THE CARACAL LYNX 31 



an ill-defined dusky line ran along the back. In 

 South African specimens the fur is more or less 

 suffused with purplish black, and when the tongue is 

 fully retracted (as in snarling) a black pigmented 

 space is seen on the floor of the mouth, just in front 

 of the tip of the tongue ; the eyes in these specimens 

 are very pale greenish yellow. Prof. Matschie has 

 proposed to separate the Algerian caracal as a 

 distinct form under the name of Caracal berberorum, 

 and some would also separate Asiatic from African 

 examples ; in any case, it appears that the African 

 ones are uniformly larger than their eastern brethren. 

 As already stated, the caracal is a connecting link 

 between the true cats and the true lynxes. Taking 

 the true cats first, one finds amongst the lesser 

 Felidce the very curious chaus or jungle cat {Felis 

 chaus) of India ; the chaus is, as it were, an incipient 

 caracal. The pupil of the eye is circular as in 

 lynxes, not linear as in cats a very important 

 character ; then again the ears, though not frosted 

 as in the caracal, are black-tipped and semi-tufted 

 with long hair ; the tail is much shorter than in 

 typical cats. The colour of the fur ranges from 

 sandy grey to greyish brown, and some individuals 

 are distinctly tinged with red on the spine ; others, 

 again, have an indistinct dusky line along the back. 

 Yet, though half caracal, this strange beast has 

 several undoubted "cat" characters; the inside of 

 the forearm bears two stripes as in the ocelot, serval, 



