390 CARNIVORES. 
those inhabiting the damp forests of the Himalaya, Bengal, Assam, and Burma; 
and the spots on them are as a rule much smaller. Two leopards, the 
one from China and the other from Persia, described by M. A. Milne-Edwards, 
were remarkable for the circumstance that the markings on the flanks were more 
like rings than rosettes, while the tail im each case was shorter than the body 
alone. 
The differences in the size of individual leopards is so great that while in the 
smallest examples the total length of the head, body, and tail does not exceed 
5 feet, in the largest it reaches to as much as 8 feet. In a large male, of which 
the total length was 7 feet 11 inches, the head and body measured 4 feet 9 inches, 
and the tail 3 feet 2 inches. 
The leopard is one of the three larger cats which are common to India and 
Africa; the other two being the lon and the hunting-leopard. The distributioa 
of the leopard is, however, more extensive than that of the lon, embracing nearly 
the whole of Asia, from Persia to Japan, but not extending as far north as Siberia ; 
while the animal is unknown on the high plateau of Tibet, where almost all the 
Mammals belong to peculiar species not found elsewhere. 
Leopards occur over almost the whole of India, although absent from 
parts of Sind and the Punjab; and they are abundant in Ceylon, Burma, 
and the islands of the Malayan region. Westward they extend into Persia, 
Palestine, Arabia, and Syria, and thence into Africa, where they range from 
Somaliland and Algeria to the Cape Colony. This is, however, not all, since the 
evidence of fossil bones found in the caverns and superficial deposits of Western 
Europe proves that the leopard (or, at all events, a large cat of which the bones 
and teeth are indistinguishable from those of a leopard) formerly ranged as far 
west as Great Britain, France, and Spain. Its distribution is and was considerably 
more extensive than that of the lion, which, as we have seen, never extended 
eastwards of the Bay of Bengal; and it is larger than that of any other member 
of the Cat family except the lynx. 
Next to the tiger in India, and to the lion in Africa, the leopard is the most 
formidable Carnivore (exclusive in India of bears) to be found in either country. 
In its habits it differs essentially from both the lion and the tiger in that it is 
thoroughly at home in trees, running up a straight-stemmed and smooth-barked 
trunk with the speed and agility of a monkey. Moreover, the leopard is a much 
more active animal than the tiger, frequently taking tremendous leaps and springs, 
Mr. Sanderson is of opinion that the Indian leopard, although its powers of offence 
are far inferior to those of the tiger, is in some respects a more dangerous animal, 
as it is roused with less provocation, and is more courageous in attacking those who 
disturb its repose. The favourite resorts of the Indian leopard are rocky hills 
covered with scrub, among which it seeks secure hiding in caves and under over- 
hanging masses of rock. From strongholds such as these, writes Mr. Sanderson, 
the leopards in Southern and Central India “watch the surrounding country 
towards sunset, and descend with astonishing celerity and stealth, under cover of 
the rocks, to cut off any straggling animal among the herds or flocks on their 
return to the village at nightfall. From their habit of lurking in the vicinity of 
the habitations of man, to prey upon cattle, ponies, donkeys, sheep, goats, and 
