as a Marten. It chiefly hunts for the eggs of the Crocodile, but also feeds on all sorts of small animals; brought up in houses, it hunts Mice, Reptiles, &c. I>y the Europeans at Cairo it is called Pharaoh's Rat; by the natives, Nems. The ancient tradition of its jumping down the throat of the Crocodile to destroy it, is entirely fabulous. There are other species. Illig. The Surikates have a strong resemblance to the Mangoustes, even to the tints and transverse streaks of the hair, but are distinguished from them and from all the Carnivora of which we have hitherto spoken, by having only four toes to each foot. They also are higher on their legs, and they have not the small molar immediately behind the canine tooth. One species only is known, a native of Africa Viv, tetradactyla, Gm., a little less than the Mangouste of India. CROSSAHCHTTS, Fred. Cuv. The muzzle, teeth, pouch, and walk of the Surikates, the toes of the Mangoustes. One species only is known Crossarchus obscurus, Fred. Cuv., from Sierra Leone, of the size of the Surikate; greyish brown; cheeks a little paler, and a hairy tail. The last subdivision of the Digitigrada has no small teeth of any kind behind the large molar of the lower jaw. The animals con- tained in it are the most cruel and sanguinary of the class. They form two genera. HYAENA, Storr. The Hyenas have three false molars above and four below, all conical, blunt and singularly large; their superior carnivorous tooth has a small tubercle within and in front, but the inferior has none, presenting only two stout trenchant points: with these powerful arms they are enabled to crush the bones of the largest prey. The tongue is rough and each foot has four toes like that of the Surikate. So powerful are the muscles of the neck and jaw, that it is almost impossible to wrest any thing from between their teeth that they have once seized, and, among the Arabs, their name is the sym- bol of obstinacy. It sometimes happens that an anchylosis of the cervical vertebrae is the consequence of these violent efforts, and this has caused it to be said that they have only one single bone in the neck. They are 78 MAMMALIA. nocturnal animals, inhabiting caves; are extremely voracious, and feed chiefly on dead bodies, which they seek for even in the grave. A thousand superstitious traditions are connected with them. Three species are known, one of which is the H. vulgaris, Buff. (The Striped Hyena.) Grey; blackish or brown stripes crosswise; a mane along the whole of the nape of the neck, and black, that stands erect when the animal is angry. It is found from India to Abys- sinia and Senegal. The brown and spotted Hyenas are the two others. FELIS, Lin. Of all the Carnaria the Cats are the most completely and powerfully armed. Their short and round muzzle, short jaws, and particularly their retractile nails, which, being raised perpendicularly, and hidden between the toes, when at rest, by the action of elastic ligament, lose neither point nor edge, render them most formidable animals, the larger species especially. They have two false molars above, and two below: their superior carnivorous tooth has three lobes, and a blunted heel on the inner side; the inferior, two pointed and trenchant lobes, without any heel: they have but a very small tuberculous tooth above, without any thing to correspond to it below. The species of this genus are very numerous and various with regard to size and colour, though they are all similar with respect to form. We can only subdivide them by referring to the difference of size and the length of the hair, characters of but little importance. At the head of the genus we find F. leo, L. (The Lion.) Distinguished by its uniform tawny colour, the tuft of hair at the end of the tail, and the flowing mane which clothes the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. Of all beasts of prey, this is the strongest and most courageous. Formerly scattered through the three parts of the old world, it seems at present to be confined to Africa and some of the neighbouring parts of Asia. The head of the Lion is more square than that of the following species. Tigers are large, short haired species, most commonly marked with vivid spots. F. tigris, Buff. (The Royal Tiger.) As large as the Lion, but the body is longer, and the head rounder; of a lively fawn colour above; a pure white below, irregularly crossed with black stripes; the most cruel of all quadru- peds, and the scourge of the East Indies. Such are his strength and the velocity of his movements, that during the march of armies he has been seen to seize a soldier, while on horseback, and bear him to the depths of the forest, without affording a possibility of rescue. F. onga, L. (The Jaguar.) Nearly the size of the Royal Tiger, and almost as dangerous; a bright fawn colour above; the flank longitudinally marked with four rows of ocellated spots, that is with rings more or less complete, having a black point in the middle; white beneath, transversely striped with black. Sometimes individual specimens are found black, whose rings, of a deeper hue, are only perceptible in a particular light. CARNARIA. 