68 
CARNIVORA. 
they differ in a variety of particulars, agree never- 
theless in the general description, and exhibit a 
certain relationship to a common type, may have 
sprung from a single pair, and have branched out 
into distinct hereditary races by the effect of emi- 
gration and climate, or change of place. 
THE JAGUAR*. LE JAGUAR. 
Felis Onca. L. 
This formidable animal is peculiar to America, 
and is sometimes called the American tiger. It is 
nearly as big as the tiger of the old world, , and not 
much less dangerous. The ground colour of the fur 
is bright yellow above, and white beneath ; the sides 
have each a number of ocellated and other marks, 
each mark describing a black circle, interrupted in 
several places, generally, with a black spot in the 
middle ; and the breast and under parts have some 
black stripes, with numerous black spots, irregular as 
to shape, size, and position. These marks, however, 
seem to vary in different individuals, nor do the two 
sides of the same animal always agree. 
Some inhabitants of South America particularize 
two varieties of the jaguar, corresponding in colour 
and general appearance; but one of them stands 
* So named in Brazil. The Portuguese have named it on^a, 
from its supposed similarity to the ounce, which Linnaeus adopted. 
