38 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



animals, so that their color is of no great conse- 

 quence, since the wisdom of the ages declares that 

 "all cats are gray in the dark." The truth seems 

 to be that there is a very forcible inherited ten- 

 dency to spottedness in this family and its imme- 

 diate allies, as the civets. In most members this 

 persists in a remarkable degree, with interesting 

 variations of pattern ; while a minority have nearly 

 outgrown it, and a few have lost the markings 

 altogether, though even these, it should be noted, 

 are born with spotted hides. There seems no reason 

 to suppose that natural selection has had anything 

 traceable to do with the origin of these markings, 

 and but little to do with their modification or dis- 

 appearance. 



As to the size of the puma, one reads of speci- 

 mens ten or eleven feet long ; but no satisfactory 

 evidence exists of a length greater than eight feet, 

 measured from tip of nose to tip of tail, and the 

 average will fall below seven feet. The jaguar 

 has a longer and heavier body, but its tail is far 

 shorter. Proportions vary somewhat, those from 

 the tropics being a trifle larger than specimens 

 taken in cool latitudes, following the law that an 

 animal will reach its greatest size where the con- 

 ditions are most favorable to its kind as a whole. 

 The comparative fulness of the skull forward 

 gives to the head a rounded solidity not usual in 

 cats, and bears out the creature's reputation for 

 craft. This gives to the face, also, an expression 