79 F.pardusy L.; the Pardalis of the ancients. (The Panther.) Fawn coloured above; white beneath; with six or seven rows of black spots, re- sembling roses, that is, formed by the assemblage of five or six simple spots on each flank; the tail is the length of the body, minus that of the head. F. leopardus, L. (The Leopard.) From Africa; similar to the Panther, but has ten rows of smaller spots. F. discolor, L.; Buff. (The Couguar or Puma.) Red, with small spots of a slightly deeper red which are not easily perceived. From both Ame- ricas, where it preys on Sheep, Deer, &c. Among the inferior species, we should distinguish the Lynxes, which are remarkable for the pencils of hair which ornament their ears. Four or five different kinds of them are known in commerce. The most beautiful, which are as large as the Wolf F. cervaria, Temm., come from Asia by the way of Russia, and have a slightly reddish-grey fur, finely spot- ted with black. Others from Canada and the north of Sweden F. borealis, Temm., have the fur very much tufted, extending even under the feet; of an ash-coloured grey, and with scarcely any spots. We find also in North America the F. rufa, Giild. (The Bay Lynx.) A reddish fawn or greyish colour, mottled with brown; brown waves on the thighs; tail annulated with black or brown; rather smaller than the Lynx. F. caracal, L. (The Caracal. ) Of an almost uniform vinous red. From Persia, Turkey, &c. It is the true Lynx of the ancients. The inferior species, which are deprived of the pencils on the ears, are more or less similar to our common Cat; such is F. pardalis, L.; Buff. (The Ocelot.) Rather lower on its legs than most of the others; grey, with large fawn-coloured spots bordered with black, forming oblique bands on the flank. From America. F. catus, L. (The Domestic Cat.) This animal is originally from the forests of Europe. In its wild state, it is of a greyish brown, with darker transverse undulations; below pale; the insides of the thighs and of all the feet, yellowish; three bands on the tail, its inferior third blackish. In a domestic state it varies, as is well known, in colours, in the length and fineness of the hair, but infinitely less so than the Dog; it is also much less submissive and affectionate. The AMPHIBIA Will form the third and last of the small tribes into which we di- vide the Carnivora. Their feet are so short and so enveloped in the skin, that the only service they can render them on land, is to enable them to crawl; but as the intervals of the fingers are occu- pied by membranes, they are excellent oars; and in fact, these ani- mals pass the greater portion of their time in the water; never 80 MAMMALIA. landing, except for the purpose of basking in the sun, and suckling their young. Their elongated body; their very movable spine, which is provided with muscles that strongly flex it; their narrow pelvis; their short hair, that adheres closely to the skin, all unite to render them good swimmers; and all the details of their anatomy confirm these first indicia. We have as yet distinguished two genera only, Phoca and Tri- chechus. PHOCA, Lin. Seals have six or four incisors above, four or two below, pointed canini and grinders to the number of twenty, twenty-two, or twenty-four, all trench- ant or conical, and without any tuberculous part whatever; five toes to all the feet, the anterior ones regularly decreasing in length from the thumb to the little toe, while in the hinder feet the thumb and the little toe are the longest, and the intermediate ones the shortest. The fore-feet are envel- oped in the skin of the body as far as the tarsus, the hinder ones almost to the heel. Between the latter is a short tail. The head of a Seal bears a resemblance to that of a Dog, whose intelligence and soft expressive look it also possesses. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes attached to its keeper, or those who feed it. The tongue is smooth and sloped at the end, the stomach simple, caecum short, and the intestinal canal long, and tolerably regular. These animals live on fish; always eat in the water, and close their nostrils when they dive by a kind of valve. They remain a long time under water; there is a large venous sinus in the liver, which must assist them in diving by rendering respiration less necessary to the motion of the blood. Their blood is very abundant and very black. PHOCA, properly so called, or without external ears. The true Phoca have pointed incisors; all the toes enjoy a certain de- gree of motion, and are terminated by pointed nails planted on the edge of the membrane, which unites them. They are subdivided, from the number of their incisors. The CALOCE- PHAIA, Fr. Cuv. have six above and four below; such is the Phoca vitulina, L. (The Common Seal.) From three to five feet in length; of a yellowish grey, more or less shaded and spotted with brown, according to its age; sometimes brownish, with small yellow spots. When very old it becomes whitish. Common on the coast of Europe in great herds. It is also found far to the north; we are even assured that it is this species which inhabits the Caspian sea, and the great fresh water lakes of Russia and Siberia, but this assertion does not appear to be founded on an exact comparison. In fact, the European seas contain several Phocx, which have long been confounded, some of which are perhaps mere varie- ties of the others. CARNARIA. 