C A T. 



founded on the variations in size and colour, and 

 sometimes on mere difference of locality ; but lhc.se 

 convey but little information which can be of real 

 value, as it appears that all the species are subject to 

 very considerable variations of a climatal nature, in 

 the very respects upon which it is attempted to found 

 these groups. There is certainly less variety in the 

 organic structure than in almost any genus which is 

 as widely distributed ; but if we take the common 

 domestic cat as an instance, there is an almost endless 

 variety of colour, and no inconsiderable one in size. 

 We shall not, therefore, attempt to define the 

 groups which have been formed by different authors, 

 but shall confine ourselves to notices, and very short 

 notices, of the more remarkable species. 



THE LION (Felis leo). This is the most famed, and 

 generally described as the most formidable of all the 

 species, the " king of beasts," of whose brave, noble, 

 and generous character, so much is said in the writings 

 of poets and romancing naturalists. But the truth i*, 

 that, though there is certainly physical power and 

 physical grandeur in the action of this " animal mo- 

 narch," there is not any moral good or moral evil. He 

 is a powerful beast, certainly, but still he is only 

 a beast, acting his part in the physical economy of 

 nature without merit or demerit, and perishing like 

 the humblest of those beasts of which fancy has made 

 him the sovereign, when the days of his years of 

 alternate indolence and slaughter are numbered. It 

 is the nature of the lion, as well as of all the other 

 members of the genus that are strong enough for 

 killing large prey, to feed heartily when he does feed, 

 and to fast long in the intervals : so much is this the 

 case, that those animals of similar habits at the gar- 

 dens of the zoological society which had only one 

 meal in the day were found to thrive much better 

 than those which had the same quantity of food 

 divided into two meals. The life which such an 

 animal leads is naturally an indolent one ; and by 

 far the greater part of it is spent in lolling and repose, 

 at which time there can be but little waste of the 

 svstem, as the waste in the system of all animals is in 

 proportion to the activity. In prowling for his prey, 

 the labour of the lion cannot be very severe ; and 

 although the capture of it is attended with very great 

 excitement and energy, the time of its continuance is 

 but short. The lion is thus upon the whole an indo- 

 lent animal, and when let alone it is comparatively a 

 peaceable one. 



In those places where lions are most abundant, 

 they are seldom seen during the day; and even when 

 seen, if they are not hungry, or attacked, or otherwise 

 annoyed, they do not exhibit any pugnacious dispo- 

 sition, but rather remain in their squatting places, 

 or even slink out of the way. He is not indeed, 

 in any- sense of the word, a fighting animal, which 

 uses his powers, great as they are, for the purpose of 

 showing off. 



Those animals which, as one would say, fight for 

 fighting's sake, are seldom carnivorous ; and the ones 

 which are most so, and have a pugnacious habit, are 

 probably dogs. And even they,, though they worry 

 each other in a state of domestication, for reasons 

 which are not very easily explained upon any animal 

 principle, probably fight no battles, save battles of gal- 

 lantry, when they are in a state of nature. We do 

 not know much about them in that state ; but it is 

 probable that they are, to a very considerable extent, 

 gregarious ; and that, as is the case with most, if not 



all, gregarious mammalia, the males, are polygamous 

 or rather indiscriminate and temporary in their 

 attachments. All animals which have these habits 

 are more or less pugnacious during the pairing time ; 

 and this pugnacity appears to be not wholly without 

 its use in keeping up the character of the species. It 

 is a remarkable fact that, among all such animals, the 

 female gives a very decided preference to the stronger 

 males ; and the combats of gallantry are obviously 

 conducive to the same purpose. 



Several species of the cat family are also, to a con- 

 siderable extent, polygamous, or at least indiscrimi- 

 nate ; and of course battles take place among the 

 males of them ; and it is worthy of being borne in 

 mind, that where such is the case, the male seldom 

 pays any attention to the young, and in many 

 instances is apt to attack and destroy them. Lions 

 are monogamous, always found in pairs, which are 

 attached to each other, not merely during the season 

 of intercourse, but for -life : and though the greater 

 part of the labour of feeding and protecting the young, 

 during the comparatively long period which they 

 require to arrive at maturity, falls upon the female, it 

 does not appear that the male treats the young with 

 any positive hostility. How often they breed in a 

 state of nature is of course not known ; because the 

 acquaintance which man forms with lions in a state of 

 nature, is neither very long nor very intimate. It is pro- 

 bable, however, that owing to the length of time which 

 the cubs require before They come to maturity that 

 the breeding is not every year, or even every second 

 year ; and it is probable, though not proved, that 

 when the young are able to provide for themselves 

 the old ones may drive them from their haunts, in the 

 same manner as is done by eagles ; for lions are 

 seldom met with in more than a single pair in one 

 place, unless when there is a lioness and her cubs. 



The lioness goes about four months with young, 

 and the cubs when dropped are of a very small size, and 

 without any indication of the mane or the terminal 

 brush on the tail of the males. They are not born 

 blind ; but their ears are soft and partially dependent, 

 and they are without canine teeth or retractile claws, 

 the arms upon which they chiefly depend for their 

 subsistence when full grown. There are also certain 

 markings of colour in the cubs which show that there 

 is some natural affinity between lions, at least in their 

 young state, and the striped and even the spotted 

 members of the genus. The young lions have a black 

 line down the back, and transverse bars alternating 

 with spots along the sides. These stripes and spots 

 are obscure, and they are gradually obliterated ; but 

 they are general, and belong equally to both sexes, 

 while young. At the age of about twelve months, 

 the canine teeth of the cubs make their appearance ; 

 and judging from what happen from lions in a state 

 of confinement, it is supposed that the cutting of 

 those formidable teeth is a very trying time with 

 them. In about a year and a half, the claws acquire 

 their retractile character; and soon after the cubs begin 

 to play the lion on a small scale ; but the mane and 

 brush do not appear till the end of the third year, nor 

 do they arrive at full maturity till the end of the fifth. 

 When full grown, the lion measures about eight feet 

 from the point of the muzzle to the insertion of the 

 tail, and the tail is about half that length, and gene- 

 rally ends in a small spine or claw on the middle of 

 the brush ; but this spine is attached to the skin onlv, 

 and not to the terminal veriebrse of the tail ; thus it H 

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