LION. 



483 



fragments of poetry, under his name, are to be found 

 in Stobasus. 



LION (felia leo). The lion, like all other cats, is 

 armed, in each jaw, with six strong and exceedingly 

 sharp cutting teeth, two formidable canine, and six 

 others, occupying the usual place of the molars, but 

 differing from these by terminating in sharp protu- 

 berances. Besides these, there is a small tooth, or 

 tubercle, on each side of the upper jaw, immediately 

 posterior to all the others. The tongue is covered 

 with rough and elevated papilla, with their points 

 directed backwards. The claws, which are five in 

 number on the fore feet, and four on the hinder, are 

 of great length, extremely powerful, and much 

 curved ; like those of the other cats, they are 

 retractile within a sheath enclosed in the skin 

 covering the paws. The lion is distinguished from 

 his kindred species by the uniformity of his colour, 

 which is pale tawny above, becoming somewhat 

 lighter beneath, and never, except while very young, 

 exhibiting any markings ; and also by the long and 

 flowing mane of the old male, which, covering the 

 whole head, extends backwards over his shoulders. 

 Notwithstanding the praises that have, from time 

 immemorial, been bestowed on this animal, for grate- 

 ful affection, dauntless courage, and merciful for- 

 bearance, he is nothing more, in moral and intellectual 

 faculties, than a cat of immense size and strength, 

 and endowed with all the guileful and treacherous 

 qualities of that treacherous tribe. His dauntless 

 courage is a mere consciousness of superiority over 

 the animals by which he is surrounded, and wholly 

 disappears in the neighbourhood of man ; his merci- 

 ful forbearance is nothing more than that he never 

 destroys more than satiates his hunger or revenge, 

 and that, when under the dominion of man, he suf- 

 fers his keeper to approach him without injury. 



The lion is only met with in the warmer regions of 

 the old world, and more particularly of Africa, in 

 whose vast forests and arid deserts he reigns supreme 

 and uncontrolled. He is met with, but rarely, in 

 parts of India, Arabia, and Persia, but his range in 

 these countries is becoming very limited. From 

 Libya, whence the Romans obtained so many, he has 

 almost disappeared ; and in classic Greece, where, 

 we are informed by Aristotle, he once occurred, 

 none are to be found. In America, this species 

 never occurred, its place being supplied by the 

 puma. Naturalists have differed greatly as to the 

 longevity of this animal. Buffon stated it to be 

 from twenty to twenty-two years ; but it far exceeds 

 this, as the one in the Tower of London, which died 

 in 1760, lived in captivity above seventy years ; and 

 another died in the same place, at the age of sixty- 

 three. The lioness brings forth from three to four at 

 a birth. The cubs, when first born, are about the 

 size of a small pug dog, and continue to suck the 

 mother for about a year. At this time, thtir colour 

 is a mixture of reddish and gray, with a number oi 

 brown bands. The mane of the male begins to 

 make its appearance when the animal is about three 

 to three years and a half old. The male attains 

 maturity in seven, and the female in six years. The 

 strength of the lion is prodigious, a single stroke 

 with his paw being sufficient to destroy most ani- 

 mals. The bone of the fore leg is remarkably fitted 

 to sustain the great muscular strain so powerful an 

 exertion occasions. Its texture is so compact, tlial 

 it will strike fire with steel. The lurking-place ol 

 the lion is generally chosen near a spring, or by the 

 side of a river, where he has an opportunity of sur- 

 prising such animals as resort to the water to quencl 

 their thirst. Here he lies in wait, crouched in some 

 thicket, till his prey approaches, and then, with a 

 prodigious leap, seizes it at the first bound : if, how- 



;ver, unsuccessful in tin's, he immediately retires to 

 wait another opportunity. In the night, more parti 

 cularly, the lion prowls abroad in search of his prey, 

 lie conformation of his eyes being, like those of the 

 common cat, well fitted for seeing in a dim light. 

 The roar of the lion is loud and terrific, especially 

 when heard in the solitary wilds he inhabits ; this 

 roar is his natural voice ; for, when enraged, he 

 utters a short and suddenly repeated cry, whilst the 

 roar is a prolonged effort, a kind of deep-toned 

 Crumbling, mixed with a sharp, vibrating noise. It 

 las been usually stated, that the lion had constant 

 and stated times for roaring, especially when in cap- 

 tivity ; but this has been shown to be erroneous in 

 some degree. It appears, however, that, in summer 

 ;ime, and especially before atmospheric changes, he 

 uniformly commences about dawn ; at no other time 

 is there any regularity in his roar. When enraged, 

 his cry is still more appalling than his roar ; he then 

 beats his sides with his tail, agitates his mane, moves 

 the skin of his face and his shaggy eyebrows, thrusts 

 out his tongue, and protrudes his dreadful claws. 

 The lion requires about fifteen pounds of raw flesh a 

 day ; he drinks often, lapping like a dog ; but in this 

 process his tongue is bent downward : his breath 

 is very offensive, and the odour of his urine insup- 

 portable. 



There is some variation, in the lions of different 

 countries in external appearance, though, in essential 

 particulars, their habits are identical. The Asiatic 

 variety seldom attains an equal size with the Cape 

 lion ; its colour is a more uniform and pale yellow, 

 and its mane fuller and more complete, and being, 

 moreover, furnished with a peculiar appendage of 

 long hairs, which, commencing beneath the neck, 

 occupy the whole of the middle line of the body 

 beneath. Even the Cape lion presents two varieties, 

 known as the pale and the black, distinguished, as 

 their appellations imply, by the lighter or darker 

 colour of their coats. The latter of these is the 

 larger and more ferocious of the two. The Barbary 

 lion has the same full mane as the Asiatic, but ex- 

 ceeds him in size. 



The number of lions, as has been observed, lias 

 greatly diminished, judging from the multitudes 

 spoken of by ancient writers, and those carried to 

 Rome. Thus Sylla the dictator exhibited, during 

 his pnetorship, 100 of these animals ; and Pompey 

 presented 600 in the circus. Lion fights were com- 

 mon under the consulate, and during the empire. 

 Adrian, it is said, often caused 100 to be destroyed 

 at one exhibition ; and Antoninus Pius and Marcus 

 Aurelius were equally prodigal in gratifying the 

 people. At the Cape of Good Hope, lions are 

 hunted, not only for the purpose of extermination, 

 but also for their skins. In the daytime, and in an 

 open country, from ten to sixteen dogs will easily 

 overcome a lion of the largest size ; nor does there 

 appear to be any necessity that the dogs should be 

 very large ; as he is less swift than these animals, 

 they readily overtake him, on which the lion turns 

 round, and waits for the attack, shaking his mane, 

 and roaring in a short and sharp tone, or sits down 

 on his haunches to face them. The dogs then sur- 

 round him, and, simultaneously rushing upon him, 

 subdue him by their united efforts, though not before 

 he has destroyed several of them. But the mode of 

 destroying them, usual among the Bushmen, is by 

 shooting them, either with fire-arms or poisoned 

 arrows. The inhabitants know that the lion gener- 

 ally kills and devours his prey at sunrise and sunset. 

 On this account, therefore, when they intend to hunt 

 them, they notice where the antelopes are feeding at 

 daybreak : if they perceive that these animals are 

 alarmed, they conclude that they have been attacked 

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