ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT 159 



in Asia, especially in India, where the number of 

 men and cattle annually carried off by these animals 

 is something enormous. During the year 1885, in 

 the central provinces alone 221 tigers were killed, 

 and 260 the previous year. Leopards also are very 

 destructive, though they kill srnaller prey in the 

 shape of antelopes, goats, sheep, and dogs. 



There appears to be still some difference of 

 opinion amongst Indian sportsmen whether the 

 Leopard and Panther are two distinct species, or 

 merely small and large varieties of the same animal. 

 The former view is expressed by Captain Baldwin 

 in his excellent book on the Large and Small Game 

 of Bengal, following the opinion of Hodgson, Sir 

 Walter Elliot, and others, while the contrary view 

 advocated by Blyth and Jerdon is maintained by 

 Colonel Kinloch in his beautifully illustrated volume 

 on Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, 

 and Lndia. He says: — 



" I have seen many live specimens, both wild 

 and in confinement ; I have inspected hundreds of 

 skins from various parts of India ; and I have heard 

 or read most of the arguments in favour of and 

 against the theory that there is more than one 

 species ; and I have come to the conclusion that 

 there are not sufficient grounds for separating the 

 panthers or leopards into anything but varieties. 

 Even these varieties are not, in my opinion, suffi- 

 ciently defined to be looked upon as permanent." 



The Ounce or Snow Leopard {Felis ttncid) — so 

 called from its living amongst the snow-clad ranges 



