282 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
of feeding upon carcases some days after they have 
been killed ; the flesh is at that time in an incipient 
stage of decomposition, and the claws, which are 
lised to hold the flesh while it is torn by the teeth 
and jaws, become tainted and poisoned sufficiently 
to ensure gangrene by inoculation. The claws of 
all carnivora are five upon each of the fore feet, 
including the useful dew-claw, which is used as a 
thumb, and thoroughly secures the morsel while the 
animal is pulling and tearing away the muscles from 
the bones. 
A wound from either a tiger or a leopard should 
be thoroughly syringed with cold water mixed with 
3^gth part of carbolic acid, and this syringing process 
should be continued three times a day whenever the 
wound is dressed. Nothing should be done but to 
wrap the wound with linen rag soaked in the same 
solution, and keep it continually wetted. 
The daring of a leopard during night is 
extraordinary. I have frequently during wet 
weather discovered in the early morning a regular 
beaten track in the soft earth, where a leopard has 
been prowling round and round a cattle-shed con¬ 
taining a herd of animals, vainly seeking for an 
entrance. 
At one time my own blacksmith had a noc¬ 
turnal adventure with a leopard which afforded a 
striking example of audacity. A native cow had 
a calf; this being her first-born, the mother was ex¬ 
ceedingly vicious, and it was unsafe for a stranger 
to approach her, especially as her horns were 
