THE BLACK LEOPARD. 61 



THE BLACK LEOPARD, 



IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. WOMBWELL. 



In a former part of this work we entered into a description of the common leopard, such as he is 

 represented generally in the menageries of this country : the animal which forms the subject of our 

 present sketch can only be considered as a distinct species, but possessing in every particular the 

 generic character of the African and Indian leopard. 



The black leopard is a very rare animal in this country, and forms a very distinguished ornament of 

 the collection of Mr. Wombwell ; a specimen of the same species was brought to this country by 

 the late Warren Hastings, from Bengal, and was confined for some time in the Tower. 



On the first examination of this animal, it appears rather to belong to the panther species than the 

 leopard, and, in fact, the characteristics are so indecisive, and so confounded, that a positive distinction 

 cannot be laid down. 



As a part of natural history, the nice distinction between the ounce, the panther, and the leopard 

 has generally involved the zoologist in error, and, therefore, it may not be uninteresting to investigate 

 how far the shades of difference exist, and thereby arrive at a positive knowledge of the respective 

 characters of the three species of animals. 



The leopard and its affinities maybe considered the inhabitants of the Old Continent, and are known 

 to naturalists by the name of the panther, the ounce, and the leopard. The first species is that 

 which was known amongst the Greeks by the name of pardalis ; to the ancient Romans by the name 

 of panthera ; and to the modern Latins, by that of leopardus. This animal, when it has attained its 

 full size, is about five or six feet in length from the extremity of the muzzle to the origin of the tail, 

 which in length generally exceeds two feet. 



The second species is the lesser panther of Oppian, to which the ancients gave no particular name, 

 but which modem travellers have designated by the name of ounce, from the corrupted word lynx or 

 lunx. It is much smaller than the panther, its body being only three feet and a half in length. Its 

 hair is longer than that of the panther ; the tail is also longer, being sometimes more than three feet. 

 The ground colour of the ounce is a whitish-grey on the back and on the sides of the body, and of a 

 grey, still more inclining to white on the belly, whereas the back and the sides of the body of the 

 panther are always of a fulvous yellow, of a lighter or deeper shade ; the spots are nearly of the 

 same form, and of the same size as those of the panther. 



The third species, of which the ancients make no mention, is an animal of Senegal, of Guinea, and 

 other countries not discovered by the ancients. It is generally known by the name of leopard, which 

 has also been erroneously given to the great panther. It is rather larger than the ounce, but much 

 less than the panther, and for this reason the animal now under our consideration ought more pro- 

 perly to be considered as an once than a leopard. Oppian was acquainted with the two species of the 

 ounce and the panther ; but he styles the ounce a species of panther, resembling each other in the 

 form of their body, and in the variety and disposition of their spots, but differing in the length of 

 their tail. 



The Arabs designate the great panther by the name of Al Nemer, and the lesser one, or the ounce, 

 by that of Al Phet or Al Fhed. The latter name, although somewhat corrupted, may be considered 

 as synonimous with Faadh, by which name the animal is actually known in Barbary. The Faadh, 



