MAMMALIA. 353 
or more from an elevation, and taking to trees and climb- 
ing generally only when pressed. They prey upon various 
animals, and have been known, though rarely, to attack 
man. In southern Florida they swim from key to key 
with perfect ease. The general color of the puma in best 
condition is a rich mouse-gray with light beneath. The 
jaguar is the American tiger, and differs from the puma 
in being essentially arboreal. It ranges from Texas to 
southern South America, and is the largest and hand- 
somest cat in the Western Continent, attaining a total 
length of over five feet, and is so powerful that it has 
been known to kill a mustang, swim with it across a river, 
dragging it into the bush beyond. The general color is 
brownish yellow above, white beneath, with numerous dark- 
er spots. The sides of the body are marked with a series 
of irregular figures. They are accredited with wonderful 
powers by Humboldt and other writers, in opening turtles 
and catching fish with their powerful claws. The leopard 
is perhaps the most beautifully marked of the family, and 
ranges the jungles of Asia, Africa, and the Indian Archi- 
pelago. The skin is richly marked with oval spots. The 
black leopard * is singularly treacherous and utterly un- 
tamable. The tiger + of India (Fig. 375), next to the lion, 
is the most powerful of the cat tribe, majestic in appear- 
ance, the type of agility, cunning, and ferocity. They are 
as large as the lion, with a longer body and rounder head. 
The color of the fur is a rich fawn above, striped and 
barred irregularly with black, the under portion being 
* Albinos are found among all animals, a condition generally the 
result of a lack of pigment. Its absence in the eye produces the so- 
called ‘‘ pink” eyes. Albinism, then, is not properly a disease, and in 
no wise affects physical or mental vigor. The black leopard is a sub- 
ject of melanism, owing to an over-supply of coloring-matter in the 
cells. 
+ The marks of the tiger, leopard, ocelot, and the color of the puma, 
are all protective, and when crouching upon a limb or on the ground 
help tc render them inconspicuous. 
