VIII 
THE LEOPARD 
277 
it is altogether different, both in habits and appear¬ 
ance ; the claws, although rather long, are not 
retractile, neither are they curved to the same ex¬ 
tent as all others of the genus Felis, but they 
resemble somewhat the toe-nails of the dog. I shall 
accordingly separate this animal from the ordinary 
class of leopards, and give it a separate existence as 
an object of natural history. 
The panther or larger variety of leopard is about 
7 ft. 6 in. in length, and has been known to ap¬ 
proach closely upon 8 feet, but this would be an 
unusual size. This animal is exceedingly powerful, 
with massive neck and strongly developed legs. 
The weight of a fine specimen would be from about 
160 lbs. to 170 lbs. Although heavy, there is no 
animal more active, except the monkey, and even 
those wide-awake creatures are sometimes caught 
by the ever-watchful panther. Stories are told of 
accidents that have occurred when the hunter has 
been pulled out of his tree, from which imaginary 
security he was watching for his expected game. 
It is impossible to deny such facts, although they 
are fortunately rare exceptions to the general rule; 
but there can be no doubt that a panther or leopard 
would attack upon many occasions when a tiger 
would prefer to slink away. 
The habits of the leopard are invariably the same, 
it prowls stealthily about sunset and throughout 
the night in search of prey. It seizes by the throat 
and clings with tenacious claws to the animal’s 
neck, until it succeeds either in breaking the spine, 
