Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/109

 HY.ENA 101 tions, revels in the foulest air, and gorges on the filthiest substances when living prey fails ; of powerful form, thick skin, and strong jaws and teeth, the bands of hyaenas fear not the lion and tiger, and will attack even man in the night time. Its appearance is very repulsive ; the head is large and truncated, the neck short and stout, the body thick and short, high at the shoulders and declining rapidly toward the tail, a long stiff mane from the nape to the rump, and a short tail ; the gait is clumsy, the voice harsh and frightful, the expression of the face malignant, and its body offensive from its carrion food and the strong odor of its anal pouch. The feet are all four-toed, with strong non-retractile claws fitted for digging, the dor- sals and the pairs of ribs 15 or 10, and the lumbar vertebra 4 or 5 ; the tibia and fibula are much shorter than the radius and ulna ; the tongue is covered with horny papillae, the irides elliptical above and circular below, the erect ears long and pointed, and mammas four. The prevailing color is an ochrey gray, with dark stripes or spots. The hyaena is among mammals what the vulture is among birds, the scavenger of the wilderness, the woods, and the shore, and useful in this way in disposing of carcasses which otherwise would pollute the air; often it attacks cattle and disabled animals, prowls in the rear of the larger car- nivora, whose leavings it devours, and digs up when possible the dead bodies of man and beast; from this last undisputed habit, the hyaena has been regarded as a horrible and mysterious creature, and is the subject of many superstitious fears and beliefs among the Semi- tic races. Tts teeth are so powerful that they can crack the bones of an ox with ease, and their grip is tenacious to the last degree ; were its speed great and its courage equal to its strength, it would be among the most dan- gerous of the carnivora; it sometimes burrows in the earth or hides in caverns, but generally Spotted Hytena (Ilyn'oa ciocuta). passes the day in the desert, insensible to the scorching sun. The spotted hyeana (H. crociita, Erxl.) is the most dog-like of the genus ; it is about 44 ft. long from nose to base of tail, the latter measuring about 13 in. and the head about 12 ; the height at the shoulders is 2J ft. ; the general color is a dingy whitish gray, with small round brown spots, the muzzle as far as the eyes and lower limbs sooty, and the tail dark ; the mane is rather short. It is found in South Africa, and on the coasts of Senegal and Guinea, and with the next spe- Striped Hytena (Hyaena striota).

cies is generally called wolf by the Dutch, colonists. It is fierce but cowardly, and will sometimes approach camps and make severe gashes on the limbs and faces of persons asleep; it is said sometimes to drag off chil- dren, which from its strength it could easily do ; from the resemblance of its voice to a human laugh, it has received the name of the laugh- ing hysena; it rarely burrows, but occupies the retreats of other animals, prowling about at night. The striped hysena (If. vulgaris, Desm., or H. striata, Zimm.), a rather larger animal, is found in Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, and Per- sia ; the head is wider, the muzzle fuller, and the eyes further from the nose, than in the preceding species ; the hair is coarse and thick, of a dirty gray color, with transverse dark stripes on the sides and limbs; there is a stiff mane along the back ; the habits are the same as those of the spotted hyaena. There are some varieties of smaller size, and one with a skin almost naked, in the Nubian deserts. The brown Lycena, or strand wolf of the Dutch colonists (H. brunnea, Thunb.), is only 4 ft. long to the end of the tail, and a little over 2 ft. high at the shoulders ; the hair is long and shaggy, of a dirty yellow color, with tawny tints on the back and irregular stripes on the sides; it is less in size than the other species, and less destructive to cattle. The hyaenas act very much the part of the wolf of northern climates, being equally fierce, cowardly except at night and when in packs, and annoying to the herds- man by their destruction of sheep and oxen. There are in Africa certain dog-like animals, the wilde honden of the Dutch, constituting the genus lycaon (Brooks), which seem to connect the dogs with the hywnas, and which are be- lieved by Hamilton Smith to be partly the pro-