THE PUMA 



WHAT is true with regard to the present geographical 

 distribution of the cats, has been true always ; 

 throughout their fossil history the greater and more 

 formidable Felid(B have been confined to the Eastern 

 Hemisphere. A number of American species exist, how- 

 ever, ranging from among the smallest and most beautiful 

 forms contained in this family, up to animals that in de- 

 structive power, only give place to th^ir great African and 

 Asiatic allies. The puma and jaguar have not filled so 

 large a space in zoological literature as the lion and 

 tiger ; they have not attracted so much general attention, 

 and are less known. But this is, to a considerable 

 degree, the result of accident. For the most part, those 

 who encountered them were men of a different stamp 

 from the famous hunters whose adventures in Asia and 

 Africa have made the animals of their forests and plains 

 familiar and full of interest to so large a portion of the 

 public in civilized lands. 



It is seldom that the throngs that pass before cages 

 in which wild beasts are confined, contain a spectator 

 who knows how perfect a creature a cat is. As a class 

 these forms are adjusted to their place in nature better 

 than other creatures, and also much better than the 

 s 257 



