_Felis Lynx_, or mountain cat, is found in the northern parts of Europe,
Asia and America, and climbs the highest trees. He preys on squirrels,
deer, hares, &c. He is fond of blood and kills great numbers of animals to
satisfy his unconquerable thirst. He is smaller than the panther, about
three feet and a half in length, his tail is much shorter and black at the
extremity. His ears are erect with a pencil of black hair at the tips. The
fur is long and thick, the upper part of the body is a pale grey, the
under parts white.
The sight of the lynx is said to be so piercing that the ancients
attributed to it the faculty of seeing through stone walls: it may,
however, be asserted with truth that it distinguishes its prey at a
greater distance than any other carnivorous quadruped. On this account it
is frequently employed in heraldry, symbolising watchfulness, keenness of
vision, and also the ability to profit by it.
Lynx-eyed, "oculis lynceis," originally referred to Lynceus, the argonaut,
who was famed for the keenness of his vision; then it was transferred to
the lynx and gave rise to the fable that it could see through a wall
(notes to "Philobiblon," by E. C. Thomas).
The Accademia de Lincei, founded in Rome in 1603, with the object of
encouraging a taste for natural history, adopted the name and device of
the lynx because the members should have the eyes of a lynx to penetrate
the secrets of nature. Galileo, Fabio Colonna, and Gianbattista Porta were
among the members of the academy, the latter philosopher and
mathematician, who was the inventor of the camera obscura, bore the device
of the academy, the lynx, and the motto "Aspicit et inspicit" ("Looks at
and looks into").
Charles IV. of Luxemburg, Emperor of Germany, adopted the lynx for his
impress, with the motto, "Nullius pavit occursum" ("He fears not meeting
with any one").
THE LIZARD LYNX is an animal of the lynx or wild cat kind of a dark brown
colour, spotted black; the ears and tail are short. They are frequent in
the woods of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where they are usually termed
lizards.
[Illustration: Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined.]