AESTHETICS AT THE ZOO. 
SCENTS AND SOUNDS. 
One of the oddest tales in the “ Bestiaries,” or stories 
of Bible animals written by the monks, is the legend of 
the panther. “ The panther,” so the homily runs, “ is 
the most beautiful of all beasts. More than this, when 
it goes abroad it diffuses a marvellous sweet perfume. 
This odour is so sweet that all the other beasts and 
birds follow the panther wherever it goes. Wherefore 
the panther is a type of Virtue.” Perhaps the old 
monks who borrowed and embellished this story had 
heard and misunderstood the strong love of sweet 
scents which the panther and its relations, the lions 
and leopards, often show. The old theory of animal 
liking for scents denied them any share in such 
pleasures unless they suggested the presence of their 
food or prey. But such a reason can hardly be alleged 
for a lion’s liking for lavender-water ! The writer, 
wishing to test for himself the reported fondness of 
many animals for perfumes, paid a series of visits to 
the Zoological Gardens, provided with bottles of scent 
and a packet of cotton-wool, and there tried some 
