certain number of her best soldiers. Being surrounded and attacked in front and rear, the Spartans and Thespians fell to a man after making vast slaughter: the Thebans asked and received quarter. The corpse of Leonidas was mutilated and exposed on a cross by Xerxes. A stone lion was afterwards raised near the spot where he fell. The slain were buried where they fell, and their memory was honoured by monumental pillars. Two of the inscriptions ran thus: Here 4000 men from Peloponnesus once fought three millions: Stranger, tell the Lacedæmonians that we lie here, obeying their laws.' This self-devotion of Leonidas, the beginning of the grandest war related in history, has ever been held to be among the noblest recorded instances of heroism and patriotism.

We have followed the account of Herodotus (vii., 202, &c.). Diodorus and Plutarch relate it somewhat differently.

LEONINE VERSES, a kind of measure much in fashion during the middle ages. It consists properly of the Latin hexameter, or hexameter and pentameter rhymed. No less than ten varieties in the fall of the rhymes are counted; but that which is by far the most common is when the casura on the fifth syllable rhymes with the end of the line, as for example:

'En Rex Edvardus, debacchans ut Leopardus."

LEOPARDS, the name by which the greater spotted cats are known.

LEOPARDS OF THE OLD WORLD.

The form seems to have its most perfect development in the antient continent and the islands of the Old World, though it must be admitted that the American Jaguar, in point of size, strength, and sturdiness of make, excels the Leopards of Asia and Africa.

The Panther, Felis pardus of Linnæus, first claims our notice. It has been a question whether the Leopard and Panther are distinct species, or only varieties. Linnæus, in his last edition of the Systema Naturæ,' included under the specific name of Felis Pardus the Panthera, Pardalis, Pardus, and Leopardus of Gesner; Pardus mas, Panthera femina of Alpin (Egypt); Pardalis of Ray, Tigris mexicana of Hernandez; and Pinuum Dasypus, Nieremb., Nat. Under the specific name of Onca he includes Pardus s. Lynx Brasiliensis of Ray, and the Jaguara of Marcgrave. He has no species named Leopardus; but Gmelin has, and in his edition we find the following species:-1. F. pardus-F. cauda elongata, corpore maculis superioribus orbiculatis; inferioribus virgatis-(the description of Linnæus) Schreb., Saeugth., iii, p. 384, t xcix., with the following references and synonyms:-Felis ex albo flavicans, maculis nigris in dorso orbiculatis, in ventre longis, Briss., Quadr.; the names of Gesner and Ray as quoted above, Pardus maculis seu scutulis variis, Ludolf, Ethiop.; Panthere of Buffon. 2. F. Unica, Once, Buffon. 3. F. Leopardus-F. cauda mediocri, corpore fusco maculis subcoadunatis nigris. Erxl., Syst. Mamm., p. 509, n. 5; Schreb., Saeugth., iii., p. 387, t. ci.; Uncia, Caj., Op., p. 42, Gesn., Quadr., p. 825; Leopard of Buffon. 4. F. Onca, the Jaguar.

Cuvier separates the Panther from the Leopard specifically. The Panther, La Panthere, he makes the Felis pardus of Linnæus, and the Pardalis, rápdate of the antients. He describes the Panther as yellow above, white beneath,

'Mihi est propositum in taberna mori,
Vinum sit appositum morientis ori,

Ut dicant, cum venerint Angelorum chori,
Deus sit propitius huic potatori.'

The term is said to be derived from Leoninus, a monk of the twelfth century, the reputed inventor of this mode of composition, which however is shown to go back as far at least as the third. It went out of fashion with the revival of classical learning. For more particulars see Sir A. Croke, Essay on the Origin, Progress, and Decline of Latin Verse,' quoted in the Encycl. Metr.,' which has a long article on this subject; also a tract from the MSS. of Ben'et College, Cambridge, containing rules for Leonine verses, edited by Dr. Nasmith, 1778.

