

THE CHE'KTAH. I i' 



better fitted for strong muscular exertion than for action and long-continued speed." Thus Mi. 

 Bennett is of opinion that the cheetah more nearly approaches the cats than the dogs, and cimtinurs 

 it among the former. 



The anatomy of this animal, as demonstrated by Professor Owen, shows, indeed, that in internal 

 structure this creature is undoubtedly feline. He commenced a paper on the subject by remarking on 

 Felix as a truly natural genus, and by observing that the anatomical structure of the animals composing 

 it offers even fewer differences than their outward forms. 



The principal deviation from the common type was stated to be that which obtains in the organ , 

 of voice of the lion (and, as Mr. Martin has observed, in those of the jaguar also), where the larynx is 

 situated at a considerable distance from the posterior margin of the bony palate, the soft palat < 

 the tongue being proportionally increased in length, thus forming a gradually expanded passage, which 

 leads from the glottis, where the air is rendered so sonorous, to the mouth. This structure, Professor 

 Owen remarks, may contribute in the lion to produce the peculiar roar of that animal. 



The ground colour of the cheetah is bright yellowish fawn above; nearly pure white beneath ; 

 covered above and on the sides by innumerable closely-approximating spots, from half an inch to an 

 incli in diameter, which are intensely black, and do not, as in the leopard and others of the spotted 

 cats, form roses with a lighter centre, but are full and complete. These spots, which are wanting on 

 the chest and under part of the body, are larger on the back than on the head, sides, and limlis, when: 

 they are more closely set ; they are also spread along the tail, forming, on the greater part of its 

 extent, 'interrupted rings, which, however, become continuous as they approach its extremity, the tlnve 

 or four last rings surrounding it completely. 



The tip of the tail is white, as is also the whole of the under surface, with the exception of the 

 rings just mentioned ; it is equally covered with long hair throughout its entire length, which is more 

 than half that of the body. The outside of the ears, which are short and rounded, is marked by a 

 broad black spot at the base ; the tip, as also the inside, being whitish. The upper part of the head is 

 of a deeper tinge ; and there is a strongly-marked flexuous black line, of about half an inch in breadth, 

 extending from the inner angle of the eye to the angle of the mouth. The extremity of the nose is 

 black, like that of a dog. The mane is not very remarkable, consisting of a series of longer, crisped, 

 and more upright hairs, which extend along the back of the neck and the anterior portion of the spine. 

 The fur has little of the sleekness that characterises the cats, but exhibits, on the contrary, a peculiar 

 crispness not to be found in any other animal of the tribe. 



Chardin, Bernier, Tavernier, and others of the older travellers, related that in several parts of 

 Asia it was customary to make use of a large spotted eat in the pursuit of game, and that this animal 

 was called souze in Persia, and cheetah in India; but so imperfect were their statements, that it was 

 next to impossible to recognise the particular species intended. It is now, however, known that the 

 animal thus employed is the one we are describing, and that it inhabits the greater part both of 

 Asia and Africa. It is common in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia, and is well known in 

 Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope ; but the ingenuity of the natives of the latter countries has 

 not, so far as is yet observed, been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase in the manner 

 so successfully practised by the inhabitants of Persia and Hiudostan. 



Mr. Swainsou states that the hunting leopards appear to be of two species one inhabiting A trie, i, 

 the other India ; and that it deserves attention that one of these possesses a sort of mane, of which the 

 other is said to be destitute. In specimens from both localities, however, the inane appears to be 

 much the same. The animal figured by Pennant as the hunting leopard w:i-s brought by Lord Pigot 

 from India; and three others, captured at Seringapatam among the effects of Tippoo, were presented by 

 Lord Harris to George III., who placed them in the Tower of London. 



The cheetah was very imperfectly known till of late years. Linn;eus does not appear to have IMVII 

 acquainted with it, and Buffon's guepard was described from the skin only. Guepard is the name by 

 which the skin of the animal was known. in reference to the Senegal market ; and Mr. Bennett was of 

 opinion that BufTou described it without suspecting its identity with the Asiatic animal, "the trained 

 haliits of which, misled probably by the authority of Tavernier, he erroneously attributed, to his 

 imaginary ounce. Subsequent French zoologists had rectified this error, and it was generally believed 

 that the tame leopard of Bernier, the souze, the guepard, and Ta vernier's ounce, were one and the same 



