THE LEOPARD THE JAGUAR.

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a bright tawny yellow, with rounded black spots disposed in circles about his body; the breast and belly are white.

In Algeria recently a gun of honour was presented to a great slayer of panthers, Si-el Moufok, aged 40, who had killed 42 of these wild beasts, and his father 75 before his death in 1850. Si-el Moufok has a young brother who has already killed 3 panthers.

LEOPARD (Felis Leopardus, Cuv., Leopardus varius). This animal, which is about four feet long, is dispersed over Africa, Asia, and some of the Indian islands. There are one or two varieties. Their skins, which are very valuable, are of a bright tawny hue, marked with black spots. There is a leopard skin shown with the furs in the Museum Collection. In this country the collocation of the leopard under the officer's saddle is a distinguishing mark adopted by some of the cavalry regiments.

The imports of these skins is but small in numbers, seldom averaging more than 100 a year, although in some years 150 have been imported. They are sometimes used on draught and saddle horses, and for ornamenting caps, fur garments, and cuffs. Leopard skins command good prices for hearth-rugs and military purposes, and for the seats of some carriages. The skin is worn as a mantle by the Hungarian nobles who form the royal body-guard of Austria.

In the Museum Collection is a fine African leopard skin rug bordered with bear skin, and four or five very choice Bechuana mantles or karosses made of leopard, and various other skins of native animals.

There is another species of leopard known as the ounce (Leopardis uncia), met with about the shores of the Persian Gulf, the fur of which is rather paler, rougher, and thicker.

JAGUAR (Felis [Leopardus] onca), or American Panther. This animal is as large as a wolf, and is formidable for its strength and ferocity, in these points resembling the royal tiger of Bengal. It has a fur, the ground colour of which is a pale brown yellow, very beautifully marked with chocolate brown spots and with streaks and

FLESH OF THE JAGUAR-THE OCELOT. 229

stripes. It is used for ornamental purposes, as hearth-rugs, &c. It seems to be a merciful dispensation of Nature that the most terrible quadrupeds are not gregarious, but hunt alone or in couples. If lions, tigers, and jaguars herded like wolves, whole provinces would be depopulated by their ravages, and man would hardly be able to hold them in any subjection. But by destroying them in detail, their numbers can be kept within bounds, and their depredations confined to their native forests and jungles.

An oil from the adipose tissue of the jaguar is used externally in Brazil in cases of rheumatism, and also for fomenting boils. The Gauchos or herdsmen differ in their opinion whether the jaguar is good eating, but are unanimous in saying that cat is excellent.

Mr. Wallace, when travelling up the Amazon, one day had some steaks of the jaguar on the table, and found the meat very white, and without any bad taste. "It appears evident to me," he adds, "that the common idea of the food of an animal determining the quality of its meat is quite erroneous. Domestic poultry and pigs are the most unclean animals in their food, yet their flesh is highly esteemed, while field rats and squirrels, which eat only vegetable food, are in general disrepute."

OCELOT (Felis Pardalis).-This animal, rather less than the ounce, is a native of tropical South America. Its skin is beautifully variegated, of a bright reddish colour, with stripes of a deeper tinge edged with black variously disposed over the upper parts of the body, and hence is in great request by furriers. Two other species, the linked and the long-tailed, are enumerated as belonging to South America.

The skin of the bush cat (Leopardus serval), the tiger cat of the furriers, is also in some request, being of a golden grey, with dark spots and stripes.

There are some other species of Felines described by naturalists, such as the Margay (F. tigrina), and two or three species of Indian

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WILD AND DOMESTIC CATS.

cats; but as these have no commercial or economic importance, it is unnecessary to describe them.

The WILD CAT (Felis Catus), from which the well-known domestic animal is descended, still inhabits the mountainous parts of Britain and Northern Europe. Its fur is much longer and rougher than that of the tame cat, grey, mottled and spotted with black, and its softness and durability render it very suitable for furs.

THE COMMON CAT (Felis domesticus, Lin.).—Besides its uses as a household pet and for keeping down rats and mice, there is a large trade carried on in the skins of cats for their fur. Cats have even been shipped in large numbers to Australia, California, Malta, and other places where rats have become too numerous to be pleasant. In some countries, as in France, a tax is levied on cats. In that country about 30,000 skins are furnished annually to commerce.

As there is scarcely a house in which one or more cats are not kept, and very many are also maintained in stores, warehouses, docks, &c., to clear mice, there cannot be less than four to five millions domestic cats in the United Kingdom, so that there must necessarily be a good supply of skins.

The common cat is fed on fish, and bred for its fur in Holland, where the finest skins are obtained. Large quantities are also collected in Holstein, Bavaria, Switzerland, &c. This fur is now greatly valued, and the supply of good skins continues far short of the demand. The black, spotted, and striped varieties are all much in request, to be made into wrappers for open carriages, sleigh coverings, and railway travelling.

In 1856 we imported 13,451 cat-skins, chiefly from the Continent, in 1856 32,138, and in 1860 9,741.

According to the "Bulletin of the Society of Acclimatisation " of Paris, the domestic cat is more eaten as food than is generally supposed. In Williams's "China" it is mentioned that wild cats are sometimes caught, and are considered a great food dainty.

THE CHETAH or HUNTING LEOPARD (Gueparda jubata; Cynailurus jubatus, Wagler).-This animal is found in all the

CARACALS OR LYNXES.

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warm parts of the old world, from the Cape Colony to Persia and India. In Asia it is trained for hunting antelopes. The skin is of a light yellowish fawn colour above and white below, with the back and sides covered with black spots. It is used for ornamental purposes.

LYNXES.-There are several species of Caracals or Lynxes

inhabiting Africa and Asia, but the European and Canadian ones are those chiefly hunted for their furs.

The skins of the common lynx and the spotted lynx are shown among the furs in the Museum.

The European lynx (Felis lynx; Lyncus virgatus) ranges over a good part of Europe and some of the northern parts of Asia.