iMAMMALIA. FER^l. Cat. 147 



male deftroys his own progeny when he can get to them. Has a moft acute fenfe of feeing : Lies in 

 wait for his prey, and feizes it by a hidden bound. This is the moft beautiful of all wild beafts. 



This animal, though immenfely cruel and ferocious, is yet exceedingly cowardly ; and, though he 

 i'eems to prefer mankind to any other prey, when he can procure fuch by furprife, will hardly attack 

 openly even the fmalleft animal that is capable of making refiftance. Like the Cat, with which his 

 manners agree very much, he lurks among buihes, crawling flowly on his belly towards fuch prey as 

 appears, until he thinks he has got within reach, then fprings forward from his ambufh with an im- 

 menfe bound; but, if he mines his object, makes off without repeating the attempt : When he iuc- 

 ceeds, though the animal be a large Buffalo, fo vaft is his ftrength, he carries it oft" with the utmoft 

 eafe into the receffes of the foreft: If undifturbed, he plunges his head into the body of the flaugh- 

 tered animal, and fucks the blood, before he devours the carcafe, as if delighting in ferocious {laugh- 

 ter. The head and body are fmooth ; the general colour is pale yellow, very beautifully marked 

 with long ftripes of black, which point downwards, along the fides, from the back to the belly, and 

 are tranfverfe on the thighs •, is often larger than the Lion, fome having been found fifteen feet long, 

 including the tail, which is about two-thirds the length of the body and head. 



3. Panther. — 3. Fe/is Pardus. 3. 



The upper parts of the body are marked with circular fpots, and the lower with flreaks. 

 Schreber, iii. 384. tab. xcix. 



Felis Pardus. Briff. quad. 194. — Panthera, Pardus, Pardalis, Leopardus. Gefn. quad. 824. Raj. 

 quad. 166. — Pardus. Ludolf. ^Lthiop. 511. — Panther. Sm. Buff. v. 167. pi. ex. and cxi. Penn. 

 hift. of quad. n. 153. 



Inhabits Africa, from the Barbary coaft, as far as the fouthern parts of Guinea, and is likewife faid 

 to be found in Afia — This animal is of a ftrong make, and is next in fize to the Tiger, meafuring 

 fometimes near feven feet from the tip of the nofe to the origin of the tail, which is about three feet 

 long. The Panther is probably the n«^«Ais putuv of Oppian. Though a very fierce and cruel, ani- 

 mal, it is lefs apt to attack mankind than the Tiger, and confines its depredationvchiefly to animals^ 

 unlefs when irritated, or much preffed with hunger. It is faid fometimes to enter houfes in the night < 

 time, and to prey on domeftic Cats. The general manners of this fpecies are very fimilar to thofe 

 of the Tiger, already defcribed. It is quite untameable, and always ratains a fierce malevolent afpect, 

 perpetually growling or murmuring. The general colour of the hair, which is fmooth and fhort, is 

 bright tawny, having the back, fides, and flanks, elegantly marked with black fpots, which are of a 

 circular form, each being compofed of four or five lefler fpots, with a fingle fpot in the center ; the 

 fpots on the face and legs are fingle, and the top of the back has a row of oblong fpots, the longeft 

 of which are next the tail ; the cheft and belly are white, the former being marked with tranfverfe 

 dufky ftripes, and the latter, as is the tail, with large irregular black fpots ; the end of the nofe is- 

 brown, and the ears are fhort and pointed. 



4. Ounce. — 4. Fells Uncia. o. 



The body is of a whitifh colour, marked with irregular black fpots. Erxleben, mam. 508:.. 

 Schreber, iii. 386. t. c. 



The Ounce. Sin. Buff, v, 167. pi. cxii. Penn. hift. of quad. n. 157. 



T 2 .Inhabits 



