. Animals in menageries. than thepanther. * Our own opinion on the specific dissimilaritybetween the leopard and the panther, judging from whathas been written upon the subject, is in perfect unisonwith that of major Smith; while the following remarkof that observing naturalist, incidentally inserted in hisaccount of the panther of antiquity, seems to us almostconclusive:—The open spots which mark all thepanthers, have the inner surface of the annuli or ringsmore fulvous (in other words, darker) than the generalcolour of the sides : but in the leopard no such distinctionappears, nor is there r
. Animals in menageries. than thepanther. * Our own opinion on the specific dissimilaritybetween the leopard and the panther, judging from whathas been written upon the subject, is in perfect unisonwith that of major Smith; while the following remarkof that observing naturalist, incidentally inserted in hisaccount of the panther of antiquity, seems to us almostconclusive:—The open spots which mark all thepanthers, have the inner surface of the annuli or ringsmore fulvous (in other words, darker) than the generalcolour of the sides : but in the leopard no such distinctionappears, nor is there room, as the small and more con-gregated dots are too close to admit it. In truth, ifthere is any rehance to be placed in the most accuratefigures hitherto published, the small spots of the leopard,and the large ones of the panther, must strike even acasual observer, and lead him to believe that the twoanimals were called by different names. The Panther. Fclis Pardus, Linn., Hamilton Smith. Panthere, ) u. The panther and the leopard, as before observed, re-semble each other so closely, that if professed naturalists * Syn. of Mam. y. 163. 11 4 ANIMALS IN MENAGERIES, are unable to agree on their respective distinctions, itcannot be expected that the ordinary visiters of menagerieswill be rightly informed on the subject by the proprietorsof such shows. Hence it follows that the Americanjaguar is often called by these people a panther ora leopard ; an error which even BufFon has himself com-mitted. This, indeed, has long been rectified ; but untilbetter information comes before us_, we shall adhere tothe opinion above expressed on the specific differenceof the panther from the leopard. The panther, as defined by major Smith, from aninspection of several contained in the Paris menagerie,is much more closely marked with spots than the leopard;and the differences are further pointed out in the fol-lowing specific character, which may be contrasted withthat assigned to
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Keywords: ., bookauthorrichmondch, bookcentury1800, booksubjectanimalbehavior
