392 THE CARNIVORES 



with a more or less marked rufous tinge, becoming gradually lighter on the flanks, 

 and thus passing into pure white on the under parts. The spots, which are very 

 variable in size and number, take the form of rosettes, and consist, on the upper 

 parts, of an irregular black ring (nearly always incomplete), enclosing a bright cen- 

 tral area, which may be of the same tint as the general ground color, but is not 

 unfrequently darker. On the head, lower portions of the limbs, and flanks (where 

 they are brownish), the spots have no light centres, and are smaller. The tail, of 

 which the length may vary from rather more than one-half to about three-quarters 

 that of the head and body, is likewise spotted throughout the greater part of its 

 length; but at and near the tip the spots become larger and fewer, and tend to form 

 more or less nearly complete rings. L,eopard cubs do not have the color so well de- 

 fined or so brilliant as in the adult animal. The hair on the head and body is gen- 

 erally short and close, but tends to become longer when the animal inhabits colder 

 regions than usual, and that on the tail and under parts is always longer than the 

 rest. From this normal coloration an almost complete transition can be observed to 

 black leopards, which were at one time regarded as belonging to a distinct species. 

 Perfectly black leopards have been only found hitherto in Asia, and appear to be 

 more common in the hills of Southern India, and the Malay Peninsula and islands, 

 than elsewhere. The skin of such black specimens, when viewed in certain lights, 

 invariably exhibits a kind of "watered -silk" appearance, due to the presence of the 

 spots, in which the hair has a still deeper tinge of black than elsewhere. That such 

 black leopards are nothing more than varieties is proved by instances where a 

 female of the ordinary color has given birth to a litter, among which was a black 

 cub. One such instance is recorded by Mr. G. P. Sanderson as having taken 

 place at the Zoological Gardens at Amsterdam, where a female gave birth to one 

 spotted and one black cub. 



Although no perfectly black leopards have ever been found in Africa, yet 

 there occurs in the southern portion of that country a rare variety which exhibits a 

 more or less strongly-marked tendency towards blackness. One such specimen was 

 described in 1885 by Dr. Gunther, which was obtained in hilly land covered with 

 scrub jungle, near Grahamstown. The ground color of this animal was a rich 

 tawny, with an orange tinge; but the spots, instead of being of the usual rosette- 

 like form, were nearly all small and solid, like those on the head of an ordinary 

 leopard; while from the top of the head to near the root of the tail the spots become 

 almost confluent, producing the appearance of a broad streak of black running 

 down the back. A second skin, figured by the same writer in the following year, 

 had the black area embracing nearly the whole of the back and flanks, without 

 showing any trace of the spots, while, in those portions of the skin where the latter 

 remain, they were of the same form as in the first specimen. Two other specimens 

 are known; the whole four having been obtained from the Albany district. It will 

 thus be apparent that these dark-colored African leopards differ from the black 

 leopards of Asia, in that while in the latter the rosette-like spots are always re- 

 tained, and are always visible, in the former the rosettes are lost (as, indeed, is to a 

 considerable extent often the case with ordinary African leopards) , and all trace of 

 spots disappears from the blacker portions of the skin. It is, however, noteworthy 