LEO'NTODON TARA'XACUM (Dandelion), a perennial herbaceous plant of frequent occurrence. The root, leaves, and flower stem (scape) contain much milky juice; but the root only is employed in medicine: though the leaves by blanching can be rendered fit for use as a salad, retaining then only a moderate degree of bitterness. The root of plants which are three or four years old should alone be collected, and at Midsummer; as young plants, or roots collected in spring, merely contain a reddish mucilaginous juice, while those of older plants taken up in summer have a brown bitter and saline juice. Those from rich soil are not so potent as those from a poorer land. The root may either be speedily and carefully dried for preservation, or the expressed juice may be inspissated, and so form what is termed the extract.

The chemical constitution is-a peculiar bitter principle, grumous sugar and inulin, and probably some important salts.

Either an infusion, decoction, or extract possesses sedative, deobstruent, and diuretic properties. In chronic subacute inflammation of the stomach or liver, enlargements of the liver or spleen, it proves more beneficial than almost any other vegetable remedy. In many cases of dropsy, particularly connected with obstruction of the liver, it has often succeeded when all other diuretics have failed. It is very extensively employed in Holland to obviate the effects of the intermittents or agues common there, and with the greatest advantage. The extract, unless very carefully prepared, soon ferments and spoils.

that is to say, formed by an assemblage of five or six small simple spots on each side; the tail of the length of the body, not reckoning the head. This species he speaks of as being spread throughout Africa and in the warm countries of Asia, as well as in the Indian Archipelago; and he states that he has seen individuals where the ground-colour of the fur is black, with spots of a still deeper black (Felis melas, Pér.), but that they do not form a species, observing that both yellow and black cubs have been seen sucking the same mother (1829).* Pennant (Hist. Quadr., 1793 figures a Black Leopard, and describes the variety as follows:---'In the Tower of London is a black variety, brought from Bengal by Warren Hastings, Esq. The colour universally is a dusky black, sprinkled over with spots of a glossy black, disposed in the same forms as those of the Leopard: on turning aside the hair, beneath appears a tinge of the natural colour.'

The Leopard, Felis Leopardus of Linnæus, as he quotes it (but it is not mentioned by Linnæus in his last edition of the Syst. Nat.;' it appears, as we have seen, in Gmelin's edition), Cuvier assigns to Africa, remarking that it is similar to the Panther, but with ten rows of smaller spots. These two species, he adds, are smaller than the Jaguar; and he says that there is a third, a little lower on the legs, with the tail equalling the body and head in length, and with more numerous and smaller spots (Felis chalybeata, Herm. Schreb., 101).

Cuvier does not notice the Panther, ô závong of Aristotle (Hist. Anim., vi. 35), and indeed this animal is supposed by many not to have been one of the Leopard kind. In a note to Felis chalybeata, Cuvier states that it is to that species M. Temminck applies the name of Panther; but the former adds that it is certain that the Panther so wellknown to the antients, and which appeared so often in the Roman shows and games, could not be an animal from the recesses ('fond') of Eastern Asia.

Cuvier does not insert in the text of his Règne Animal' the Ounce of Buffon; but in a note to the second edi tion he speaks of it as differing from the Panthers and the Leopards by more unequal spots, more irregularly scattered, partly notched or ringed, &c., and as appearing to be found in Persia; adding, that his knowledge of it is only derived

* But note M. Lesson's ('Manuel,' 1827) account of Felis melas, Pérom, post, p. 431,

In the Gemmæ et Sculpturæ Antiquæ' of Gronovius there is an engraving of a boy driving a car drawn by two Panthers, rather high on their legs, from a cornelian, headed 'Carro di Bacho;' but Gronovius thinks that though this 'reda' may be attributed to Bacchus, it may nevertheless be taken for a representation of one from the Circensian games, for which opinion he gives his reasons. Captain Smyth, R.N., in his interesting Descriptive Catalogue of a Cabinet of Roman Imperial Large Brass Medals,' notices a medal of Commodus, on the reverse of which the emperor on horseback galloping across the field, with a chlamys floating behind him, is in the act of casting a dart at a Panther, which is showing fight.' He also refers to the figure of a Lynx or Panther on the reverse of one of Septimius Severus, and to that of a Panther (among other animals) on the smaller coins of Gallienus.

