the Hyænas have them extremely narrow; the Zibet, Civet, and Genet, have the pupils elongated transversely; the Ichneumons and Caffrarian Weasel have them like the Cat; and yet, perhaps, none of these are more particularly nocturnal than the rest of the carnivora, all of which appear to prefer the twilight or night for their predatory excursions. The cloven-footed animals, the Horse, and the Whale, have transverse elliptical pupils; and the frugiverous sort, as the Lemurs, Squirrels, and Loris, have them much larger than any other animals, but always circular; in the genus Delphinus it assumes the figure of a heart; in the Todes it is triangular; and in the Alligators and Sharks it is lozengeshaped.

If, then, it be considered, that the Lion has round eyepupils, though it is generally inactive by day, and hunts principally after sunset; that the pupils of the Tiger assume either shape, and that it is equally active day and night; that the Puma, like the Tiger, is equally disposed for action at all times, though its cye-pupils, unlike those of that animal, are always circular; that one Lynx has the pupils changeable as to shape, while the other has them only varying in size, and that both their habits accord; and lastly, that the common Cat, which has the pupils varying greatly in shape, though we know it sees with little light, seems to possess in the day a vision as perfect as those animals which merely increase or decrease the size of the pupil, though it continues always round;-we seem led to a probable conclusion, that there is a fallacy in adopting the form of the pupil as a physical characteristic of the disposition and habits of the animal.

The eyes of Cats nd of some other animals are frequently much illuminated with a prismatic sort of light in obscurity. On this subject, says Sir Everard Home, there are two opinions; one, that the external light only is reflected, and the other, that light is generated in the eye.

Professor Bohn, at Leipsic, made experiments, which

proved, that when the external light is wholly excluded, none can be seen in the Cat's eye. The truth of the results was readily ascertained; it therefore only remained to determine, whether the external light is of itself capable of producing so great a degree of illumination: this was attended with difficulty; for, when the apartment is darkened, and nothing but the light from the Cat's eye seen, the animal, by change of posture, may immediately deprive the observer of all light from that source.

This was found to be the case, whether the common Cat, the Tiger, or the Hyæna, was the subject of the experiment. On the other hand, when the light in the room is sufficient for the animal to be seen, the light in the eye is obscured, and appears to arise from the iris.

As these difficulties occurred in making experiments on the living eye, others were made immediately after death, and it was found, that a strong light thrown upon the cornea illuminated the eye, as in the living animal, but when the cornea was removed, the illumination disappeared. The iris was then dissected off, and the tapetum lucidum completely exposed to view, the reflection from which was extremely bright; the retina proving no obstruction to the rays of light, but appearing equally transparent with the lens and vitreous humour.

These experiments prove, that no light is generated in the eye, the illumination being wholly produced by the external rays of light collected in the concave bright-coloured surface of the tapetum, after having been concentrated by the cornea and crystalline lens, and then reflected through the pupil. When the iris is completely open, the light is the greatest, but when the iris is contracted, the illumination is more obscure.

The influence, if any, the animal has over this luminous appearance, depends on the action of the iris: when it is shut, no light is seen; when the animal is alarmed, the eye glares, the iris being opened.

A very prevailing, if not a generic character, distinguishes a large proportion of the Felinæ,—which is, a white spot on the back of the ears. Those that are uniform in colour, as the Lion, the Puma, and the black species, as well as the common varieties of the domestic Cat, seem to be without it; but it is certainly to be found in the Tiger, Panther, Jaguar, Ounce, Hunting Leopards, Ocelots, Lynxes, and several others. In the spotted species, a black bar across the chest seems equally prevalent.

It might well be presumed, that the natural history of a genus of animals playing so conspicuous a part on the theatre of life as the Felinæ, would be by this time clearly known, and the species accurately defined; but such a conclusion would be very wide of truth. The Baron Cuvier commences his learned observations on the species of the Cats, to be found in the fourth volume of his Fossil Osteology, from which we shall extract largely in the present essay, by observing "that the large Carnivora with retractile claws, and spotted fur, have been for a long time the torment of naturalists, by the difficulty in distinguishing with precision their several species." Some of the species are certainly sufficiently notorious, as the Lion, the Tiger, &c., others are known to zoologists, principally by specific descriptions, which sometimes seems to agree, and sometimes to vary, as different types successively come to light, as the Panther, Leopard, the little group of Ocelots, Servals, &c.; and many more, hitherto hidden from the eye of critical examination, exist to the scientific world, at least, only in the pages of voyages and travels: these, though named and described, are properly mere candidates for insertion in systematic catalogues, rather than recognised species. Such, however, according to our plan, will be noticed either here or in the table, with the exception only of those that are clearly negatived; and as the authorities for their insertion will be given with them, the reader will sit in judgment VOL. II.

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upon their admissibility. Our own collection of drawings would also furnish us with figures of many apparently new species, a small selection from which will be engraved and inserted.

They may be divided into small groups by certain peculiarities of colour; the first of these groups includes the single-coloured uniform large species, and includes only the Lion and the Puma.

The superior bodily powers possessed by the Lion, joined to his carnivorous regimen and consequent predacious habits, while they place him at the head of the beasts of prey, and make him also the undisputed tyrant and universal dread of the plains and forests, point obviously to the situation in which he must be regarded as the first and most important species of the carnivora.

Verbal description, or even the best of figures, will convey but a very inadequate notion of this tremendous animal. The rhetorician and the painter alike fail in describing and depicting the terrific work of nature exhibited in this king of beasts.

The specific characters are thus given by our author, "a large Yellow Cat, with tufted tail, the neck of the adult male furnished with a thick mane.' These vary in slight

degrees, as we shall notice presently. If the ancients had any authority in nature for the male Lion without a mane, sometimes figured in their statuary, the species is lost, or at least unknown to modern research *.

* Major Smith was lately informed by Professor Kretschmen of Frankfort, that he was in expectation of receiving from Nubia the skin and jaws of a new species of Cat, larger than the Lion, of a brownish colour, and without mane. The invoice of the articles from Cairo was already received, but the objects themselves were not arrived. This will probably, says the Major, prove to be the maneless Lion of the ancients, known to them by their acquaintance with Upper Egypt; and not unfrequently observed in the hieroglyphic sculptures of that country.