SNOW-LEOPARD or OUNCE (Felis uncia), a large member of the cat family, from the high mountain regions of Central Asia. It resembles the leopard in general conformation, but has longer fur, grey in col our, marked with large dark ro settes. The head and body are about 4f t. 4in. long, the tail 3ft., and the height 2ft. This animal lives among rocks, and preys upon wild sheep and goats, large rodents, and birds. It even kills ponies.
the line above which the snows remain unmelted in the form of a permanent snowfield. Snow-fields occur in any latitude at sufficiently high altitudes, or at any altitude in sufficiently high latitudes. About 78° latitude the snow-line reaches sea-level ; in lower latitudes it shows a progressive rise, but many factors in addition to temperature influence its height, e.g., total snowfall, humidity of atmosphere and aspect. In Lapland it is about 4,000 ft. above sea-level; in the Alps about 9,000 ft.;
on the south side of the Himalayas about 13,000 ft., but on the north side over 16,5oo ft.; on the east side of the equatorial Andes about 16,000 ft., but 18,500 ft. on the western side.
(Sarcodes sanguinea), a North American saprophytic herb of the family Pyrolaceae, so named because it often blooms in moist places in the vicinity of melting snow. It is closely allied to the Indian-pipe (q.v.) and, by reason of its bright red or crimson colour throughout, presents a striking appearance. It grows in pine woods on mountain slopes from southern Oregon to Lower California and eastward to Nevada. The single, fleshy, scaly stem, 6 to 15 in. high, rises from a ball of brittle roots and bears at its summit a cylindrical cluster of nodding, bell-shaped crimson flowers.