LEOPARD. 
387 
the leopard (y'j nat. size). 
The Leopard (Fells pardus). 
The third in point of size of the Old World cats is the leopard, or panther, 
a species closely allied to the lion and tiger, from whom it is at once dis¬ 
tinguished by its coloration and inferior dimensions. In many works, written 
more from the sporting than the purely zoological point of view, it will be found 
that two species of large spotted cats are recognised as inhabiting Africa and 
India, to the smaller of which the name leopard is restricted, while the larger is 
known as the panther. Although there is an enormous amount of difference 
between the smallest and the largest of such spotted cats in point of size, yet, in 
the opinion of those who have paid most attention to the subject, the transition 
from the one to the other is so gradual and complete that, in a large series of 
specimens, it is quite impossible to say where leopards end and panthers begin. 
Hence it is concluded that there is but a single species, for which the name 
leopard should be adopted. The spotted coat of the leopard being its most 
distinctive feature, the animal (in common with the hunting-leopard) is known to 
the natives of India as the chita, meaning spotted; the leopard, on account of its 
larger size being often distinguished as the chita-bagh, or spotted tiger. By 
Europeans the name chita (or cheetah) has been very generally restricted to the 
hunting-leopard; but, as the above remarks show, there is no justification for this 
