256 ZOOLOGY. 



on of the tail; about throe fed in height, and characteri/ed by 

 the square head, the tutt of hair terminating the tail, and in 

 the male by tin- man.- which tlmvs from the head and neck. 

 The lion is the most powerful of the carnivora; with a single 

 blow of his tore paw he can break the back of a horse, and a 

 stroke of tin- tail will strike down the strongest man. For- 

 merly spread over tin- three great divisions of the Old World, 

 he seems now limited to Africa and Asia. 



The animal which some call the American lion, belongs to a 

 different species ; it is called couguar, and is peculiar to the 

 New World. 



The royal or Eastern tiger is an animal more dangerous 

 than the lion, which it nearly equals in strength but exceeds 

 in ferocity. The hair in the tiger is short and smooth, and 

 yellowish above, with black transverse bands or stripes; it 

 inhabits India, where it does much damage. 



The jaguar, not much less than the Eastern tiger, and 

 almost as dangerous, is a native of America, and is found only 

 there. It inhabits the great forests. Furriers call it tin- 

 great panther, for it is spotted like that animal ; the robe or 

 fur being yellow, with four rows of dark spots like 

 ranged along the flanks, with white and black stripes beneath. 



The panther (Fig. 194), so remarkable for the beauty of its 

 fur or robe, is found all over Africa and Asia, together with 

 the leopard, which it much resembles; the fur is yellow, with 

 numerous dark spots. 



The lynx, also, or cat, is distinguished by a pencil or tuft of 

 hairs surmounting the external ears; the coat or fur is red 

 coloured, spotted with a reddish brown. It is indigenous to 

 temperate Europe, but it has nearly disappeared from popu- 

 lous countries ; it is still found amongst the Pyrem-an 

 mountains, in the kingdom of Naples, and in Africa. It 

 ascends trees; and, having excellent sight, does much mis- 

 chief by destroying hares and deer. The ancients ascribed to 

 it a power of vision equal to the seeing through a stone wall 

 hence the phrase, lynx-eyed. 



The common cat comes originally from the forest. In a 

 wild state it is of a brown colour, somewhat greyish, with 

 deeper coloured transverse waves. The tail is annulated with 

 dark rinirs : the inner side of the thighs and feet, yellowish. 



The hvH'na is distinguished from the genus cat by the 

 number of toes, which is lour for all the limbs, as well as by 

 the enormous >trenu r th of the teeth and jaws, and by the daws 



