OEDEE OF CAENIVOEA. 367 



Notwithstanding its ferocity when in a state of savage inde- 

 pendence, the Panther is easily tamed when captured young. It 

 then shows itself as mild and affectionate as the most docile 

 dog, and wanders at large in its master's dwelling without the 

 slightest danger. 



Leopard {F. pardui) .—The Leopard is much larger than the 

 Panther. In size it generally equals a three-year old Lioness. 

 Some have been seen which measured about eleven feet from 

 the nose to the tip of the tail (the latter represents one-third 

 of the total length), another which weighed more than thirty- 

 two stones. 



In dissecting one of these animals, there has been found a 

 difference which sufficiently indicates that the two species are 

 distinct : the tail of the Leopard has only twenty-two vertebret, 

 while that of the Panther has twenty-eight. The Leopard also 

 differs from the real Panther in its coat, which is of a brighter 

 fawn colour ; at the same time the spots are farther apart, and the 

 centre is darker. It inhabits the whole of Africa and a largo 

 part of Asia, extending as far as the regions bordering on the 

 Caucasus. 



In many recent works on natural history, and in several 

 accounts of hunting and travelling, the African Leopard is desig- 

 nated as the Great Panther, which is conformable to the opinion 

 of Temminck, and contrary to that of Buffon and Cuvier. We 

 will continue to give the name of Great Panther to the African 

 Leopard, because there is a reason for this, — the only characters 

 that distinguish the Leopard from the real Panther being the 

 laro-er size of the first, and the number of tail vertebriDO in 

 the latter. "When we call the Leopard the Great Panther 

 and the African Panther, there can be no possible mistake ; it 

 will be understood what animal is meant. Otherwise this 

 expression would not be employed by us except from a desire 

 to conform to the general custom. 



The Leopard (Great Panther, African Panther) is a still more 

 terrible animal than the Panther; for with the same natural 

 ferocity, it possesses a more formidable amount of strength. It 

 will make a bound of forty feet with surprising ease, and fall on 

 its prey with the rapidity of a cannon-shot. It keeps by pre- 

 ference in places covered with brushwood, and near streams or 