With regard to the Felis Pardus Antiquorum of Smith, Mr. Swainson remarks that the species, if such it really be, is supposed to be the animal known to antient writers by the name of Panthera. It is however, he adds, now so rare, or has been so little distinguished, that Major Smith is only acquainted with one example, which is in the museum of the elector of Hesse Cassel, in whose menagerie it had probably lived. Nothing was known of its native country or of its manners. (See H. Smith's description, including characters intermediate between the Jaguar of America and the Panthers and Leopards of the Old World.)

Mr. Swainson also notices the Ounce in the same work, referring to Major Smith's description, and regretting that that able zoologist had not entered into further particulars. Mr. Swainson states that, judging from the figure engraved from Mr. Smith's drawing, he should term it a lower and more thick-set animal than the Panther; the spots larger, more irregular, and much fewer, but differing more especially in having the tail decidedly annulated with black rings, while those of all the Panthers are spotted. The body, he adds, is described as whitish; while yellow or fawn-colour is the universal tint both of the Panthers and Leopards.

In June, 1837, Mr. Gray brought before the notice of a meeting of the Zoological Society of London some Mammalia which he had lately purchased for the British Museum from a collection made by the late Colonel Cobb in India, among which was an adult specimen of the Once of Buffon (Hist. Nat.), on which Schreber formed his Felis uncia, which has been regarded by Cuvier, Temminck, and most succeeding authors as a leopard, but which, continued Mr. Gray, 'is a distinct species, easily known by the thickness of its fur, the paleness of its colour, the irregular form of the spots, and especially by the great length and thickness of the tail. Mr. Gray observed, that a more detailed description of this animal was unnecessary, as it agreed in all particulars with the young specimen described by Buffon.

Ounce. From the specimen in the British Museum.

Of the manners of the true Leopards in a state of nature not much seems to be known. They are very active, climb well, and take their prey by surprise. In captivity they are playful, but apt to be treacherous. Mrs. Bowdich won the heart of a Leopard by kindness, and, by presenting him with lavender-water in a card-tray, taught him to keep his claws sheathed. The luxurious animal revelled in the delicious essence almost to extacy; but he never was suffered to have it if he put forth his claws. We regret that our limits will not allow us to give this lady's graphic account of her amia

Now Mrs. Lee

For an account of the prickle occasionally found at the extremity of the tail of the Leopard, see LION. Among the larger Spotted Cats of the Old World we must notice the Rimau-Dahan, Felis Macrocelis, Temm., Hors. Felis nebulosa? H. Smith, Griffith.

This species partakes in some measure of the markings of both the Tiger and Leopards, though it seems to be more nearly allied to the latter than to the former.

Description.-Probable size when full grown about four feet from the nose to the root of the tail, which may be reckoned at three feet six inches; height at shoulder about one foot ten inches. Colour whitish grey, with an inclination to ashy or brownish grey, no yellow or red tint. Stripes and spots dark, oblong, irregular, and broad on the shoulders, interrupted and angular on the sides, posterior edges of the broad spots and stripes marked by a line of deep velvet black; limbs stout, feet and toes robust, tail very long, large, and lanuginous. M. Temminck thinks it is also found on the continent of India, having received mantles belonging to the Diakkers made of the skin of this species. The specimen brought to England alive by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was taken when very young in the forests of Bencoolen, and died during the process of dentition soon after its arrival. Dr. Horsfield gives the following dimensions: sex, female:

Locality.-Sumatra.

Ft.. In.

