THE LION 



361 



the mane is continued as a fringe down the middle line of the belly. Another dis- 

 tinctive characteristic of the male lion is the brush of long hair at the tip of the tail. 

 In the middle of this brush of hair, at the very extremity of the tail, is a small 

 horny appendage surrounded by a tuft. Much writing has been devoted as to the 

 use of this so-called " thorn " in the lion's tail ; one old story being that it was em- 

 ployed to rouse the animal to fury when the tail was lashed against the flanks. 



The hair on the remainder of the body of the male lion, and on the whole of 

 both the head and body of the female, is short and close. In the adults of both sexes 



THE CAPE MANED UON. 



the color of the body hair is the well-known yellowish brown, or tawny, but the 

 tint varies in intensity in different individuals. The long hair of the male's mane 

 may vary from tawny to a blackish brown. Young lion cubs are marked with 

 transverse dark stripes running down the sides of the body, and likewise by a single 

 stripe of similar tint along the middle of the back. In certain lights more or less 

 faintly marked spots may be observed in many lions nearly or quite up to the period 

 of maturity ; these markings, as a rule, being more conspicuous in females than in 

 males. The mane of the male does not make its appearance till the animal is about 



