162 CAENIVORA. 



founded on a tanned skin, and from the circumstance that it had the stamp of 

 a Japanese trader, it was considered by Dr. Gray to be an inhabitant of that island, 

 but Swinhoe strongly suspects that it was procured by the Japanese from one 

 of the trading stations in China. It is impossible to say whether this species is 

 identical with the Felis fontanieri, A. M.-Edwards, which is founded on specimens 

 obtained by M. Eontanier, who was resident in or near Pekin, but judging by Gray's 

 description, it would appear to be so closely affined to it that I hesitate to pronounce 

 them distinct, having reference only to the character of the fur. Felis fontanieri is 

 characterised by the confluence of the black spots which form rather large, com- 

 plete rings in the adult, as in the Jaguar, but without a central black spot. The 

 fur is also long, soft, and dense. This latter character is also assigned by Swinhoe 

 to the northern race of Chinese leopards, the fur of which, he states, is confusedly 

 spotted and marked with black rings. Gray also states that the coat of his 

 F. japanensis is distinguished by its roundish and unequal-sized spots and by black 

 rings with no central black spot, and wliich are distributed over the shoulders, back, 

 and sides, wlule A. M.-Edwards describes these rings as very distinct on the scapu- 

 lar region and on the upper parts of the sides and on the back. It does not appear 

 to me that there is any character yielded by these descriptions that would enable us 

 to separate the so-called F. japanensis, Gray, from F. fontanieri, A. M.-Edwards, but 

 as the materials for the identification of Gray's species are insufficient, being only 

 a tanned skin, it would be as well not to burden zoological literatm'e with the term 

 F. japanensis. There can be no doubt, however, that F. fontanieri is at least a well- 

 marked race if not a distinct species. I have had the opportunity to examine the 

 type of this beautiful leopard. 



A. M.-Edwards has pointed out certain characters by which he considers 

 F. fontanieri to be distinguished from the leopards of India and Africa, and from 

 the skull figured by Gray as Leopardus chinensis. He attaches great importance to 

 the short muzzle of the northern leopard, and states that the distance between 

 the anterior border of the alveolus of the canine and the summit of the fronto- 

 nasal process of the superior maxilla equals the breadth between the external 

 borders of the infra-orbital foramina, while in Felis parclus the former measure- 

 ment considerably exceeds the latter, and he records that the relative proportion 

 between these parts is equally observable in the young as in the adults of F. fontanieri. 

 I have examined a series of five skulls of F. pardus from India, all with reliable 

 histories and of diff'erent ages, but without any record of their sex ; and although 

 they support the generalisation of the accomplished Erench naturahst regarding 

 the greater length of the first interval as compared with the second in Felis pardus, 

 the tabulated measurements which I here give suggest that considerable changes 

 take place with advancing age in the proportions between these two areas of the 

 face in F. pardus, because in the youngest example they are nearly equal, as in 

 i^./o*itomm, so that these measurements are not very reliable guides to separate 

 the species in youth. At the same time, there can be no doubt that in the adult 

 Felis pardus of India, the muzzle is not so deep, but is more elongated than in 



