Some authors give it as their opinion that the Leopard outshines all the great beasts of prey in beauty and elegance, and, indeed, called it _the_ Carnivore _par excellence_. Unfortunately, most English people have no means of forming a true opinion on a matter of this sort, as we see the animals only in menageries; but judging from the specimens we have seen in confinement, we should incline to the belief that it is far behind both the Lion and Tiger, and is even beaten by the Jaguar in the matter of colouring, although the surly look of the latter makes him, on the whole, a far less attractive beast. The adult Leopard in the London Zoological Gardens is perhaps the clumsiest brute in the whole Lion-house--fat, bull-necked, and stupid-looking. Stupid-looking, and even clumsy, that is, when lying lazily asleep on the floor of his den; but watch him when four o’clock comes, and the meat-barrow goes round, and then where will you find more marvellous agility? All the Cats are alike in this; they are very lazy at times, but when they _do_ begin to move, there is no more complete example of perfectly graceful movement, and one feels as if he could watch them “on and off for days and days,” as Alice’s frog-footman puts it. [Illustration: LEOPARD.] The characters of the hide are so characteristic that they must be given in some detail, especially as the spots must be distinguished from those of the Jaguar, the great spotted Cat of the New World. The skin is described as follows:--“On an orange-yellow ground, passing below into white, are spots of deep or brownish-black, sometimes distinct, sometimes composed of two, three, or even four points disposed in a circle, and surrounding a space, always somewhat darker than the ground-colour, and shading into it below. On the medio-dorsal line, in the hinder part of the body, the spots are so arranged as to produce three or even four regular parallel bands. On the side of the body, also, bands are found, but they are indefinite in number, and irregularly disposed. On the head and legs, the circular spots pass by degrees into mere points. The belly is strewn with great double points, irregularly disposed, and on the legs the points, also double, unite and form bands. The tail is covered over the greater part of its length with annular spots. On the hinder part of the ears is a clear spot.” It must not be supposed, however, that all Leopards have exactly the kind of marking here described, for it varies according to habitat, age, sex, and season. Still, the skin-markings are definite enough to enable one to tell the true Leopard, either from the Hunting Leopard (Cheetah), the Jaguar, or the Clouded Tiger, the only animals with which there is any possibility of confounding it.