LEOPARD

Centuries ago the leopard was the symbol of Egyptian royalty and at one time was wor­shipped as a beast-god. Today he is one of the few members of the cat family whose pelts are used in the Fur trade. The African leopard especially that from Somaliland, is the most graceful and beauti­ful. Artists strive to paint him - women long to wear his decorative coat.

The leopard is judged by his spots. He may not change them, but he does vary them with his species. They range from tiny rosettes in the Afri­can variety to large rosettes which enclose a dot within the circle as in the American species, (usu­ally called ocelot). Then there is the less beauti­fully spotted, but not rosette, leopard of the Himalaya Mountains. He is of grayish-white with only a tinge of yellow and long hair.

The "baby leopard" of Africa, so called because it is the smallest species, has fine, short hair-pliable, tough hide, and stunning deep colored markings against a background that tends toward orange. His Asiatic cousin is larger, with longer hair and bigger spots.

The leopard cat, smaller in size, and an inhabitant of America, loses much of the African and Asiatic leopard's beauty of coloring. Further, his top hair is inclined to break. The ocelot with its closely spaced elongated spots, hails from Argentine and Brazil. Leopardine (now known as leopard-dyed­ rabbit) is rabbit, dressed and stencilled to resemble leopard.