1 S6 CARNIYORA. 



Romans that we owe our stories of the magnanimous nature of the brute, 

 how "the lion knows the true prince," or how 



The lion will turn and flee 



From a maid in the pride of her purit)- ; 



and how an ointment made of a cock and garlic is a certain protection 

 against his attacks. The Romans must have known the lion well from 

 his frequent appearance in the circus. The first fight of lions was 

 exhibited by the ^Edile Scarvola. Sulla exhibited one hundred lions, 

 Pompey six hundred, Julius Cresar four hundred, which fought either 

 wnth each other or with the gladiators. M. Antony had tame lions ; and 

 he and his mistress Cytheris rode the streets in a chariot drawn by a 

 pair. Hanno, the Carthaginian, employed lions to carry his baggage ; 

 and tame lions are still sometimes seen in the East. 



In 1825 there were, in the menagerie in the Tower of London, two 

 young lions, a male and female; they had been obtained in India, where 

 they were captured when only a few days old, and a goat had been 

 employed to suckle them during the early months of their existence 

 So docile were the)-, that they were allowed to wander about the court- 

 yard, and visitors caressed and played with them with impunitv. At a 

 later period it was deemed proper to shut them up, to prevent accidents; 

 but this more rigorous captivity did not alter the character of the male. 

 With regard to the female, she became intractable when suckling — a 

 circumstance perfectly explained when we know the violent aficction 

 this creature displa3-s toward its progein-. 



In menageries, the keepers who look after these ferocious beasts 

 perform every da}- as great feats as the professional trainers, for they 

 enter the cages and are received by the occupants with much affec- 

 tion — a trul}- curious interchange of greetings between the man and 

 beast. 



There is still preserved the remembrance of a deep friendship which 

 arose between two lions, male and female, brought to the Jardin des 

 Plantes in 1799, and a man named Felix, the keeper at that period of the 

 menagerie. When he became unwell, and it was necessary to replace 

 him, the male lion persistently refused to have anvthing to do with the 

 stranger, and would not even allow him to approach the place of confine- 

 ment. When Felix reappeared, the lion, accompanied bv the lioness, 

 r» shed to meet him. They roared with pleasure while licking his face 



