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第3章 乌云盖月，背水一战！！

In captivity the Black Bear is distinguished from the brown only by the less degree of docility and intelligence which he evinces: and the habits of the latter are so universally known that it would be useless to dwell upon them here. The specimen figured at the head of this article was presented to the Menagerie, in 1824, by Sir George Alderson, and is remarkably tame and playful. He has, until very lately, shared his den with the Hy?na, with whom he maintained a very good correspondence, except at meal-times, when they would frequently quarrel, in a very ludicrous manner, for a piece of beef, or whatever else might happen to furnish a bone of contention between them. The Hy?na, though by far the smallest of the two, was generally master; and the Bear would moan most piteously, and in a tone somewhat resembling the bleating of a sheep, while his companion quietly consumed the remainder of his dinner.

Gypogeranus serpentarius. Illig.

The Chetah has been until of late years very imperfectly known in Europe. Linn?us was entirely unacquainted with it, and Buffon described it from the fur alone under the name of Guêpard, the appellation by[68] which its skin was distinguished in the commerce with Senegal, but evidently without suspecting its identity with the Asiatic animal, the trained habits of which, misled probably by the authority of Tavernier, he erroneously attributed to his imaginary Ounce. Subsequent French zoologists had rectified this error, and it was generally believed that the tamed Leopard of Bernier, the Youze, the Guêpard, and Tavernier’s Ounce, were one and the same animal; but it was not until a year or two ago that the possession of a living specimen, brought from Senegal, in the Menagerie of the Jardin du Roi, enabled M. F. Cuvier to ascertain its characters with precision. The comparison of this African specimen with the skins sent from India, and with the notes and drawings made in that country by M. Duvaucel, to whom w

In captivity, however, especially if taken while yet young, his character frequently undergoes a change as favourable as that which takes place under the same circumstances in the generality of his tribe. The pair at present in the Tower are male and female; they are both Asiatic, and are confined in the same den, but they differ very materially in temper and disposition. The female, which is the older of the two, and has been a resident in the Menagerie for upwards of four years, is exceedingly tame, suffering herself to be patted and caressed by the keeper, and licking his hands. Strangers, however, especially ladies, should be cautious of approaching her too familiarly, as she has always evinced a particular predilection for the destruction of umbrellas, parasols, muffs, hats, and such other articles of dress as may happen to come within her reach, seizing them with the greatest quickness and tearing them into pieces almost before the astonished visiter has become aware of the loss. To so great an extent h

Ovis Aries. Linn.—Var. Guineensis.

icate plumage of its breast, may readily account for the prevalence of such an idea in the minds of superficial observers. The first traces of this fable are to be found in the writings of some of the early fathers of the church, and it was eagerly adopted by the heralds of later days, whose unbounded credulity was ever on the watch for the marvellous, in natural history more especially.

But as civilization advanced, and the progress of society favoured the developement of mind, when those who were no longer compelled by necessity to labour for their daily bread found leisure to look abroad with expanded views upon the wonders of the creation, the animal kingdom presented new attractions and awakened ideas which had before lain dormant. What was at first[xi] a mere sentiment of curiosity became speedily a love of science; known objects were examined with more minute attention; and whatever was rare or novel was no longer regarded with a stupid stare of astonishment and an exaggerated expression of wonder, but became the object of careful investigation and philosophic meditation. Such was the state of things in civilized Greece when the Macedonian conqueror carried his victorious arms to the banks of the Indus, and penetrated into countries, not altogether unknown to Europeans, but the natural productions of which were almost entirely new to the philosophers of the West. With the true spirit o

alternating with an equal number of grayish.

THE OCELOT.