THE CHITTAHS, or HUNTING LEOPARDS. 113 



THE CHITTAHS, or HUNTING LEOPARDS. 



IN THE GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Until the present time the generic characters of the cats have afforded us but one important modifi- 

 cation, which consisted in the form of the pupil, always circular with some, and contracted with others, 

 in proportion as the light was more vivid. The animal which is the subject of the present sketch 

 presents a new modification, and becomes thereby the type of a new secondary group ; its nails are 

 neither retractile, nor are they made to tear their prey in pieces, like those of some others of the cat 

 tribe, of which, however, it possesses the essential characters, the same system of dentition, the senses, 

 and the general forms of the head. Its nails resemble those of a dog, and being destitute either of 

 offensive or defensive organs, this animal possesses a disposition very different from that of the majority 

 of the cat tribe, who find, in their sharp and lacerating nails, weapons more cruel and dangerous than 

 their teeth. 



We are informed by the writings of Tavernier, of Chardin, and of Bernier, that in many parts of 

 Asia, a species of spotted cat is used for the chase, called youze in Persia, and chittah in the Indies, 

 but nothing further is known of the organization of this singular species, with this exception, that a 

 sufficient number of its characteristics have been collected to distinguish it completely from all the 

 other species of cats, at the same time that it is necessary to obtain a knowledge of it from other 

 points, in order to solve the problem which it presents-of a cat employed in the chase, that is, trained 

 to an exercise, which requires the greatest degree of constraint, and the most profound modifications 

 in its natural dispositions, whilst, on the other hand, all the other species, and even the domestic cat, 

 preserve a complete independence and untractableness. 



In the organization of this animal a considerable difference exists between it and the majority of 

 the cat species. It is, in the first place, diurnal, the pupil of the eye remains always round, and never 

 assumes that contracted form which that of the domestic cat exhibits, when exposed to the full light 

 of the day. Its head also differs from that of the cat in the middle part of it being much higher; 

 and its general proportions, which are much lighter and more active, may also be given as one of its 

 most distinguishing characteristics. 



The length of its body from the top of the head to the base of the tail is three feet two inches ; its 

 head, from the crown to the tip of the nose, eight inches, and its mean height is two feet one inch. 

 All the upper parts of its body are covered with small round spots, on a pale fulvous-yellow ground. 

 On the lower parts, these spots appear on a whitish ground. The fore part of the upper lips, the whole 

 of the lower jaw, the lower sides of the cheeks, and the insides of the ears, are quite white. All the 

 other parts are completely yellow, and the hair over the whole of the body is short. From the in- 

 ternal angle of the eye proceeds a black line which assumes the form of an S, and which terminates at 

 the corners of the mouth. On the sides of the cheeks is a group of very small spots, and a few other 

 spots are scattered over the white part of the cheeks, and on the head the small spots begin at the top 

 of the forehead. On the neck the hair is longer than on any other part and very much frizzled. 

 Behind the ears there is a black spot very close to the head. The spots on the neck are small and by 