Sir Stamford Raffles gives the following account of the manners of the species from personal observation made on two individuals:-Both specimens, while in a state of confinement, were remarkable for good temper and playfulness; no domestic kitten could be more so; they were always courting intercourse with persons passing by, and in the expression of their countenance, which was always open and smiling, showed the greatest delight when noticed, throwing themselves on their backs, and delighting in being tickled and rubbed. On board the ship there was a small Musi Dog, who used to play round the cage and with the animal, and it was amusing to observe the playfulness and tenderness with which the latter came in contact with his inferior-sized companion. When fed with a fowl that died, he seized the prey, and after sucking the blood and tearing it a little, he amused himself for hours in throwing it about and jumping after it in the manner that a cat plays with a mouse before it is quite dead. He never seemed to look on man or children as prey, but as companions; and the natives assert that when wild, they live principally on poultry, birds, and the smaller kinds of deer. They are not found in numbers, and may be considered rather a rare animal, even in the southern part of Sumatra. Both specimens were procured from the interior of Bencoolen, on the banks of the Bencoolen river. They are generally found in the vicinity of villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except as far as they may destroy the poultry. The natives assert that they sleep and often lay wait for their prey on trees; and from this circumstance they derive the name of Dahan, which signifies the fork formed by the branch of a tree, across which they are said to rest and occasionally stretch themselves. Both specimens constantly amused themselves in frequently jumping and clinging to the top of their cage, and throwing a somerset, or twisting themselves round in the manner of a squirrel when confined, the tail being extended and showing to great advantage when so expanded.' (Zool. Journ., vol. i.)

Dr. Horsfield, in the work above quoted, confirms the account of Sir Stamford from his own observation on the individual that was lodged on its arrival in Exeter 'Change. The Doctor, who does not appear to acquiesce in the identity of Felis nebulosa with the Rimau-Dahan, gives in the same paper a most elaborate and accurate description of the latter, to which we must refer our readers. He also gives a figure (pl. xxi.) from a drawing made by the late William Daniell, Esq., R. A., a few days after the animal had been placed in Exeter 'Change.

We now come to a very interesting form, one of those gradations by which Nature appears to pass from one type to another. The Felis jubata of Schreber, Chetah Cheetah, or Hunting Leopard, exhibits both in its external form and habits such a mixture of the Feline and Canine tribes as to justify apparently the appropriate name Cynailurus, employed by M. Wagler to designate it as a genus. Thus, as Mr. Bennett bserves (Tower Menagerie), the Hunting Leopard, uniting to the system of dentition, the general habit, and many of the most striking peculiarities of the cats, some of the distinguishing features, and much of the intelligence, the teachableness, and the fidelity of the dog, becomes a sort of connecting link between two groups of animals otherwise completely separated, and exhibiting scarcely any other character in common than the carnivorous propensities by which both are in a greater or less degree actuated and inspired. 'Intermediate,' continues Mr. Bennett, 'in size and shape between the leopard and the hound, he is slenderer in his body, more elevated on his legs, and less flattened on the fore part of his head than the former, while he is deficient in the peculiarly graceful and lengthened form, both of head and body, which characterizes the latter. His tail is entirely that of a cat; and his limbs, although more elongated than in any other species of that group, seem to be better fitted for strong muscular exertion than for active and long-continued speed. From these and other indications, Mr. Bennett is of opinion that the animal approaches much more nearly to the cats than the dogs, and continues it among the former. The anatomy of the Cheetah, as subsequently demonstrated by Mr. Owen at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, shows indeed that, in internal structure, this leopard is undoubtedly feline: of its habits we shall hereafter have occasion to speak. In the paper last above alluded to, 'On the Anatomy of the Cheetah, Felis jubata, Schreb.,' Mr. Owen commenced by remarking on Felis as a truly natural genus, and by observing that the anatomical structure of the animals composing it offers even fewer differences than their outward forms. The principal deviation from the common type was stated to be that which obtains in the organs of voice of the Lion (and, as Mr. Martin has observed, in those of the Jaguar also), where the larynx is situated at a considerable distance from the posterior margin of the bony palate, the soft palate and the tongue being proportionally increased in length, thus forming a gradually expanded passage, which leads to the glottis, where the air is rendered so sonorous, to the mouth. This structure, Mr. Owen remarks, may contribute in the Lion to produce the peculiar roar of that animal.

