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the mm* number and position u those of the Lion ; they were however 

 longer and more (lender, their length alone occasioning the incomplete 

 retraction of the claw* u compared with the rest of the Felida. 

 Professor Owen concluded by observing that in the circulating, 

 respiratory , digestive, and generative systems, the Cheetah conformed 

 to the typical itrncture of the genu* Ptlit. (' Zool. Proc.,' 1833.) 



Mr. Bennett give* the following description of the Cheetah : 

 Ground-colour bright yellowish fawn above; nearly pure white 

 beneath ; covered above and on the side* by innumerable closely 

 approximating spots, from half an inch to an inch in diameter, which 

 are intensely black, and do not, as in the leopard and others of the 

 potted cat*, form roees with a lighter centre, but are full and com- 

 plete. Theae spots, which are wanting on the chest and under part 

 of the body, are larger on the back than on the head, aides, and 

 limbs, where they are more closely set : they are also spread along 

 the tail, forming on the greater part of its extent interrupted rings, 

 which however become continuous as they approach iU extremity, 

 the three or four last rings surrounding it completely. The tip of 

 the tail U white, as is also the whole of iU under surface, with the 

 exception of the rings just mentioned ; it is equally covered with long 

 hair throughout it* entire length, which is more than half that of the 

 body. The outside of the ears, which are short and rounded, is 

 marked by a broad black spot at the base, the tip, as also the inside, 

 being whitish. The upper part of the head is of a deeper tinge ; 

 and there is a strongly marked flexuous black line, of about half an 

 inch in breadth, extending from the inner angle of the eye to the 

 angle of the mouth. The extremity of the nose is black, like thnt 

 of a dog. The mane not very remarkable ; consisting of a series of 

 longer, crisper, and more upright hairs which extend along the back 

 of the neck and the anterior portion of the spine. Fur with little 

 of the sleekneaa which characterises that of the cats, but exhibiting 

 on the contrary a peculiar crispneas not to be found in any other of 

 the tribe. (' Tower Menagerie.') 



According to Mr. Bennett the Cheetah is found in Asia and Africa. 

 He says, " Cbardin, Bernier, Tavernier, and others of the older 

 travellers, had related that in several parts of Asia it was customary 

 to make use of a large spotted cat in the pursuit of game, and that 

 this animal was called Youze in Persia and Chetah in India ; but the 

 statements of these writers were so imperfect, and the descriptions 

 given by them so incomplete, that it was next to impossible to recog- 

 nise the particular species intended. We now however know with 

 certainty that the animal thus employed is the Felit jubata of natural- 

 ists, which inhabits the greater part both of Asia and Africa. It is 

 common in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia, and is well known 

 both in Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope ; but the ingenuity of 

 the savage native* of the latter countries has not, so far as we know, 

 been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase in the 

 manner so successfully practised by the more refined and civilised 

 inhabitant* of Persia and Hindustan." 



Mr. Swainson state* (' Classification of Quadrupeds,' 1835) that the 

 Hunting Leopards appear to be of two species one inhabiting Africa, 

 the other India ; and that it deserves attention that one of these 

 pomemes a sort of mane, of which the other is said to be destitute. 

 The mane however, in specimens from both localities, seems to be 

 much the same. The animal figured by Pennant as the Hunting 

 Leopard was brought from India by Lord Pigot Three others, 

 captured at Seringapatam among the effects of Tippoo, were presented 

 by Lord Harris to George III., who placed them in the Tower. The 

 couple from which Mr. Bennett made his accurate description came 

 from 1 Senegal. The Cheetah was indeed, as the last-mentioned zoolo- 

 gist remarks, very imperfectly known in Europe till of late yean. 

 LinntBU* doe* not appear to have been acquainted with it, and 

 BuftW* Qnepard was described from the akin only. Quepard is the 

 name by which the skin of the animal was known commercially in 

 reference to the Senegal market ; and Mr. Bennett is of opinion that 

 Buffon described it without suspecting it* identity with the Asiatic 

 animal, " the trained habit* of which, misled probably by the autho- 

 rity of Tavernier, he erroneously attributed to his imaginary Ounce. 

 Subsequent French geologist* had rectified this error, and it was 

 generally believed that the tamed leopard of Bernier, the Youze, the 

 Ouopanl, and Tavernier' Ounce, were one and the same animal ; but 

 U was not until a year or two ago " Mr. Bennett wrote the passage 

 quoted in 1829 "that the poMemion of a living specimen, brought 

 from Senegal, in the menagerie of the Janlin du Hoi, enabled M. F. 

 Cuvier to ascertain it* characters with precision. The comparison of 

 this African specimen with the skins sent from India, and with the 

 note* and drawing* made in that country by M. Duvaucel, at once 

 put* an end to all doubt* of the identity of the two animal*." 



In 1831 Colonel Syke* observed that Ptlit jultala, Linn., and Pda 

 venalica, H. Smith (CheeU of the Mahrattas), appear to be identical, 

 the specific difference* deduced from the hair originating in domesti- 

 cation. A kin of the wild animal, according to the colonel, ha* a 

 rough coat in which the mane is marked, while domesticated animals 

 from the same part of the country are destitute of mane, and have a 

 smooth coat (' Zool. Proc.') 



