CARNIVORA

the CARNIVORES, or FLESH-EATERS (Lat. caro, carn is, flesh; vor us, devouring), perhaps the most interesting of the orders of mammals (q.v. for general relationship), containing, as it does, lions, tigers, and leopards, wolves and dogs, bears, badgers, otters, seals, and many other creatures attractive on account of their elegance, beauty, and swiftne , and even of their very ferocity. To their habit of feeding upon flesh— a habit all but universal in the order— can be traced their most characteristic features. Teeth are well developed; especially large and strong are the curved, pointed eye-teeth, or canines, adapted for fixing on and retaining hold of living prey, and the sharp, cutting ‘carna ial’ back teeth. The toes, which are four or five in number, are tipped with sharp, curved claws, sometimes retractile and obviously fitted for fixing and tearing. To prevent danger of slipping, the lower jaw of carnivores can move only directly up and down, without any sideways motion, owing to the elongated hinge which connects it with the skull; and evidence of the powerful jaw motion is given by the whole bony (zygomatic) arch which bridges the skull from cheek almost to ear, and gives room for the pa age of the large muscle which works the lower jaw. Shoulder-bones are absent or incomplete; and the upper surface of the brain is well convoluted, an indication of mental power. The habits of carnivores are familiar. They are mainly terrestrial, living in forest trees, in the thick scrub and underwood, or burrowing in the earth, but some are amphibious, as the otters; and seals and walruses are.predominantly aquatic. Carnivores are generally nocturnal animals, and lie in wait for their prey or follow it by stealth. The greater number hunt singly or in couples, but some, such as dogs and wolves, congregate in packs to pursue and run down their quarry. Mammals, from the largest to the smallest supply them with food; many catch birds, and oddities of diet are presented by the fish-eating otters and seals, the latter feeding also upon crustaceans and molluscs, and, in the case of Antarctic species, on penguins. Not all carnivores are confirmed flesh-eaters, however, for in summer many of the bears limit their diet to fruits and honey. Carnivores have colonized the whole world from the snows of the Arctic circle to the border of the Antarctic continent; only in Australia and New Zealand are they absent. They are most numerous and often of larger size in the jungles of the tropics, but the largest living carnivore is the almost extinct long-snouted elephant seal, or ‘sea-elephant’ (macro- ‘rhinus), of the South Pacific, which may reach a length of about 20 feet. Carnivores are of considerable value to man, for, apart from their indirect uses in destroying vermin, they furnish the greater part of the world’s fur supply. A few have been tamed and kept as pets or as man’s a istants, especially dogs, but their fierce nature usually offers an insurmountable barrier to complete domestication. The Order Carnivora is divided into two sub-orders:— with digits separate and distinct, with free limbs; adapted to terrestrial life; indog, bear, raccoon, and weasel families, vor a with digits united by a web of skin {nto a fin-like paddle, hind limbs directed backwards and placed close to body; adapted to aquatic life; including seals} and walruses. Carnot; elected deputy for Paris, 183 and became principal leader of the par against Louis Philippe; declared favor of the Republic, and, under Lama tine, became Minister of Education; w made life senator by the Nation A embly, 1875.