CARNIVORA. 57 



those of the preceding orders; the jaws are much more powerful, 

 the teeth longer and sharper. On their fore feet are five toes, 

 and on the hind ones four, all armed with strong hooked and 

 sharp claws. To prevent the claws from injury by coming in 

 contact with the ground, they are, when not in use, drawn back. 

 They are also elevated above the ground by the soft pad underneath, 

 into sheathes, so that the point only just peeps out beneath the fur, 

 and thus are not liable to be worn or blunted. (See Plate VI, fig. 7.) 

 The tongue is very rough, as may be known by feeling that of the 

 domestic cat. This roughness is occasioned by the innumerable 

 papilla which are turned backwards, and are like so many little 

 hooks to assist the animal in tearing off any remnants of flesh 

 that may adhere to the bones of their prey. Their sight is acute, 

 and suited for vision both by night and by day. The expansive 

 power of the pupil of the eye is so great that it takes in every 

 ray of light. In the larger cats the pupil is circular ; in those 

 that roam at night and also see well by day, as our domestic 

 cat, it is oval. Their long whiskers are delicate organs for the 

 sense of smelling. These whiskers are each connected with a 

 large nerve, and they are useful in indicating objects when the 

 animal is prowling at night. 



Fells Leo, the LTON. This is the strongest and most coura- 

 geous of the feline tribes, called the " King of Beasts," and " Mon- 

 arch of the forest." He is regarded as the emblem of majesty 

 and strength combined with generosity. His form supports the 

 royal arms of England, and surmounts them as a crest. Many 

 allusions are made in the Sacred Scriptures to his energy, 

 power and majesty, (Rev. v., 5,) and his ferocious and sanguinary 

 disposition. There are two kinds of Lions, Leo Africus and L. 

 Asiaticus. The brown Lions of the Cape of Good Hope are 

 more ferocious than the yellow variety found in that vicinity, 

 and will carry off a heifer as easily as a cat would a rat. The 

 Lion of Senegal has a thinner mane, and is of a deeper yellow 

 than the Lion of Barbary. The Bengal Lion, the Persian Lion, 

 and the Maneless Lion, are only varieties of the Asiatic Lion, 

 Leo Asiaticus. 



The Lioness is smaller than her mate, has two and sometimes 

 three blind whelps at a litter, which she guards with great care. 

 They are easily tamed when young, and live from twenty-five to 

 thirty years, sometimes much longer. The great lion Pompey, 

 which was in the Tower of London in 1760, had been there 

 seventy years. One from the river Gambia died in the Tower 

 at the age of sixty-three. Anderson, the African traveler, does 

 not represent lions as so ferocious and formidable as we have 



