3 66 



THE CARNIVORES 



Mr. Selous, had a small tuft of hair on the elbow and another in the armpit, none 

 were seen with the fringe of long hair along the middle of the under surface of the 

 body, which is so universally present in maned menagerie lions. (< I do not say," 

 observes Mr. Selous, " that cases do not occur of wild lions becoming equally hairy; 

 but they must be very rare, otherwise I should have met with some amongst the 

 large number of skins I have seen. The coat of the wild lion is very short and 

 close, whilst that of lions kept in this country becomes very much longer, and 

 usually of a redder color than the pale yellow or silvery-gray hue of the wild animal. 

 I could pick out the skin of a menagerie lion from amongst a hundred wild ones. 

 Climate and regular feeding must, I think, have a good deal to do with the luxuriant 

 growth of mane invariably to be observed in lions in confinement. ' ' As our pictures 



Habits 



THE WON AT A POOI,. 



and figures of lions are almost invariably taken from such captive specimens, it is 

 obvious that an exaggerated idea of the size and beauty of the mane is commonly 

 current. 



The literature relating to the habits of lions is so extensive that the 

 great difficulty an author has to contend with is in determining w r hat 

 to select and what to reject. Moreover, it will be found that in comparing the 

 accounts given by different observers there is considerable diversity between them in 

 regard to certain points. This difference, as observed by the Hon. W. H. Drum- 

 mond, is doubtless due, to a certain extent, to differences in the habits of lions from 

 different districts ; but to this must be added the "personal equation" of the various 

 observers. 



