The characters of the skull are almost exactly half way between those of the two families we have mentioned. The bulb of the ear has its opening quite flush with its outer wall, but is far less swollen than in the Cats. The teeth differ from those of Cats in one important particular, namely, in the fact of there being one more premolar in each jaw. The Cryptoprocta is about thirteen inches and a half long from snout to root of tail, the latter appendage being nearly as long as the body. The general colour is light brownish-red, this tint being produced by the individual hairs being ringed with yellow and brown alternately. The body is slender and elegantly formed. The head is also well shaped, with a pointed snout, and large rounded ears. There are five toes on each foot, and, as we have already mentioned, the claws are provided with true retractile ligaments. This curious and interesting little animal is very rare; only one or two specimens having reached Europe. Even at the present time hardly anything is known of its internal organs. It was first brought to England forty or fifty years ago. “Mr. Telfair, President of the Mauritius Natural History Society, who presented the animal to the Zoological Society of London, received it from the interior and southern part of Madagascar, and stated that it was the most savage creature of its size he ever met with. Its motions and power and activity were those of a Tiger, and it had the same appetite for blood and destruction of animal life. Its muscular force was very great, and the muscles of its limbs were remarkably full and thick. It lived with Mr. Telfair for some months.” [Illustration: AARD-WOLF.] THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY.[72] This family contains but a single genus and species, viz.:-- THE AARD-WOLF.[73] This is a remarkable animal inhabiting the southern parts of Africa, where its range is almost co-extensive with that of the brown variety of the Hyæna. It is an extremely interesting animal, as it forms a connecting link between the Civet family and the Hyænas; although more nearly allied to the latter than to the former, it is found to be impossible to assign it to one of these groups in reference to the other, and it is, in consequence, placed in a family by itself. This rare animal was first mentioned and described by Andrew Sparman in 1772-6, but his account of it attracted little notice until it was re-discovered by the traveller Delalande, who brought specimens to France, where the beast was described and christened after him, _Proteles Lalandii_, or _Delalandii_.