compressed from side to side like those of the cats, have nearly conical and very
tall crowns. . . . These strong conical premolar teeth, which are strengthened
by small fore-and-aft tubercles at the base, form crushing instruments of immense
power; and it is due to these teeth, aided by the flesh teeth and the tusks,
that a Hyaena is able to crunch in its jaws the shin-bone of an ox almost as
readily as a dog can break that of a fowl. Indeed no carnivorous animal has
jaws and teeth which can be compared for strength and bone-crushing power with
those of the Hyaena.’
No remains of this progenitor of the Spotted Hyaena (Hycena crocuta) have
been found in either Scotland or Ireland. One could hardly indeed have expected
it to exist in these countries, for although found in forests of Mashonaland and
the densely timbered regions of Central Africa, it is, properly speaking, a beast of
the plains and the open country. It is therefore reasonable to presume that it
either became extinct in England before the final retreat of the ice, or moved
southward before the complete isolation of Great Britain.
The finding of a single lower jaw, in a cave in Glamorgan, of an animal
which is said to have resembled Lycaon pictus, the hunting dog, is hardly conclusive
of the existence of the genus in Britain.
THE DOGS
Family CAN IDÆ
Genus Cams. T h e T r u e D o g s .
D o g s are easily distinguished from cats by their long pointed muzzles and the
greater number and different forms of the teeth. Moreover— unlike that of the
cat— the cæcum, or blind appendage to the intestine, is long and folded over
upon itself. The toes are equal in number to those of the cats, but the claws
are not hooked, retractile, or capable of any holding power. The pads are much
harder, hairless, and capable of greater durability on rough surfaces, as we should
expect in a perfectly digitigrade animal fitted to perform long journeys at a swift
pace. The limbs are relatively long, as is also the skull, which possesses a
peculiar characteristic in the tympanic bulla, which is inflated and bladderlike,
though not divided into two separate cavities by a complete septum.
This marked difference between Dogs and cats is not, however, found in the
Hyænas.
The Dogs generally possess forty-two teeth, made up as follows. I. $; C. f ;
P.M. M. f
The Canidæ embrace the Wolves, Jackals, Foxes, and the various species of
wild and domestic Dogs. The general colour varies from grey to black or deep
red. The extremities are often darker than the rest of the pelage, and the under
parts, such as the belly and inside of the legs, are frequently much lighter in
tone. Nearly all the species are, however, subject to individual variation, the red
species often showing black forms. Seasonal change, too, is sometimes extreme, as
in the case of the Arctic Fox, whose blue pelage becomes pure white in winter.
In all species there is a tendency for the coat to become lighter during the
winter months.
Although possessed of fine powers of both sight and hearing, the Canidæ