176 THE HISTOET OF ANIMALS. [T5. VI. 



conceals itself, and is pregnant for the same number of 

 days, and in other respects resembles the bear. It is very 

 difficult to capture the she bear when pregnant. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



1. IT has already been observed that the lion both copulates 

 and makes water backwards. They do not copulate and 

 produce their young at all seasons of the year, though they 

 produce annually. The young are produced in the spring. 

 The female generally produces two, never more than six, 

 and sometimes only one. The fable which says that the 

 uterus is ejected in parturition is a mistake. It has arisen 

 from the rarity of the animal, those who invented the fable 

 being ignorant of the true state of the case. The race of 

 lions is rare, and not to be found in every place, but only in 

 the country between the Achelous and the Nessus in the 

 whole of Europe. The young of the lion are very small at 

 their birth, so that they can hardly walk at two months old. 

 The Syrian lions produce five times ; at first five cubs, and 

 then one less every time. After this they produce no more, 

 but continue barren. The lioness has no mane, though the 

 lion has. The lion only sheds its four canine teeth, two 

 above and two below. They are shed when the animal is 

 six months old. 



2. The hyasna is of the colour of the wolf, but it is more 

 hairy, and has a mane along the ridge of its back. It is a 

 mistake to say that each individual has the sexual organs of 

 both sexes. That of the male resembles the same organ in 

 the wolf and the dog. That which has been imagined to be 

 the female organ is placed beneath the tail, and it resembles 

 that of the female, but is imperforate, and the anus is be- 

 neath it. The female hyena has an organ similar to that 

 which bears its name in the male. It is placed beneath the 

 tail, and is imperforate. Beneath this is the anus, and below 

 this again the true genital organ. The female hyena has an 

 uterus like that of other animals of the class, but the female 

 is rarely captured. A certain hunter said that he caught 

 eleven hyaenas of which only one was a female. 



3. Hares copulate backwards, as I formerly observed, for 

 it is a retromingent animal. They copulate and produce 



