They are naturally a well-marked group, and for the present purpose may be regarded as forming a single genus, Fells; the characters upon which most of the genera were based, which various systematists have attempted to set off from the main stem, being uncertain, variable, and hard to specify. Some members of the genus vary greatly in size and color, and we have far from complete knowledge of all the different kinds of cats under nature, but those most commonly recognized at the present time may be briefly recounted:

1. The Tiger (Felis Tigris)

The title of "king of beasts" has long been conferred upon the lion, but by right should be borne by the royal tiger - his superior in beauty, size, and strength. The ingenious observations upon the muscular capacity of animals made by the Rev. Mr. Houghton, at Dublin, showed the strength of the tiger to exceed that of the lion by a full quarter; and on a few occasions when they have been matched together, the tiger has always proved the victor - in modern days as well as in the arenas of Rome.

Tigers are found all through southern Asia, and away to the north in Siberia and Korea, and in the larger islands of the Indian Archipelago, excepting Borneo and Ceylon. Their vertical bars of black and yellow need no description; the sexes are alike, save that the female is somewhat smaller and less powerfully built. A full-grown male should measure about ten and a half feet from tip of nose to end of tail, and in good condition should weigh about four hundred and fifty pounds. Twelve-foot tigers are never seen in life, and owe their existence only to wilful or careless measurement, or more commonly to stretching of the elastic skin when freshly removed. Tigers thrive well in captivity, but do not, as a rule, breed freely. Strange to say, hybrids with the lion are not uncommon in menageries.

2. The Lion (F. Leo)

The Lion (F. leo) has a very extensive geographical range over the whole of Africa and southern Asia into India, and, as might be expected in encountering such a variety of climates and surroundings, lions from different parts sometimes present marked contrasts in appearance. Some are lighter or darker in color; some males have an enormous growth of long dark hair about the neck and shoulders and on the under side of the body, while in others it is little more developed than in the female. But these differences are purely individual, and have no specific value. Indeed, Mr. F. C. Selous, the famous hunter and explorer of South Africa, says that in wild lions the mane never reaches the development shown by many specimens in menageries. Young lions are spotted all over the body at birth; the spots usually disappear at from two to three years of age, about the time the mane begins to show, but not infrequently they remain indistinctly on the sides and abdomen throughout life. African lions are usually larger than Asiatic specimens, the male being always the larger, and scaling perhaps four hundred pounds in weight, with an extreme length of ten to ten and a half feet.

3. The Leopard (F. Pardus)

The Leopard (F.pardus) covers very much the same countries as the lion, but is more constant in its yellow background of color, covered with rosettes of black spots. It varies greatly, however, in size, some specimens - especially old males - in India reaching a bulk double that of average individuals. Some naturalists and almost all sportsmen erroneously regard these large examples as a distinct species, which they call the panther. Black leopards are not uncommon, in which the spots show faintly in certain lights, outlined in different degrees of black; these are only what is called melanistic individuals, and make their appearance in the same litter as cubs of ordinary color. Leopards are from five to eight feet long, and are small enough to climb trees without difficulty.

4. The Ounce (F. Uncia)

The Ounce (F. uncia) is peculiar in that it is rarely found below the snow-line in the Himalayas of India, which it inhabits up to an altitude of eighteen thousand feet; it is also found in central Asia, always at great elevations. It is about the size of the leopard; but as with most inhabitants of cold climates, the fur is long and dense, and the tail is much more bushy than in any other cat, though tigers from Siberia often exhibit these characters as well. The ounce is pale yellowish gray, spotted all over, though the spots show less tendency to form rings or rosettes than in the leopard. The only specimen of this animal which has been brought alive out of its native country was exhibited in the Zoological Gardens at London in 1894. The name "snow-leopard" is often applied to it.

5. The Puma (F. Concolor)

The Puma (F. concolor) inhabits all of continental America from Hudson's Bay to the Straits of Magellan - a range more extensive than that of any other cat. It is an adaptable animal, and is equally at home in the cane-brakes of the lower Mississippi, the jnngle-swamps of Brazil, or at altitudes of twelve thousand feet in the Rocky Mountains. In North America they are usually gray in color, and without spots when adult, though the cubs are spotted like young lions and probably the young of all the one-colored cats. In tropical regions they show a disposition to rufous tints, and skins from South America are sometimes of a rich red tan. This species is known by many vernacular names, "panther," "cougar," "lion," and "mountain-lion" being among them. The latter names appear to have arisen from the fact that the early discoverers of America took the puma to be a female lion - an animal which it resembles in a general way, owing to its uniform color and the absence of a mane.

They are conspicuously secretive, even in this wild and shy family, and in mountainous regions, where their tracks may be daily seen, it is an unusual event to come upon the animal itself. Eight feet in length, including the tail, and one hundred and fifty pounds' weight, would be a large specimen of this species. The head is smaller than in most cats; the muscular system is powerful, and the activity is prodigious.

6. The Jaguar (F. Onca)

The Jaguar (F. onca) much resembles the leopard. The body-color is of a rather deeper yellow, and sometimes has almost a rosy tinge; the rings formed by the dark spots are, as a rule, larger than in that species, and frequently inclose several irregular marks or spots of the same color. White specimens have been known, and black ones occur as in the leopard. They are heavily built animals, ordinarily about the size of the leopard, but with a slightly shorter tail. Sometimes, however, a large size is reached, Baron Humboldt having seen one as large as an average tiger; and D'Azara, another well-known South American traveler, states that he once knew a jaguar to drag off the body of a horse and swim with it across a wide and deep river. The species has been known to occur as far north as the Red River in Louisiana; it was formerly not uncommon on the lower Rio Grande in Texas, and ranges far to the south in Uruguay and Argentina.

7. The Clouded Tiger (F. Macrocelis)

This fine species, about six and a half feet long, is last in the list of large cats. It inhabits south-eastern Asia, with some of the outlying islands. It is of a brownish gray, with darker patches irregularly disposed in vertical markings.

8. The Thibet Tiger-Cat (F. Scripta)

The Thibet Tiger-cat (F. scripta), restricted to Thibet, and similar to the last species, but much smaller.

9. Fontaneir's Cat (F. Tristis)

Fontaneir's Cat (F. tristis), pale gray, variously spotted, and marked with rusty brown; found in China.

10. The Golden Cat (F. Moormensis)

The Golden Cat (F. moormensis), about four feet in length, uniform red-bay in color, with a few indistinct spots on the sides. This beautiful species comes from India, where its exact range is not fully made out.