accompanying, in a similarly officious manner, the East Indian Tiger. The Jaguar is a noisy animal, roaring much by night, and especially before bad weather. One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I was shown certain trees to which these animals constantly recur for the purpose, as it is said, of sharpening their claws. I saw three well-known trees; in front, the bark was worn smooth as if by the breast of the animal, and on each side there were deep scratches, or rather grooves, extending in an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The scars were of different ages. A common method of ascertaining if a Jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to examine these trees. I imagine this habit of the Jaguar is exactly similar to one which may any day be seen in the common Cat, as with outstretched legs and exserted claws it scrapes the leg of a chair; and I have heard of young fruit-trees in an orchard in England having been thus much injured. Some such habit must also be common to the Puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I have frequently seen scores so deep that no other animal could have made them. The object of this practice is, I believe, to tear off the ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos think, to sharpen them. The Jaguar is killed, without much difficulty, by the aid of Dogs baying and driving him up a tree, where he is despatched with bullets.” It has been stated that great contests take place between the Jaguars and the Alligators which frequent the rivers of the regions in which the great Cat lives. It is said that the Jaguar is fully a match for the Alligator on land, while in the water the reptile has usually the best of it. The tale must, however, be taken _cum grano salis_. A very curious fact is mentioned by Brehm, namely, that the Jaguar always attacks Negroes and Indians in preference to whites, and that a white man, obliged to sleep in the open air in a dangerous locality, always feels perfectly safe if accompanied by natives. It is thought that this is probably due to the strong odour which characterises the skin of the Negro and other dark races. As tending to confirm this extraordinary statement, we may mention an anecdote told us by the late Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S., of the behaviour of the great _Felidæ_ at the Zoological Gardens towards coloured people. Every one must have noticed the calm, supercilious, way in which those grand creatures regard the visitors to their abode, seeming to look on them as beings of an inferior race come to pay rightful homage to strength and beauty; except at feeding-time, they seem hardly to give a thought to the admiring crowds in their house of reception, but pace regularly up and down their dens, or sit with paws thrust out between the bars, stolidly gazing. Several years ago, however, when the Prince of Wales’s Indian animals were exhibited at the Gardens, a little black boy, one of the attendants attached to the collection, often passed through the