LEOPARD. 389 
are lost (as, indeed, is to a considerable extent often the case with ordinary African 
leopards), and all trace of spots disappears from the blacker portions of the skin. 
It is, however, noteworthy that in both countries these leopards are found in hilly 
regions, more or less thickly covered with jungle, from which it would seem that 
such districts are in some way connected with the abnormal development of 
dark colour. Far rarer than black leopards, are white ones, and but very few have 
BLACK LEOPARD (,5 nat. size). 
been met with. In addition to these black and white varieties of the leopard, 
there are minor variations noticeable in the skins of specimens from different 
places. In the first place, as Mr. Blanford observes, African leopards always 
have smaller and more solid spots than the Indian animal, so that the skins of 
the two can be distinguished at a glance. Then there is a race of Persian leopards, 
also found in Baluchistan and Sind, in which the fur is longer, and the tail 
thicker than ordinary; while the coloration is intermediate between that of the 
ordinary leopard and the ounce. Further, according to the author just men- 
tioned, the leopards from Peninsular India have less richly-coloured skins than 
