EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF THE LEOPARD. 



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in beauty and elegance, and, indeed, called it the Carnivore par excellence. Unfortunately, most 

 English people have no means of forming a true opinion on a matter of this sort, as we see the 

 animals only in menageries ; but judging from the specimens we have seen in confinement, we should 

 incline to the belief that it is far behind both the Lion and Tiger, and is even beaten by the Jaguar in 

 the matter of colouring, although the surly look of the latter makes him, on the whole, a far less at- 

 tractive beast. The adulb Leopard in the London Zoological Gardens is perhaps the clumsiest brute 

 in the whole Lion-house fat, bull-necked, and stupid-looking. Stupid-looking, and even clumsy, that 

 is, when lying lazily asleep on the floor of his den ; but watch him when four o'clock comes, and the 

 meat-barrow goes round, and then where will you find more marvellous agility 1 All the Cats are 





alike in this ; they are very lazy at times, but when they do begin to move, there is no more complete 

 example of perfectly graceful movement, and one feels as if he could watch them " on and off for days 

 and days," as Alice's frog-footman puts it. 



The characters of the hide are so characteristic that they must be given in some detail, especially 

 as the spots must be distinguished from those of the Jaguar, the great spotted Cat of the New World. 

 The skin is described as follows : " On an orange-yellow ground, passing below into white, are spots 

 of deep or brownish-black, sometimes distinct, sometimes composed of two, three, or even four points 

 disposed in a circle, and surrounding a space, always somewhat darker than the ground-colour, and 

 shading into it below. On the medio-dorsal line, in the hinder part of the body, the spots are so 

 arranged as to produce three or even four regular parallel bands. On the side of the body, also, bands 

 are found, but they are indefinite in number, and irregularly disposed. On the head and legs, the 

 circular spots pass by degrees into mere points. The belly is strewn with great double points, 

 irregularly disposed, and on the legs the points, also double, unite and form bands. The tail is 

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