F. lynx, or the lynx, is remarkable for its ears being long and erect, and tufted at the end with long black hairs. The skin of the male is more spotted than that of the female. In America and the North of Europe these animals are to be found in great abundance. They subsist by hunt ing squirrels, ermines, weasels, and other vermin, which they will pursue to the very tops of extremely high trees. They con ceal themselves often among the branch es, and watch with minute observation the approach of hares, deer, and other animals, which they seize with astonishing agility, and after having drank their blood, reject their carcases almost entirely, de vouring often, of a whole sheep, little more than the brain and liver. When at tacked by a dog, this animal places itself on its back, and seizing the throat of its adversary, often actually suffocates it, or obliges it at least to retire from the con flict. The sight of the lynx is prover bially acute ; its howling greatly resem bles that of a wolf ; in confinement it ap pears restless, malignant and untamea ble, almost constantly uttering a snarling scream. The fur of these animals is an important article of commerce. The far ther north they are taken, the whiter and more valuable they are ; and the winter furs are preferable to the summer ones. The length of a Russian lynx, from nose to tail, is four feet six inches. The lynx of the ancients appears to have been the creature of imagination. See
Plate XIV. fig. 4.
From the lion to the common cat, through all the intermediate species of this abundant genus, a strong resemblance exists in form, internal structure, and habits ; the shortness of the intestines, the sharpness and number of the teeth, the structure of the feet and claws, are the same in all ; they all feed on flesh, which they rather tear than masticate ; they eat with slowness, and during the re past growl almost perpetually, as if ap prehensive of its being intercepted from them; they all seize upon their prey by crafty approach and stealthy stratagem, rather than by open and intrepid attack.. These are the animals from which man has most to apprehend, and which have hitherto, in every age, more or less, car ried on hostilities against him. The pow er of some creatures is greater, but their tempers are less ferocious, and they exer cise their strength, not in acts of aggres sion, but only in those of retaliation ; and others, while they are inexpressibly more numerous, are, at the same time, desti tute of any formidable powers of annoy ance, and fly from the sight of man with the greatest rapidity and alarm. But be tween man and the feline tribe a contest for dominion is kept up over extensive regions of the globe, many of them high ly ornamented and productive, and calcu lated to become the abodes of harmony and civilization.