MAMMAL I 



THE Felince are the most powerful and ferocious of 

 all predator} 7 " animals, and appear to hold the same 

 analogous place among quadrupeds, which the Falcons, 

 Eagles, and Birds of Prey do among the feathered 

 races. They have afforded scope for the talent of 

 poets and orators, when portraying the characters 

 of the brave, the strong, the magnanimous, or the 

 cruel, and have been successfully employed by the 

 sculptor and painter, as accessories in some of their 

 finest conceptions. Few of the ancient courts, particu- 

 larly those in the east, wanted an establishment of these 

 animals, and they were led out as fitting attendants 

 upon royalty, on occasions of great pomp and state. 

 They were used also for the more degrading office of 

 destroying criminals ; and, in more barbarous realms, 

 their skins and heads often constituted a conspicu- 

 ous portion of the war-dress, while a string of their 

 teeth was an acceptable present from a chief of the 

 desert to his young bride, esteemed for their SUT>- 



