LEONTIUS, theological writer, born at Byzantium, flourished during the 6th century. He is variously styled Byzantinus, Hierosolymitanus (as an inmate of the monastery of St Saba near Jerusalem) and Scholasticus (the first “schoolman,” as the introducer of the Aristotelian definitions into theology; according to others, he had been an advocate, a special meaning of the word scholasticus). He himself states that in his early years he belonged to a Nestorian community. Nothing else is known of his life; he is frequently confused with others of the same name, and it is uncertain which of the works bearing the name Leontius are really by him. Most scholars regard as genuine the polemical treatises Contra Nestorianos et Eutychianos, Contra Nestorianos, Contra Monophysitas, Contra Severum (patriarch of Antioch); and the Σχόλια, generally called De Sectis. An essay Adversus fraudes Apollinaristarum and two homilies are referred to other hands, the homilies to a Leontius, presbyter of Constantinople.
Collected works in J. P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, lxxxvi.; for the various questions connected with Leontius see F. Loops, Das Leben und die polemischen Werke des Leontios von Byzanz (Leipzig, 1887); W. Rügamer, Leontius von Byzanz (1894); V. Ermoni, De Leontio Byzantino (Paris, 1895); C. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (1897); J. P. Junglas, Leontius von Byzanz (1908). For other persons of the name see Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca (ed. Harles), viii. 323.
LEOPARD,[1] Pard or Panther (Felis pardus), the largest
spotted true cat of the Old World, with the exception of the snow-leopard,
which is, however, inferior in point of size to the largest
leopard. (See Carnivora and Snow-Leopard.) Leopards,
known in India as cheeta (chita), are characterized by the rosette-like
form of the black spots on the greater part of the body,
and the absence of a central spot from each rosette. Towards the
head and on the limbs the spots tend to become solid, but there
is great local variation in regard to their form and arrangement.
In the Indian leopard, the true Felis pardus, the spots are large
and rosette-like, and the same is the case with the long-haired
Persian leopard (F. pardus tulliana). On the other hand the
heavily built and thick-haired Manchurian F. p. villosa has more
consolidated spots. African leopards, again, to one of which
the name F. p. leopardus is applicable, show a decided tendency
to a breaking-up of the spots; West African animals being
much darker-coloured than those from the east side of the continent.
Both as regards structure and habits, the leopard may be reckoned as one of the more typical representatives of the genus Felis, belonging to that section in which the hyoid bone is loosely connected with the skull, owing to imperfect ossification of its anterior arch, and the pupil of the eye when contracted under the influence of light is circular, not linear as in the smaller cats.
The size of leopards varies greatly, the head and body usually measuring from 312 to 412 ft. in length, and the tail from 212 to 3 ft., but some specimens exceed these limits, while the Somali leopard (F. p. nanopardus) falls considerably short of them. The ground-colour of the fur varies from a pale fawn to a rufous buff, graduating in the Indian race into pure white on the under-parts and inside of the limbs. Generally speaking, the spots on the under parts and limbs are simple and blacker than those on the other parts of the body. The bases of the ears behind are black, the tips buff. The upper side of the tail is buff, spotted with broken rings like the back, its under surface white with simple spots. The hair of the cubs is longer than that of the adults, its ground-colour less bright, and its spots less distinct. Perfectly black leopards, which in certain lights show the characteristic markings on the fur, are not uncommon, and are examples of melanism, occurring as individual variations, sometimes in one cub out of a litter of which the rest are normally coloured, and therefore not indicating a distinct race, much less a species. These are met with chiefly in southern Asia; melanism among African leopards taking the form of an excessive breaking-up of the spots, which finally show a tendency to coalesce.
The Leopard (Felis pardus).
In habits the leopard resembles the other large cat-like animals, yielding to none in the ferocity of its disposition. It is exceedingly quick in its movements, but seizes its prey by waiting in ambush or stealthily approaching to within springing distance, when it suddenly rushes upon it and tears it to ground with its powerful claws and teeth. It preys upon almost any animal it can overcome, such as antelopes, deer, sheep, goats, monkeys, peafowl, and has a special liking for dogs. It not unfrequently attacks human beings in India, chiefly children and old women, but instances have been known of a leopard becoming a regular “man-eater.” When favourable opportunities occur, it often kills many more victims than it can devour at once, either to gratify its propensity for killing or for the sake of their fresh blood. It generally inhabits woody districts, and can climb trees with facility when hunted, but usually lives on or near the ground, among rocks, bushes and roots and low branches of large trees.
The geographical range of the leopard embraces practically all Africa, and Asia from Palestine to China and Manchuria, inclusive of Ceylon and the great Malay Islands as far as Java. Fossil bones and teeth, indistinguishable from those of existing leopards, have been found in cave-deposits of Pleistocene age in Spain, France, Germany and England. (R. L.*; W. H. F.)
LEOPARDI, GIACOMO, Count (1798–1837), Italian poet, was
born at Recanati in the March of Ancona, on the 29th of June
1798. All the circumstances of his parentage and education
conspired to foster his precocious and sensitive genius at the
expense of his physical and mental health. His family was
ancient and patrician, but so deeply embarrassed as to be only
rescued from ruin by the energy of his mother, who had taken
the control of business matters entirely into her own hands, and
whose engrossing devotion to her undertaking seems to have
almost dried up the springs of maternal tenderness. Count
Monaldo Leopardi, the father, a mere nullity in his own household,
secluded himself in his extensive library, to which his
nervous, sickly and deformed son had free access, and which
absorbed him exclusively in the absence of any intelligent
sympathy from his parents, any companionship except that of
his brothers and sister, or any recreation in the dullest of Italian
towns. The lad spent his days over grammars and dictionaries,
learning Latin with little assistance, and Greek and the principal
modern languages with none at all. Any ordinarily clever boy
would have emerged from this discipline a mere pedant and
- ↑ The name (Late Lat. leopardus, Late Gr. λεόπαρδος) was given by the ancients to an animal supposed to have been a cross between a lion (Lat. leo, Gr. λὲων) and a pard (Gr. πάρδος, Pers. pars) or panther. Medieval heralds made no distinction in shape between a lion and a leopard, but marked the difference by drawing the leopard showing the full face (see Heraldry: § Beasts and Birds).
