THE LEOPARD. 69

and in this sense is placed near St. Jerome, and other saints
who did penance or lived as hermits in the desert, as in
the legends of St. Paul the hermit, St. Mary of Egypt, St.
Onofrio. Further, the lion is an attribute denoting death
in the amphitheatre, and with this signification is placed
near certain martyrs, as St. Ignatius, St. Euphemia. The
lion, as the type of fortitude and resolution, was placed at
the feet of those martyrs who had suffered with singular
courage, as St. Natalia. When other wild beasts, as wolves
and bears, are placed at the feet of a saint attired as a
bishop or abbot, it signifies that he cleared waste lands, cut
down forests, and substituted Christian culture and civiliza-
tion for paganism and the lawless hunter’s life; such is the
signification in pictures of St. Magnus, St. Florentius, and
St. Germain of Auxerre.”*

Feuis Leorarpus.—The Leopard.

The Leopard is about four feet in length, to the tail,
which measures two and a half; the colour is pale yellow,
with black spots, formed of a cluster of smaller ones. This
animal is often confounded with the panther, from which it
may, however, be distinguished by its lighter colour, and
the comparatively small size of the markings, which are also

* Mrs. Jameson’s ‘Legendary Art.’