, close hair of a bright rufous ground tint
from every shade of pale yellow ochre to burnt sienna, with black
stripes arranged irregularly and seldom in two individuals alike,
the stripes being also irregular in form, from single streaks to
loops and broad bands. In some the brows and cheeks are white, and
in all the chin, throat, breast, and belly are pure white. All parts,
however, whether white or rufous, are equally pervaded by the black
stripes. The males have prolonged hairs extending from the ears round
the cheeks, forming a ruff, or whiskers as they are sometimes called,
although the true whiskers are the labial bristles. The pupil of the
tiger's eye is round, and not vertical, as stated by Jerdon.

SIZE.--Here we come to a much-vexed question, on which there is much
divergence of opinion, and the controversy will never be decided
until sportsmen have adopted a more correct system of measurement.
At present the universal plan is to measure the animal as it lies
on the ground, taking the tape from the tip of the nose to the end
of the tail. I will undertake that no two men will measure the same
tiger with equal results if the body be at all disturbed between the
two operations. If care be not taken to raise the head so as to bring
the plane of the skull in a line with the vertebrae, the downward
deflection will cause increased measurement. Let any one try this
on the next opportunity, or on the dead body of a cat. Care should
be taken in measuring that the head be raised, so that the top of
the skull be as much as possible in a line with the vertebrae. A stake
should be then driven in at the nose and another close in at the root
of the tail, and the measurement taken between the two stakes, and
not round the curves. The tail, which is an unimportant matter, but
which in the present system of measurement is a considerable factor,
should be measured and noted separately. I am not a believer in tails
(or tales), and have always considered that they should be excluded
from measurements except as an addition. I spoke of this in 'Seonee'
in the following terms: "If all tigers were measured honestly, a
twelve-foot animal would never be heard of. All your big fellows are
measured from stretched skins, and are as exaggerated as are the
accounts of the dangers incurred in killing them--at least in many
cases. But even the true method of measuring the unskinned animal
is faulty; it is an apparent fact that a tail has very l