ORDER OF CARNIVORA. 
367 
Notwithstanding its ferocity when in a state of savage inde- 
pendence, the Panther is easily tamed when captured young. It 
then shows itself as mild and affectionate as the most docile 
dog, and wanders at large in its master’s dwelling without the 
slightest danger. 
Leopard (F. pardus ). — The Leopard is much larger than the 
Panther. In size it generally equals a three-year old Lioness. 
Some have been seen which measured about eleven feet from 
the nose to the tip of the tail (the latter represents one-third 
of the total length), another which weighed more than thirty- 
two stones. 
In dissecting one of these animals, there has been found a 
difference which sufficiently indicates that the two species are 
distinct : the tail of the Leopard has only twenty- two vertebrae, 
while that of the Panther has twenty-eight. The Leopard also 
differs from the real Panther in its coat, which is of a brighter 
fawn colour ; at the same time the spots are farther apart, and the 
centre is darker. It inhabits the whole of Africa and a large 
part of Asia, extending as far as the regions bordering on the 
Caucasus. 
In many recent wwks on natural history, and in several 
accounts of hunting and travelling, the African Leopard is desig- 
nated as the Great Panther, which is conformable to the opinion 
of Temminck, and contrary to that of Buffon and Cuvier. We 
will continue to give the name of Great Panther to the African 
Leopard, because there is a reason for this, — the only characters 
that distinguish the Leopard from the real Panther being the 
larger size of the first, and the number of tail vertebrae in 
the latter. When we call the Leopard the Great Panther 
and the African Panther, there can be no possible mistake ; it 
will be understood what animal is meant. Otherwise this 
expression would not be employed by us except from a desire 
to conform to the general custom. 
The Leopard (Great Panther, African Panther) is a still more 
terrible animal than the Panther ; for with the same natural 
ferocity, it possesses a more formidable amount of strength. It 
will make a bound of forty feet with surprising ease, and fall on 
its prey with the rapidity of a cannon-shot. It keeps by pre- 
ference in places covered with brushwood, and near streams or 
