founded ón a tanned skin, and from the circumstance that it had the stamp of
a Japanese trader, it was considered by Dr. Gray to he an inhabitant of that island,
but Swinhoe strongly suspects that it was procured by the Japanese from one
of the trading stations in China. I t is impossible to say whether this species is
identical with the Felia fontamieri, A. M.-Edwards, which is founded on specimens
obtained by M. Eontanier, who was resident in or near Pekin, hut judging by Gray’s
description, it would appear to he so closely affined to it that I hesitate to pronounce
them distinct, having reference only to the character of the fur. FeUs fontameri is
characterised by the confluence of the black spots whioh form rather large, complete
rings in the adult, as in the Jaguar, but without a central black spot. The
fur is also long, soft, and dense. This latter character is also assigned by Swinhoe
to the northern race of Chinese leopards, the fur of which, he states, is confusedly
spotted and marked with .black rings. Gray also states that the coat of his
F. japanensis is distinguished by its roundish and unequal-sized spots and by black
rings with no central black spot, and which are distributed over the shoulders, hack,
and sides, while A. M.-Edwards describes these rings as very distinct on the'scapu-
lar region and on the upper parts of the sides and on the hack. I t does not appear
to me that there is any character yielded by these descriptions that would enable us
to separate the so-called F.japamemsis, Gray, from F. fontameri, A. M.-Edwards, but
ás the materials for the identification of Gray’s species are insufficient, being only
a tanned skin, it would be as well not to burden zoological.literature with the term
F.japmensis. There can be no doubt, however, that F. fontameri is at least a well-
marked race if not a distinct species. I have had the opportunity to examine the
type of this beautiful leopard.
A. M.-Edwards has pointed out certain characters by whioh he considers
F. fontameri to be distinguished from the leopards of India and Africa, and from
the skull figured by Gray as Leopardus cMnensis. He attaches great importance to
the short muzzle of the northern leopard, and states that the distance between
the anterior border of the alveolus of the canine and the summit of the fronto,
nasal process of the superior maxilla equals the breadth between the external
borders of the infra-orbital foramina, while in FeUs pardm the former measurement
considerably exceeds the latter, and he records that the relative proportion
between these, parts is equally observable in the young as in the adiflts of F.fontamen.
I have examined a series of five skulls of F. pardus from India, all with reliable
histories and of different ages, hut without any record of their sex;, and although
they support the generalisation of the accomplished Erench naturalist regarding
the greater length of the first interval as compared with the second in Felia pardm,
the tabulated measurements which I here give suggest that, considerable changes
fake place with advancing age in the proportions between these two areas of the
face in F. par dm, because in the youngest example they are nearly equal, as in
F. fontameri, so that these measurements are not very reliable guides to separate
the species in youth., At the same time, there can he no doubt that in the adult
FeUs pardm of India, the muzzle is not so deep, hut is more elongated than in
F. fontamieri, in which the frontals are more arched with the nasals in the same
curve. In Leopardus chinensis, Gray, a fully adult animal, there is the same short
muzzle as in F. fontameri, and the foregoing two facial measurements are for
practical purposes equal.
Table o f measurements.
No. 1 skull 9 7 5 inches in extreme length
9-25
„ 3 „ 8 75
„ 4 , 8’42
5 ,, ' T' 6-00
Leóp. chinensis 7'00
307
2-90
2-38
2-78
2-37
2-47
This table also shows that the character is a variable one, at least in the leopards
of India, as is further found by A. M.-Edwards’ observations on the skulls in the
Paris Museum.
The other character by which the skull of Felia fontameri is said to be distinguished
from F. parctm is the different proportions in which the length from the
posterior border of the occipital condyles to the orbito-sphenoid foramina stands
to the total length of the alveolar border of the superior maxillary, the former
measurement in Felia fontameri equalling the latter, while in the F. pardm the
superior, alveolar, maxillary length is notably longer. But in this detail, the skull
of Leopa/rdm chinensis conforms to the Indian type, in whioh, however, thèse
proportions seem to change with age and to be otherwise variable. In the "above-
mentioned leopard skulls these measurements stand to each other in the following
proportions :—
No. 1, 3T0 to 3-25 ; No. 2, 2-90 to 2-96 ; No. 3, 2-80 to 2-83 ; No. 4, 2:76 to
2'83; and in Leopardus chinensis, 2-35 to 2*55.
The Yunnan skull is young, measuring only 5'75 inches in extreme length. The
facial portion is more downwardly arched than in the skull of F. fontameri figured by
A. M.-Edwards, or in Leopardm chinensis, Gray, but the distance, as already stated,
between the anterior border of the canine alveolus to the tip of the fronto-nasal
process of thé superior maxilla is less than the space comprised between the external
margins of the infra-orbital foramina, falling in the centre of these openings. In this
respect, the skull more closely resembles F. fontameri than F. pardm. On the other
hand, the frontal region is broad, the breadth between the external orbital angles
much exceeding the distance from the summit of the median suture of the nose to the
lower border of the infra-orbital foramen, and in this respect it agrees with skulls
of Indian leopards. Turning to the basal portion, the interval between the posterior
border of the occipital condyles and the spheno-orbital foramina is more than the
length of the alveolar border of the superior maxilla, but these proportions would
probably alter with the growth of the skull. I am also inclined to think that the