346 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 141 



a single spring he alights upon one of the unfortu- 

 nate travellers, and bears off his shrieking victim. 



We learn from the Gazette that in 1883 not less 

 than 47,487 cattle were destroyed by wild beasts, 

 and it cannot be doubted that in this connection 

 the tiger is especially destructive, and from this 

 cause there is a very heavy tax on the natives 

 dwelling in villages near large forests. A couple 

 of royal tigers will probably within a month kill 

 and consume ten or twelve grown oxen or cows, 

 and a tigress with two or three almost grown 

 young is perhaps even more destructive, for she 

 takes pleasure not only in killing for the nourish- 

 ment of her young, but will often kill several at a 

 time out of pure malice. 



There are tigers which live almost entirely upon 

 large animals like deer and boars, and only rarely 

 approach villages and human settlements ; rather 

 the majority of them depend for support upon 

 domestic cattle, and that is not to be wondered at. 

 The ruminating animals of the forest are shy, rest- 

 less creatures, ever on the watch for danger, and 

 so careful that a tiger, in spite of his cunning and 

 noiseless approach, never succeeds in springing 

 upon such animals and in successfully tearing 

 them down. The tiger is more fortunate if he 

 lies down in the neighborhood of a spring in the 

 jungle, and there hidden, awaits the deer coming 

 after a long hot day, lialf dead with thirst, impa- 

 tient of the approach of night, and careless, in 

 order to obtain the long-desired water. 



But a tiger soon discovers that he can obtain his 

 food with much less trouble and exertion, if he 

 attacks herds. This is not only easier, if the herd 

 pastures at the edge of a jungle, — quite unUke 

 deer, which are always cautious, and in a trice 

 in flight if they scent the enemy, — but a herd of 

 cattle moved by fear will stand as if bound, with 

 tlieir whole attention directed to the striped robber, 

 when crouching to the gi'ound he quickly ap- 

 proaches to springing distance. Then, when 

 flight is too late, the foolish animals try to escape, 

 but with a single spring the tiger is among them, 

 seizes his victim with his powerful grasp, tears it 

 down, and kills it with one bite of his strong 

 jaws. 



The Asiatic lion, which is still found in a few 

 provinces, in Cutch, Guzerat, and a few parts of 

 Bombay, but is rather rare, was formerly con- 

 sidered by naturalists on account of a single 

 characteristic peculiarity (namely, the almost en- 

 tire lack of a mane in the males and his smaller size), 

 as a species different from the African lion ; but 

 they are now considered identical. Little is 

 known of the manner of life and the habits of the 

 Asiatic lion. Hunters describe him as a danger- 

 ous animal when pursued ; but if not provoked or 



attacked, he appears, like the tiger, to avoid as far 

 as possible, encounter with man ; and apparently 

 at nightfall he is not so bold and dangerous as the 

 African lion. On the other hand, a lion, creeping 

 along on the ground in the grass or in the under- 

 growth, even in comparitively open country, is 

 much more difficult to distinguish than a tiger, 

 because his brown spots resemble the color of the 

 surroundings. It should be stated that it is a 

 mistake to suppose that the lion in his natural 

 state has the long flowing mane which we see in 

 the caged specimens. Lions often live in close 

 thorny thickets, and their manes, through the 

 constant combing on the thorns, and the tearing 

 in passing briery bushes, become thin and short, 

 and lack the flowing abundance which pleases us 

 in the caged animal. Like the tiger, the lion de- 

 stroys cattle, but seldom or never eats men. 



The panther and leopard in many things resem- 

 ble the tiger : they seldom attack man, unless 

 they are provoked, driven into a corner, or 

 wounded, when, like all cat-like animals, they 

 become very dangerous. Occasionally, though 

 fortunately rarely, cases are reported when both 

 animals show an unusual ferocity, and become 

 man-eaters. For many experienced Europeans, 

 and even for the native hunter, the Central Asiatic 

 panther, a large, powerful beast, is far more dan- 

 gerous than even the royal tiger, and both panther 

 and leopard climb with agility, a power fortu- 

 nately denied tigers and lions. Only a few years 

 ago, it was reported that an English officer and a 

 native hunter fh-ed at a panther from the top of a 

 tree, and wounded him severely. The panther 

 climbed the tree, dragged the unfortunate English- 

 man down, mutilated him so that he died shortly 

 after, and then mounted the tree again, and 

 killed the hunter. 



The panther, like the tiger, preys upon cattle ; 

 the leopard especially troubles the sheep and goats 

 of the villagers, and often takes up his station 

 only a few hundred feet from the village. Es- 

 pecially since the Indian mutiny, when the coun- 

 try was disarmed, and in moimtainous regions, 

 leopards have increased to an unusual degree. 

 Formerly each village possessed two or three guns; 

 now only certain people obtain permission of the 

 government to carry arms, and consequently not 

 enough animals are killed. The leopard has 

 special designs against dogs, which he carries off 

 zealously ; often he will not attack a strong dog, 

 but creeps up to him unnoticed and waits for a 

 favorable opportunity to seize him, and to leap 

 upon his neck, when he seldom looses his hold 

 until the strength of the victim is exhausted. Not- 

 withstanding the iron collar furnished with points 

 which these valuable dogs wear, they are often 



