reckoned very valuable. In Asia these animals are found on the mountains of Caucasus, from Persia to India; and also in China, where they are called Poupi. By the Bukharian traders, who often bring their skins to Russia, they are styled Bars. The leopard inhabits also Arabia, where it is called Nemr. Mr. Forskal says, that in that country, as well as in Egypt, it will do no harm to man unless provoked; but will enter houses by night and destroy the cats.

F. lynx Canadensis, the Canadian lynx, has pale yellow eyes, and erect ears tufted with long black hair. The body is covered with soft and long fur, cinereous tinged with tawny, or gray mixed with white, and marked with black or dusky spots more or less visible in different subjects, dependent on the age or season in which the animal is killed; the legs are strong and thick; the claws large. It is about three times the size of a cat; though only about a foot high, and the tail is four inches long, tipt with black. This species inhabits the vast forest of North America. It is called in Canada le chat cervier, or le loup cervier, on account of its being so destructive to deer: which it drops on from the trees, like the puma, and, fixing on the jugular vein, never quits its hold till the exhausted animal falls through loss of blood. The English call it a wild cat. It is very destructive to the young pigs, poultry, and all kinds of game. The skins are in high esteem for the softness and warmness of the fur; and great numbers are annually imported into Europe.

F. caracal, the siyah-ghush, or Persian lynx, has a lengthened face and small head; very long slender ears, terminated with a long tuft of black hairs; eyes small: the upper part of the body is of a very pale reddish brown; and the belly and breast are whitish: the limbs are strong and pretty long; and the tail is about half the length of the body. These animals inhabit Arabia, Persia, India, and Barbary; where they are often brought up tame, and used in the chase of smaller quadrupeds, and the larger sort of birds, such as cranes, pelicans, peacocks, &c., which they surprise with great address. When they seize their prey, they hold it fast with their mouth, and lie for a time motionless on it. They are fierce when provoked; Dr. Charleton says, he saw one fall on a hound, which it killed and tore to pieces in a moment, notwithstanding the dog defended itself to the utmost.-The Arabian writers call it anak el ard; and say, that it hunts like the panther, jumps up at cranes as they fly, and covers its steps when hunting.

F. lynx chaus, the Caspian lynx, has a round head, a little more oblong than that of the common cat; shining restless eyes, with a most brilliant golden pupil; ears erect, oval, and lined with white hairs; their outside reddish, their summits tufted with black. The hairs are coarser than those of the cat or commou lynx, but less so than those of the wolf. They are shortest on the head, but on the top of the back above two inches long. The color of the head and body is a yellowish-brown; the breast and belly of a bright brown, nearly orange. The tail reaches only to the flexure of the leg; is thick and cylindric; of the same color with the back, tipped

with black, and thrice obscurely annulated with black near the end. In general appearance it has the form of the domestic cat. Its length is two feet and a half from the nose to the base of the tail: its tail little more than eleven inches: its height before is nineteen inches; behind twenty. It is sometimes found larger, there being instances of its reaching the length of three feet from the nose to the tail. This animal inhabits the reeds and woods in the marshy parts that border on the western sides of the Caspian Sea, particularly about the castle of Kislar on the river Terek, and in the Persian provinces of Ghisan and Masenderan, and frequent about the mouth of the Kur, the ancient Cyrus.-In manners, voice, and food, it agrees with the wild cat. It conceals itself in the day, and wanders over the flooded tracts in search of prey; feeding on rats, mice, and birds, but seldom climbing trees. It is excessively fierce, and never frequents the haunts of mankind. It is so impatient of captivity, that one which was taken in a trap, and had a leg broken, refused for many days the food placed by it; but in its fury devoured the fractured limb, with pieces of the stake it was fastened to, and broke all its teeth in the phrensy of its rage.

F. lynx vulgaris, the common lynx, is about two feet and a half long and fifteen inches high. He has a great resemblance to the common cat; but his ears are longer and tufted, and his tail is much shorter: his head and body are of a grayish color tinged with red; his hair is streaked with yellow, white, and black colors. The lynx inhabits the vast forests of the north of Europe, Asia, America, and Japan. His eyes are brilliant, his aspect is soft, and his air is gay and sprightly. Like the cat, he covers his urine with earth; he howls something like the wolf, and is heard at a considerable distance; he does not run like the dog or wolf, but walks and leaps like a cat; be pursues his prey even to the tops of trees; neither wild cats nor squirrels can escape him; he lies in wait for stags, goats, hares, weasels, birds, &c., and darts suddenly upon them; he seizes them by the throat and sucks their blood; then opens the head and eats the brain; after this, he frequently leaves them and goes in search of fresh prey. The color of his skin changes according to the season or the climate; the winter furs are more beautiful than those of summer. These furs are valuable for their softness and warmth: numbers are annually imported from North America, and the north of Europe and Asia; the farther north and east they are taken, the whiter they are, and the more distinct the spots. Of these the most elegant kind is called irbys, whose skin sells on the spot for £1. sterling. The ancients, particularly Pliny, (viii. 8.) celebrated the great quickness of the lynx's sight; and feigned that its urine was converted into a precious stone.

F. onca, the American tiger, the jaguar of Buffon, is of a bright tawny color; the top of the back marked with long stripes of black; the sides with rows of eyes like annular spots, open in the middle, which is of the ground color of the hair: the thighs and legs are marked with full spots of black, the breast and belly whitish: the tail