NATURAL HISTORY: 
In the space of half an hour, on 
coming again to this place, he per- 
ceived a strong smoke there, though 
he thought the oi! must long have 
been cooled: on closer inspection, 
he found that the smoke did not pro- 
ceed from the oil, but from the herb 
on the straining-cloth; at the same 
time the smell betrayed a concealed 
fire, 
He stirred the herb about, and 
blew into it 2 bellows, whereupon 
it broke out into a bright flame. 
Had this herb been placed in the 
house near the fire, it might 
easily have been supposed that a 
spark had flown into it, which had 
caused thé inflammation; but this 
was not the case; the herb had 
kindled of itself. We see from 
this, that those who are entrusted 
with the preparation of boiled oils, 
Should take care they do not give 
occasion to dangers by fire; which 
.mmay excite suspicions of felonious 
designs, to the ruin of innocent per- 
sons in their lives or reputations. 
Iam, &c. 
W. Tooxe. 
Account of the Lynx of Abruzzo ; 
_ from De Salis’s Travels through 
various Provinces in the Kingdom 
_ of Naples, in 1789. 
, LTHOUGH Buffon and 
Schreber have given us very 
good accounts of the lynx, the na- 
turalist will probably not be dis- 
pleased at receiving some infurma- 
tion about the species of lynx pecu- 
liar to the provinces of Abruzzo. 
It is frequently met with in the 
woods of Abruzzo Ultra, where it 
is called Il Gatto Pardo, and is 
smaller than a ‘sort that is not infre- 
quent amongst the Grison moun- 
f*gs 
tains, and which precisely resembles 
the species given in Buffon’s Natural 
History, part xix. plate 21. French 
octato, and in Schreber’s Sucking 
Animals, part iii. plate 109, page 
408. But the lynx of Abruzzo is 
ofa darker colour, is from eighteen 
to twenty inches high, and from 
twenty-four to twenty-seven inches 
in length, to the root of the tail, 
which is four inches long. The male 
is larger than the female. The co- 
lour is whitish, with spots like stars, 
of a reddish yellow, inclining to a 
yellow gold colour. The hair is 
short and soft, the head large, and 
like a tiger’s, with longish upright 
ears, terminated by a tuft of coarse, 
hard, and upright bristles. The 
eyes are large, and the teeth, claws, 
and whiskers, are long and sharp. 
Had I heen fortunate enough to 
procure a dead one, I could give 
a much more complete description ; 
but, E could not succeed in my en- 
deavours. ‘The actions of this ani« 
mal exactly resemble those of a cat, 
like which it sits, runs, springs, eats, 
purrs, and sleeps ; although all these 
_actions are in proportion to its supe- 
rior size. It is easily tamed ; and 
the Barons Tomasetti assured me 
that it ran about the house like a 
cat; was much attached to them, 
and was in no wise inconvenient, 
except from its extraordinary cu- 
riosity. Not a corner in the house, 
hor 4 moveable therein, remained 
unvisited ; and a female lost its life 
by jumping down the hole in the 
privy. I was surprised to find that 
the domestic cat had an insuperable 
aversion to this animal; and I was 
assured that the moment that alynx 
was brought into the house, all the 
cats disappeared, and were seen no 
more during that animal’s abode 
there. ‘he lynx bears the priva~ 
[*F 2] tion 
