THE CLOUDED TIGER 63 



was not realised. A beautiful figure of Fontanler's 

 cat, restored from the mutilated type skin by the 

 magic hand of Joseph Wolf, will be found in 

 Elliott's "Monograph of the Felidae;" the pose of 

 the head and forelimbs and the sweep of the tail 

 leave nothing to be desired. A fine specimen from 

 East Central Asia may be studied in the lower 

 mammal gallery of the Natural History Museum. 



Now Professor Elliott remarks of the Thibetan 

 cat "its markings are similar in kind to those of 

 the spotted cats from America rather than any of the 

 Old World species." Nota bene. The "spotted cats 

 from America" {i.e., the ocelot and margay tiger 

 cats) in their longitudinal, pale-centred blotches, in 

 their facial stripes, their banded throats, and their 

 handsomely spotted limbs constitute a second natural 

 group, indicating a remarkable affinity between the 

 Felidae of America and those of Central Asia. On 

 one hand, clouded tiger, marbled cat, Thibetan cat; 

 on the other, ocelot and margay; the groups are 

 linked together by Fontanier's species, which has 

 been aptly styled the Asiatic ocelot, and seems to 

 combine in its sturdy person the characters of either 

 group. Fontanier's cat is a "missing link," a bridge 

 over a biological chasm, a keystone in an evolutionist 

 arch; qtidczimque jeceiHs stabit, like the three-legged 

 symbol of the Isle of Man. The other Asiatic 

 Felidae differ widely from the above mentioned 

 animals. The Javan cat, rufous grey spotted with 



