IO 
There are two fine males in the collection, to the largest of 
which a somewhat tragic interest attaches, as shortly after he 
came into the possession of the Society, in May, 1876, he in¬ 
flicted injuries upon his mate, from the effects of which she 
shortly died. 
The male and female Tiger are similar in appearance, and 
have been beautifully adapted by nature for the purpose of 
stealing unobserved upon their prey; the tawny yellow of 
their skin, striped with vertical bars of black, blending so 
perfectly with the jungle of canes and bamboos, among which 
they live, that it is almost impossible to detect their presence 
until revealed by motion, when it is usually too late for the 
startled victim to escape. 
The Leopard has much the same distribution as the lion, 
and varies almost to the same extent. This building contains 
a pair of the Common Leopard (Felis pardus') of Africa and 
Asia. The male of this pair distinguished his arrival at Phila¬ 
delphia from Hamburg by breaking out of his cage and taking 
possession of the hold of the canal-boat in which he had been 
brought from New York. For three days he maintained an 
obstinate defense, but hunger finally got the better of him 
and he fell a victim to the wiles of his keeper. The barge 
being named “The Chesapeake,” the animal was at once 
called “Commodore Lawrence,” in honor of his gallant 
naval predecessor. 
The Javan Leopard (.Felis pardus javanensis ), sometimes 
called the Spotted Panther, is also represented in the col¬ 
lection by a male and female. In the next cage to these is a 
fine pair of Black Leopards. This is a rare variety in color 
of the Common Leopard, and is believed to exist only in 
Java. 
Among the members of the cat family now found in a wild 
state, the only one which seems to be susceptible of domesti¬ 
cation is the Cheetah (Felis jubata ), often known as the 
Hunting Leopard, which is found in India, south-western 
Asia, and Africa. It differs much in disposition from all of 
its kind, and so far surpasses them in intelligence and tracta- 
bility, that for many centuries it has been trained in the East 
for the purpose of the chase, the animal being blindfolded 
and led by a chain until a deer or antelope is started, when it 
is unhooded and loosed to run down the quarry. 
