350 LEOPARD. 



ance : it must also be added, that the major part 

 of those composed by Linnaeus are remarkable 

 for their truth and exactitude. 



LEOPARD. 



Felis Leopardus F. cauda mediocri, corpore fuho, maculis sub- 



coadunatis nigris. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel.p. 77. 

 C. with yellow body marked with subcontiguous black spots, 



disposed in circles. 

 Leopard. Buff". 9. p. i$i.pl. 14. 

 Leopard. Pennant Quadr. i.p. 282. 



THIS animal is best distinguished from the 

 Panther by its paler yellow-colour, its smaller 

 size, and the somewhat closer disposition of the 

 spots which form its ocellated markings; but to a 

 mere general observer, the two animals are so 

 extremely alike as to be frequently mistaken for 

 each other. A true distinctive mark between the 

 Leopard and Panther is by no means easy to 

 communicate, either by description, or even by 

 figure. The principal difference is in size; the 

 Leopard being considerably the smallest of the 

 two; the colour of the Panther is richer or more 

 fulvous than that of the Leopard; but this too is 

 liable to a degree of uncertainty: the ocelli or 

 rounded marks on the Panther are larger, and 

 more distinctly formed ; but the character given 

 by Mr. Pennant of the Panther, viz. a central 

 spot in the middle of each, is by no means a 

 permanent or truly distinctive mark; since the 



