II 1 10 WILD CAT. 107 



not only in the country which supplies this name, but in the north of Asia, and ]irolialily in 

 Sweden. 



Another engraving, representing the Caffrarian cat* (page 101), found in various parts of Southern 

 Africa, as well as in Caffraria, will at once strike the eye as indicating a wild species. 



Several species, from their resemblance to the tiger, are called, after that animal, Tiger-cats. Of 

 these we give the teeth of onet (page 101), a native of Borneo and ot her Kastern islands ; the tigor-cat 

 of Sumatra + (page 100), remarkable for its elegantly-coloured skin, though not for its si/.e ; and another, 

 the Serval (page 105), whose characteristics are sufficiently conspicuous. This animal is a native of 

 South Africa. F. Cuvier has described a very young male. The upper parts were clear yellowish, 

 with black spots ; the lower parts white, with black spots also ; but they were less numerous. Upon 

 the head and neck the markings were most distinct, and formed Symmetrical lines on eaeh side towards 

 the shoulders. On the other parts of the body they were placed irregularly. On the back they were 

 lengthened, and seemed to form four rows ; on the body and thighs they were larger and round, and 

 they were smaller, but equally round, on the extremities. Upon the face and muzzle they were 

 minute. The back of the ears was black at the base, succeeded by a transverse white bar ; the tips 

 wore of the ground-colour of the body. On the inside of the four limbs there were two conspicuous 

 black transverse bars; the hind limbs having similar markings, but less defined ; the last joints of tins 

 limbs of a paler tint than the rest of the body, the spots on them round and very small. The tail had 

 eight black rings, the tip being of the same colour. The length, exclusive of the tail, was one foot 

 eleven and a half inches ; the tail, nine inches. The height, when standing erect, was about twelve 

 inches at the shoulders, and fifteen inches at the hind quarters. The temper of this creature was mild 

 and gentle, and its disposition sportive. It played like a domestic cat, or rather kitten, chasing its 

 tail, and amusing itself with anything that it could roll with its paw. 



Carrying with us the leading facts that have now been stated, we are prepared for the considera- 

 tion of the largest specimens of the Felidce, in whose structure and habits of life there is, as we have 

 seen, a general and striking resemblance. A lion, a leopard, or a tiger, is little more than a huge 

 wild cat. 



Claudian said : 



"All that with potent teeth command the plain, 

 All that run horrid with erected mane; 

 Or, proud of stately horns or bristling hair, 

 At once the forests ornament or fear ; 

 Torn from their deserts by the Roman power, 

 Nor strength can save, nor craggy den secure." 



Those belonging to the tribe we are now describing were chiefly lions, and the larger spotted 

 African and Asiatic cats, which then went under different appellations of varii, pardi, pantherae, &c. 

 Lynxes were occasionally exhibited, but tigers only once or twice. 



At the triumphs they were either led in procession, as trophies from the vanquished nation, or, in 

 a few instances, having been tamed, they were made to draw the chariot of the conqueror, as symbol- 

 ical of his prowess. But the most frequent exhibition of all kinds of animals was in the public shows 

 of the amphitheatre an amusement which became a passion with the Romans. Immense sums were 

 lavished in their arrangement ; even the armies, when stationary for a short period, must have their 

 circus ; and traces of such buildings have been found in the most distant parts of the Roman empire. 

 Training men to these sports became a profession, and persons of rank were emulous to engage in them, 

 because they were thought to keep up the martial spirit of the nation. 



The number of fierce animals collected at the shows was immense, and the slaughter no less so. 

 Eutropius, confirmed by other historians, tells us that five thousand wild beasts of all kinds were slain 

 at the dedication of the amphitheatre of Titus. Cornelius Scipio Nasica introduced to the shows no 

 fewer than sixty-three lions ; while Scylla exhibited one hundred, which he received as a present from 

 Boschus, king of Mauritania, with some of his subjects to fight with them. I'ompey, at the opening 

 of his theatre, exhibited a variety of games and kittles with wild beasts, in whioh five hundred lions 

 were slain in five days; and in another exhibition, there was a massacre of one hundred lions, and an 



* Felis Cafra. Desmarest. f F eKs planiccpa. Vigors and llorstield. \ Felis Sumatrana. llor.-lield. 



Felis Serval. 



