PUMA, or COUGAR, Felts concolor, leopardus concolor, or puma canceler, one of the largest of the American/el/0W, rivaled only by the jaguar. It is sometimes called the American lion, although it is more allied to the leopard, notwithstanding its want of spots and stripes. It is from 4 to 44- ft. in length from the nose to the root of the tail. and the tail about 2 ft. or 24. The fur is thick and close, reddish-brown above, lighter on the sides, and reddish-white on the belly; the muzzle, chin, throat, and insides of the legs greyish-white, the breast almost pure white. Young pumas have dark-brown spots in three rows on the back, and scattered markings elsewhere, exhibiting the relation to the leopards. The long tail of the puma is covered with thick fur, and is generally coiled up, as if it were prehensile, which it does not seem to be, although the puma climbs trees very well, and often descends on its prey from among their branches. The puma was formerly found in all except the coldest parts of America, but is now rare in most parts of North America, having been expelled by man. It rarely attacks man, but is very ready to prey on domestic animals, and seems to have a thirst for blood beyond that of other /dicky, one puma having been known to kill 50 sheep in a night, drinking it little of the blood of each; a very sufficient reason for the anxiety which all American farmers show for its destruction. Yet it is easily tamed, and when tamed, a very gentle creature, purring like a cat, and showing equal love of attentions. The geographical range of the puma extends far southward in Patagonia, and northward even to the state of New York, although it is now very rare in all long-settled parts of North America.
It is the painter (panther) of North American farmers. It sometimes issues from the forests, and roams over prairies and pampas, and is not unfrequently caught by the lasso of South American hunters. A BLACK PUMA (felts nigra of some naturalists), a doubtful species, and probably only a variety of the common puma, is found in sonic parts of South America.
PUMICE,a mineral found in volcanic countries. generally with obsidian and porphyries. In chemical composition. it agrees with obsidian, of which it may be regarded as a peculiar form, rapidly cooled from a melted and boiling state. It is of a white or gray color, more rarely yellow, brown, or black; and so vesicular, that in mass it is lighter than water, and swims in it. The vesicles. or cells, are often of a much elongated shape. Pumice often exhibits more or less of a filamentous structure, and it is said to be most filamentous when silica is most abundant in its composition. It is very hard and very brittle. It is much used for polishing wood, ivory, metals, glass, slates, marble, litho graphic stones, etc., and in the preparation of vellum, parchment, and some kinds of leather. Among other purposes to.whieh it is applied is tire rubbing away of corns and eallositi,d. Great quantities are exported from the Lipari isles to Britain and all parts of Europe. The Lipari isles are in great part composed of pumice, which there, as in some other places, occurs as a rock. Pumice is the chief product of some volcanic eruptions; but in some eruptions, none is produced. It is found also in regions where there are now no active volcanoes, as at Andernach on the Rhine.