MAMMALIA-LYN»&. 195 
THE LYNX! 
Ys an animal more commonly found in cold than in temperate climates ; 
and is, at least, very rare in hot ones. Bory St Vincent, however, assures 
us that he shot several in Spain. It is abundant in the northern parts of 
Europe, Asia, and America. The lynx of the Greeks and Romans was not 
the animal which now bears that name, but the caracal. 
The lynx, of which the ancients have said, that the sight was so sharp 
as to penetrate opaque bodies, and of which the urine was made to possess 
the marvellous property of hardening into a solid substance, a precious stone 
called lapis lyncurius, is an animal which never existed, any more than all 
the properties attributed to it, but in fable. To the present lynx, or to the 
caracal, this imaginary one has no aflinity, but in name. We must net, 
therefore, as the generality of naturalists have hitherto done, attribute tc 
the former, which is a real being, the properties of tais imaginary one, the 
existence of which Pliny himself does not seem disposed to believe, since 
he speaks of it only as an extraordmary beast, and classes it with the 
sphinx, the pegasus, and other prodigies, or monsters, the produce of 
Ethiopia. 
The European lynx possesses not the wonderful quality of seeing through 
walls; but it has bright eyes, a mild aspect, and, upon the whole, an agreea- 
dle and lively appearance. Such, however, is its native ferocity, that it is 
said to be incapable of being subdued. Its urine produces not precious 
stones, but like the cat, an animal which it nearly resembles, and of which 
it retains the manners, and even the cleanliness, it covers 1t over with 
earth. 
The most beautiful skins of the lynx are brought from Siberia, as belong- 
ing to the Jupus-cervarius ; and from Canada, as belonging to the felis- 
cervartus ; because being, like all other animals of the New Continent, 
smaller than those of the Old World, in Europe they are compared to a 
wolf in-‘size, and in Canada to a wild cat. 
The lynx has short legs, and is generally about the size of the fox. The 
ears are erect, and are tipped with a long pencil of black hair. The fur, 
— 
1 Felis lynz, Lin, 