81 STENORHIITCUS, Fred. Cuv. Four incisors above, and four below, the molars deeply notched into three points. One species only is known, and that is from the Austral seas Ph. lep~ tanix, Blain. Size of the barbata; greyish above; yellowish beneath; nails small. PELAGTJS, Fred. Cuv. Four incisors also, above and below, but their grinders are obtuse cones, with a slightly marked heel before and behind. There is one of them in the Mediterranean. Ph. monachus, Gm. (The Monk. ) From ten to twelve feet in length, of a blackish brown, with a white belly. It is particularly found among the Grecian and Adriatic Islands, and is, most probably, the species best known to the ancients. STEMMATOPUS, Fred. Cuv. Four superior incisors, and two inferior; grinders compressed, slightly trflobate, supported by thick roots. Such is the Ph. cristata, Gm. (The Hooded Seal.) Seven or eight feet long; a piece of loose skin on the head, which can be inflated at the pleasure of the animal, and is drawn over the eyes when it is menaced, at which times the nostrils also are inflated like bladders. From the Arctic ocean. Finally, the MACRORHIIOJS, Fr. Cuv., has the incisors of the preceding, obtuse conical molars, and the muzzle resembling a short movable probos- cis or snout. The largest seal known is of this subgenus; the Ph. letmina, L. (The Elephant Seal. ) From twenty to twenty-five feet in length; brown, the muzzle of the male terminated by a wrinkled snout, which becomes inflated when the animal is angry. It is common in the southern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, at the Terra del-Fuego, New Zeal- and, Chili, &c. It constitutes an important object of the fisheries, on ac- count of the oil in which it abounds. The OTABIES, Peron, Seals with external ears, Are worthy of being formed into a separate genus; because, indepen- dently of the projecting external ears, the four superior middle incisors have a double cutting edge, a circumstance hitherto unknown in any animal; the external ones are simple and smaller, and the four inferior bifurcated. All the molars are simply conical, and the toes of the forefeet almost immova- ble; the membrane of the hind feet is lengthened out into a slip beyond each toe; all the nails are flat and slender. Ph. jubata, Gm. ; Sea-Lion of Steller, Pernetty, &c. From fifteen to twenty feet, and more, in length; fawn coloured; the neck of the male covered with hairs that are more frizzled and thickly set than those on the rest of the body. It might be said to be found in all the Pacific Ocean, L 82 MAMMALIA. were it not that those from the straits of Magellan seem to differ from such as are taken at the Aleutian islands. TRICHECHUS, Lin.(l) The Morse resembles the Seal in its limbs, and the general form of the body; but differs widely from it in the teeth and head. There are no incisors nor canini in the lower jaw, which is compressed anteriorly to pass between two enormous canini or tusks, which issue from the upper one, and which project downwards, being sometimes two feet long, and of a proportionable thickness. The enormous size of the alveoli, requisite for holding such tremendous canini, raises up the whole front of the upper jaw, giving it the shape of a huge inflated jowl, the nostrils looking upwards, and not terminating the muzzle. The molars are all short, obliquely truncated cylinders; there are four of them on each side, above and below, but, at a particular age, two of the upper ones fall out. Between the canini are two incisors, similar to the molars, which most authors have riot recognised as such, although they are implanted in the intermaxillary bone. Between these again, in the young animal, are two more small, pointed ones. The stomach and intestines of the Morse are very similar to those of the Seal. It appears that/wcws constitutes part of its food, along with animal matters. One species only is as yet ascertained, the Trick, rosmarus, L. (The Sea Cow. ) It inhabits the Arctic seas, sur- passes the largest Ox in size, attains the length of twenty feet, and is cover- ed with a short yellowish hair. It is sought for on account of its oil and tusks ; the ivory of which, although rough grained, is employed in the arts. The skin makes excellent coach braces. ORDER IV. MARSUPIALIA. So many are the singularities in the economy of the Marsupialia or pouched animals, as they are termed, which we formerly placed at the end of the Carnaria as a fourth family of that great order, that it appears to us they should form a separate and distinct one, particularly as we observe in them a kind of representation of three very different orders. The first of all their peculiarities is the premature production of (1) Trichechus, from