57 



the lion, whose bulk is comparatively small. 

 But is not the diminutive domestic cat of the 

 lion species? May not the lion's race soar as 

 much above, as this degenerate creature sinks 

 beneath, him ? Or why is it, that the human 

 mind will admit of mean and contemptible asso- 

 ciations, and reject those that are sublime and 

 grand ? Are there not a mini, and a whale ; 

 a humming bird, and a cassawary ; a mouse, 

 and a mammoth ; a dwarf, and a giant ? Yes. 

 On the same principle, then, we admit a cat, 

 and a megalonyx. It is not the size which 

 determines the genus, but the qualities, pur- 

 suits, and affections. The size varies more 

 considerably in the lion, than in any other 

 species. — M. de la Landemagon assures us, 

 that he has seen a tiger, in the East Indies, 15 

 feet long, including, undoubtedly, the length 

 of the tail, which, supposing it to be four feet, 

 makes the body of the tiger eleven feet in 

 length I 



A skeleton, preserved in the cabinet of a 

 French King, indicates, that the animal was 

 7 feet long, from the point of the muzzle to 

 the origin of the tail ; and it must be consider- 

 ed, that he was caught young, and lived in 

 confinement all his days. 



