200 TlMEHRI. 
tiger, and present the two extremes met with in this 
variable species. The larger skin nearly five feet in 
length, exclusive of the tail, represents the ordinary form, 
having a greyish or reddish-brown groundcolour, thickly 
marked w T ith dark reddish-brown or black spots in more 
or less distin6l longitudinal lines along the upper 
part of the body. The spots, however, instead of 
being always uniformly simple, are arranged to 
form triangles, circles and rosettes, especially along the 
sides, while the presence of a distin6l spot in the centre 
of the figures is a marked characteristic of the species. 
The smaller dark skin represents the melanic variety of 
the jaguar, a variety known in the colony as the Black 
or Maipurie Tiger, one formerly described as a distinft 
species under the name of Felts nigra, and commonly 
bearing the reputation of being fiercer than the ordinary 
form, though inferior in size. The jaguar is proportion- 
ally about as massive in build as the tiger or lion, with 
very short and stout limbs, adapted to an arboreal mode 
of life, unlike the lion and tiger which are unable to 
climb trees. The allied ocelot and other " tiger cats" 
will be seen inside the Museum proper in glass cases, to 
which reference will be made later. 
On the top of the lion and tiger cases, is seen a 
medium-sized specimen of a Shark (Carcharias sp. y ) 
about seven feet in length, caught in the Demerara 
river off the market. Some of the characteristics of the 
Shark group are very peculiar, and separate it widely 
from the other orders of Fishes. Thus the skin instead 
of being made up of scales or bony plates, consists of 
closely-packed grains, tubercles or spines, which in the 
sharks proper yield the " shagreen" of commerce. The 
