PR INTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
P R E F A C E .
A m o n g the Families which constitute the Class Mammalia no more attractive one can be found than that of the F e l id a e ,
as its members possess in the highest degree a beauty, both of form and colouring, most gratifying to the eye, and
are also endowed with physical strength and weapons of offence not surpassed, and only rarely partially equalled, by
any known creatures now living upon the earth. The Family comprises not only the largest and most ferocious
of the beasts of prey, but also the graceful little animal that delights to make its home within man’s abode,
and is often his affectionate familiar friend. Much confusion has always existed in the synonymy of the various
species; and many have been the views as to how many should be recognized. Early writers had but few specimens
at their command upon which to form an opinion; and not knowing to what extent examples of a species varied
from each other, they, described a large number of individuals as distinct, and so, in the commoner ones more
particularly, created a bulky and formidable list of synonyms, which have always been the cause of much trouble
and perplexity to mammalogists. In order to unravel this mass of difficult material, it was necessary that the types
of the various authors should be examined, scattered as they were in many collections, and, if possible, some of them
brought together for comparison. I therefore visited the great Museums of Europe and America in which these
desiderata were to be found, and studied the specimens carefully, and in one instance, through the kindness of the
Director, was enabled to send some of the important examples to London to compare with others in the British
Museum; and in this manner I became familiar with the types of nearly every author. The conclusions at which
I arrived are given in the articles on the species in the body of the work. They were not reached without
much patient investigation; and although I have reduced the number of species accepted by some writers nearly
one third, I believe that all the forms which are really entitled to specific rank are represented in this Monograph. It
is with pleasure I acknowledge the assistance I have received at various times from my friends on both sides of the
Atlantic, and would express my thanks to Prof. Schlegel, who had placed at my disposal the types of M. Temminck
and other specimens in the rich collections of the Leyden Museum, even permitting me to send some to London, where
I could compare them with the types of the late Dr. Gray, and thus decide some very doubtftd points very
satisfactorily. To Prof. A. Milne-Edwards, for opportunities of examining at all times the magnificent series of these