DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORDER CARNIVORA 241 



Though the Lion varies greatly in shape and colour, and 

 in other minor features in different districts, it seems im- 

 possible to accept the proposed division of it by some 

 authors into species, or even into geographical sub-species. 

 It is true that an expert, well accustomed to examine 

 Lions, will usually be able to guess correctly the locality 

 whence any particular specimen has been received, but 

 this is by no means absolutely certain. 



The Tiger, the next noblest beast of prey existing in 

 the present day, and by some writers assigned to a station 

 superior even to that of the Lion, is essentially, no doubt, 

 an inhabitant of the Oriental Region, but has extended its 

 range in many places, probably within a not very distant 

 period, far to the north. The Indian Peninsula may be 

 said to be its focus, where it is found almost everywhere from 

 the Himalayas, which it ascends to a height of G000 or 

 7000 feet, to Cape Comorin. Curiously enough, however, 

 the Tiger is not found in Ceylon. Outside India the Tiger 

 ranges throughout Northern Persia, Turkestan, and the 

 southern provinces of China, reaching on the west up to 

 Manchuria and Amurland, where, however, it has learnt 

 to put on a thicker and longer coat in winter to protect 

 it from the severe cold. To the south and east of India 

 the Tiger extends all over the Siamese and Malay Peninsulas 

 into Sumatra and Java, but not, it is believed, into Borneo. 

 Tigers from Sumatra and Java do not, however, attain to 

 the large dimensions of their brethren of India and the 

 north. 



The third great Cat of the Old World, the Leopard, 

 has a still wider distribution than its two larger brethren. 

 Not only does it inhabit the whole of Africa, including its 

 northern portion, but extends also nearly over every part 



Q 