In the Cats generally, it was stated, the connexion of the os hyoides to the cranium is not by a long elastic ligament, as in the Lion, but by an uninterrupted series of bones. This latter structure exists in the Cheetah. The Cheetah has also the circular pupil of the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, and P. C., No. 842.

Jaguar, and is perhaps the most diurnal of the genus. In the form of the oesophagus, and in the transverse ruga of its lower half, the Cheetah was stated to agree with the Lion; and, as in it and in the other Feles, the oesophagus was not prolonged into the abdomen, but terminated immediately after passing through the diaphragm in the stomach. This organ, according to Mr. Owen, has, in the Cheetah, all the peculiarities which are found in the genus Felis. The intestines also agree in character with those of that group; and the cæcum, as usual in it, is simple, having none of the convolution which is found in the Dog. The liver, pancreas, and spleen resembled those of the Cats generally; as did also the kidneys in the arborescent form of their superficial veins,-a form however equally common, Mr. Owen remarks, to the Viverride and the Felida, which also agree in having spicule on the tongue. The viscera of the thorax in the Cheetah agreed with those of the Cats. The lytta, or rudiment of the lingual bone, so conspicuous in the Dog, is reduced in it, as in the other feline animals, to a small vestige. There was no bone of the penis, and the glans had retroverted papillæ. The elastic ligaments of the ungual phalanges existed in the same number and position as those of the Lion; they were however longer and more slender, their length alone occasioning the incomplete retraction of the claws as compared with the rest of the Felida. Mr. Owen concluded by observing that in the circulating, respiratory, digestive, and generative systems, the Cheetah conformed to the typical structure of the genus Felis. (Zool. Proc., 1833.)**

Mr. Bennett had very good opportunities of examining the Cheetah alive; and we therefore select his

Description. --Ground-colour bright yellowish fawn above; nearly pure white beneath; covered above and on the sides by innumerable closely approximating spots, from half an inch to an inch in diameter, which are intensely black, and do not, as in the leopard and others of the spotted cats, form roses with a lighter centre, but are full and complete. These spots, which are wanting on the chest and under part of the body, are larger on the back than on the head, sides, and limbs, where they are more closely set : they are also spread along the tail, forming on the greater part of its extent interrupted rings, which however become continuous as they approach its extremity, the three or four last rings surrounding it completely. The tip of the tail is white, as is also the whole of its under surface, with the exception of the rings just mentioned; it is equally covered with long hair throughout its entire length, which is more than half that of the body. The outside of the ears, which are short and rounded, is marked by a broad black spot at the base, the tip, as also the inside, being whitish. The upper part of the head is of a deeper tinge; and there is a strongly marked flexuous black line, of about half an inch in breadth, extending from the inner angle of the eye to the angle of the mouth. The extremity of the nose is black, like that of a dog. The mane not very remarkable; consisting of a series of longer, crisper, and more upright hairs which extend along the back of the neck and the anterior portion of the spine. Fur with little of the sleekness which characterizes that of the cats, but exhibiting on the contrary a peculiar crispness not to be found in any other of the tribe. (Tower Menagerie.)

Localities.-Asia and Africa, according to Mr. Bennett, who says, 'Chardin, Bernier, Tavernier, and others of the older travellers had related that in several parts of Asia it was customary to make use of a large spotted cat in the pursuit of game, and that this animal was called Youze in Persia and Chetah in India; but the statements of these writers were so imperfect, and the descriptions given by them so incomplete, that it was next to impossible to recognise the particular species intended. We now however know with certainty that the animal thus employed is the Felis jubata of naturalists, which inhabits the greater part both of Asia and Africa. It is common in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia, and is well known both in Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope; but the ingenuity of the savage natives of the latter countries has not, so far as we know, been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase in the manner so successfully practised by the more refined and civilized inhabitants of Persia and Hindostan.'

See further Mr. Owen's paper On the Anatomy of the Chetah' (Zool. Trans., vol. i.), especially his comparative views of the brain in that species and in the domestic cat. VOL. XIII.-3 K