200 THE HUNTING-LEOPARD. 



dification which has just been described as so import- 

 ant a part of their organization, must of necessity be 

 accompanied by a corresponding change in manners 

 and habits; and that circumstance alone, and the want 

 of analogous structure in any other animal, could 

 justify us in continuing to class the Chetah among 

 the cats, from which he differs in so essential a par- 

 ticular. ' 



" In outward form, however, notwithstanding his 

 more slender make, the difference between them is 

 by no means great. His head, although more ele- 

 vated and prominent in front, exhibits the same broad 

 lateral expansion, caused by the thick mass of mus- 

 cle, which acts so powerfully upon the throat and 

 dilated jaws of the cats, and imparts to them that 

 tremendous force and effect for which they are so 

 remarkable. His legs, notwithstanding their in- 

 creased length and slender proportions, retain all the 

 elastic springiness, by means of which the leopard 

 or the tiger are enabled to bound with so much vi- 

 gour and velocity upon their unsuspecting prey. 

 His air and manners, too, are unquestionably those 

 of the cats ; and his mode of colouring, which we shall 

 next proceed to describe, although exhibiting very 

 peculiar and marked distinctions, offers so close an 

 analogy to that of the jaguar and the leopard, that 

 were we to regard this character alone, it would be 

 impossible to arrange him in a different group from 

 that which comprehends those beautifully spotted 

 but ferocious beasts. His fur, however, it must be 



