114 MAMMALIA. 



spect to I'orm. We can only subdivide them by referring to the dif- 

 ference of size and the length of the hair, characters of but little 

 importance. 



At the head of the genus we find 



F. leo, L.; Buff. VIII, i, 11. (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 shoul- 

 ders 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 mark- 

 ed with vivid spots. 



F. tigris, Buff. VIII, ix. (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 cross- 

 ed with black stripes ; the most cruel of all quadrupeds, and the 

 scourge of the Eastlndies. 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.; Azzar. pi. ix ; Fred. Cuv. Mammif. (The 

 Jaguar.) Nearly the size of the Royal Tiger, and almost as 

 dangerous ; a lively fawn colour above ; the flank longitudinally 

 marked with four rows of oceilated spots, that is, with rings 

 more or less complete, having a black point in the middle j 

 white beneath, transversely striped with black. Sometimes indi- 

 vidual specimens are found black, whose rings, of a deeper hue, 

 are only perceptible in a particular light. 



F. pardus, L.; the Pardalis of the ancients j Cuv. Menag. 

 du Mus. 8vo, I, p. 212. (The Panther.) Fawn coloured above; 

 white beneath ; with six or seven rows of black spots, resembling 

 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. 



This species is scattered throughout all Africa, the southern 

 parts of Asia, and the Indian Archipelago. 



In some of them the ground of the fur is black, with spots of 

 a deeper black F. melas, Per., but they are not a distinct spe- 

 cies. We have frequently seen black and fawn coloured young 

 ones suckled by the same mother.(l) 



(1) Temminck calls this species Felts kopardus. 



