THE JAGUAR. 
97 
size, frequently measuring from four to five feet from 
the nose to the root' of the tail. His body is thicker, 
his limbs shorter and more muscular, and his tail, 
instead of being fully as long as the body exclusive of 
the head, scarcely trails its tip upon the ground when 
the animal is in an erect position. His head is also 
considerably larger, and at the same time somew^hat 
shorter in proportion, than that of the Leopard ; and 
the line of his profile is more prominent above the eyes. 
These differences of form are accompanied by differ- 
ences in colour and markings equally decisive. The 
general appearance is at the first glance the same in 
both ; but the open roses of the Leopard are scarcely 
more than half the size of those of the Jaguar, and they 
all enclose a space of one uniform colour, in which, 
unless in some rare and accidental instances, no central 
spots exist, while in the latter animal most of those 
which are arranged along the upper surface near the 
middle line of the back are distinguished by one or two 
small black spots enclosed within their circuit. The 
middle line itself is occupied in the Leopard by open 
roses intermixed with a few black spots of small size 
and roundish form ; that of the Jaguar on the contrary 
is marked by one or two regular longitudinal lines of 
broad elongated deep black patches, sometimes extend- 
ing several inches in length, and occasionally forming 
an almost continuous band from between the shoulders 
to the tail. The black rings towards the tip of the 
latter are also more completely circular than in the 
Leopard. These differences may perhaps appear minute 
upon paper, but they are strongly marked in the animal 
itself ; and their minuteness is fully compensated by 
the facility with which they may be detected, both in 
the living individual and upon his fur after death. 
The Jaguar is the largest and most formidable among 
H 