In the East, where these beautiful animal* are employed in the 

 chssn. they are carried to the field in low cars whereon they are 

 chained. Each leopard is hooded. When the hunter* corns within 



view of a herd of antelope* the leopard is unchained, bis hood i* 

 removed, and the game i* pointed out to him ; for he is directed in 

 the pursuit by hi* sight Then he steals along cautiously and crouch- 

 ingly, taking advantage of every means of masking his attack, till he 

 has approached the herd unseen, within killing distance,' when ho 

 suddenly launches himself upon his quarry with five or six vigorous 

 and rapid bound*, strangles it instantaneously, and drinks its blood. 

 The huntsman now approaches the leopard, caresses him, wins him 

 from his prey by placing the blood which he collects in a wooden ladle 

 under the nose of the animal, or by throwing to him pieces of meat ; 

 and whilst he is thus kept quiet hoods him, leads him back to his car, 

 and there chains him. If the leopard fails in consequence of the herd 

 having taken timely alarm he attempt* no pursuit, but returns to hi* 

 oar with a dejected and mortified air. 



The skin is an article of some importance in the trade of Senegal, 

 but appears to be neglected at the Cape of Good Hope, where the 

 animal is called Luipard by the Dutch colonist* ; indeed it seems to 

 be of rare occurrence there, for Professor Lichtenstein notices one of 

 the skins as being worn by a Kaffir chief as a badge of distinction. 



Of the habits of the Hunting Leopard, in a state of nature, not much 

 is known ; but it may be surmised that it captures its prey much in 

 the same way as it doe* when employed in the chase. Mr. Bennett 

 gives a very pretty picture of the manners of the two that furnished 

 his description, and as it would be spoiled by abridgment we here 

 insert it : " They are truly," writes Mr. Bennett, " an elegant and 

 graceful pair, having, when led out into the courtyard in their couples, 

 very much of the air and manners of a brace of greyhounds. \\ In u 

 noticed or fondled they purr like a cat, and this is their usual mode of 

 expressing pleasure. If, on the other hand, they are uneasy, whether 

 that uneasiness arises from cold, from a craving after food, from a 

 jealous apprehension of being neglected, or from any other cause, 

 their note consists of a short uniform and repeated mew. They are 

 extremely fond of play, and their manner of playing very much 

 resembles that of a cat ; with this difference however, that it never, 

 as in the latter animal, degenerates into malicious cunning or wanton 

 mischief. Their character indeed seems to be entirely free from that 

 sly and suspicious feeling of mistrust which is so strikingly visible in 

 the manners and actions of all the cats, and which renders them so 

 little susceptible of real or lasting attachment The Cheetahs, on the 

 contrary, speedily become fond of those who are kind to them, and 

 exhibit their fondness in an open, frank, confiding manner. There 

 can, in fact, be little doubt that they might with the greatest facility 

 be reduced to a state of perfect domestication, and rendered nearly 

 as familiar and faithful as the dog himself." ('Tower Menagerie, 1 

 London, 8vo., 1829.) 



Most of the Hunting Leopards brought to England died in no 

 long time after their arrival, and the French seem to have bad no 

 better success. The Zoological Society of London succeeded in 

 keeping their specimens very well : the principal food given was lean 

 mutton. 



J-'rlit Onfa (Linnaeus), the Jaguar, or American Panther, is the form 

 of the Leopard found in the New World. It ia the Onza of Marcgrave 

 and the Panther or Great Panther of the furriers. 



In form the Jaguar is robust, far stouter than the Leopard, and is 

 very strongly, not to say clumsily, built. The body is thicker, the 

 limbs shorter and fuller, and the tail scarcely reaches the ground 

 when the animal is well up on its feet The head is larger and rather 

 shorter than that of the Leopard, and the profile of the forehead more 

 prominent When full grown the animal is said to measure from 4 

 to 5 feet from the nose to the root of the tail. " These differences of 

 form," says Mr. Bennett (' Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological 

 Society'), "are accompanied by differences in colour and markings 

 equally decisive. The general appearance is at the first glance the 

 same in both ; but the open roses of the Leopard are scarcely more 

 than half the size of those of the Jaguar, and they all inclose a space 

 of one uniform colour, in which, unless in some rare and accidental 

 instances, no central spots exist ; while in the latter animal most of 

 those which are arranged along the upper surface, near the middle 

 line of the back, are distinguished by one or two small black spots 

 inclosed within their circuit The middle line itself is occupied in 

 tile Leopard by open roses intermixed with a few black spots of small 

 size and roundish form ; that of the Jaguar, on the contrary, is marked 

 by one or two regular longitudinal lines of brood, elongated, deep 

 block patches, sometimes extending several inches in length, and 

 occasionally forming ou almost continuous baud from between the 

 shoulders to the toil. The black rings towards the tip of the latter 

 are also more completely circular than in the Leopanl." 



But the skih of the Jaguar is subject to much variation, and Sir 

 William Jardine (' Naturalists' Library,' ' Mammalia,' vol ii.) gives 

 three figures from different sources illustrating strongly marked 

 differences in the spot*. 



It ia a native of South America Paraguay and the Brazils princi- 

 pally but it is said to have been found from the southern extremity 

 to the Isthmus of Darien. 



Mr. Martin, in his anatomical description of o Jaguar that died in 

 the Gardens at the Regent's Park ('/ool. Proc.,' 1832), notices the 

 immense volume of the chests* contrasted with that of the abdominal 

 cavity, a circumstance which might, ho think), be considered as 



