40 NATURAL HISTORY. 



a sort of curry-comb to clean her coat, and undoubtedly 

 this member is put to the same use by other animals of 

 this class in proportion to their cleanliness. 



71. I will now proceed to notice some of the animals 

 of this family. At the head of it, and of the wild beasts 

 generally, stands the Lion. He is commonly called the 



Fig. 25. Lion, Lioness, and Cubs. 



king of beasts, both for his noble and commanding air, 

 and the power concentrated in his comparatively small 

 frame. No animal, however large, dare attack him. He 

 is found in Africa, and on the Continent of Asia, in In- 

 dia, Persia, and Arabia. He preys upon antelopes, heii' 

 ers, zebras, gnoos, etc. There is such prodigious strength 

 in the muscles of his neck and jaws that he can carry off 

 a heifer as easily as a cat can a rat. He generally waits 

 in ambush for his victim, or creeps like a cat insidiously 

 and noiselessly toward it, and, when sufficiently near, at 

 one bound secures it with his teeth and claws, uttering, 

 at the same time, his terrific roar. He is not properly 



