CAT KIND. 441 



arisen the common 'report of the lynx having of 

 all other quadrupeds the shortest memory. This, 

 however, is not the only idle story that has been 

 propagated of it : as of its seeing with such per- 

 spicuity as to perceive objects through walls and 

 mountains ; as of having its urine of such a quality 

 as to harden and become a precious stone ; with 

 several others, propagated by ignorance or im- 

 posture. 



The Syagush and the Serval are both so like all 

 the rest of the cat kind in disposition, that it is 

 but repeating the same account once more to give 

 their distinct history. As the lynx is found only 

 in cold countries, so the syagush is to be met with 

 only in the warm tropical climates. It is used in 

 the same manner as the ounce for hunting ; but 

 it seems to have a property which the other has 

 not, namely, that of being able to overtake its 

 prey by pursuing it. Whether this is perform- 

 ed by having a finer scent than the former, or 

 greater swiftness, we are not informed ; being 

 only told, that when it overtakes either the gazelle 

 or the antelope, it leaps upon their backs, and 

 getting forward to their shoulders, scratches their 

 eyes -out, by which means they become an easy 

 prey to the hunters. Some have called this ani- 

 mal the lion's provider ; and it is said that when 

 it calls him to pursue his prey, its voice very 

 much resembles that of one man calling another.* 

 From hence we may conjecture that this animal 

 pursues its prey in full cry, and that the lion only 



* Thcvenot, vol. ii. p. 114. 



