THE LION. _,-,;. sjij 

 Felis Leo. , /.t -- 



PLATE I. MALE. PLATE II. FEMALE AND YOUNG. 



NUMEROUS accounts of this formidable cat have been 

 given in the various illustrated works on natural history, 

 most of which convey to us a certain knowledge of the 

 character, form, and appearance of the animal, yet, they 

 fall far short of giving that general description, so desirable 

 to the student or naturalist. The outward form of the lion 

 seems to speak the superiority of his internal qualities. 

 His figure is bold and striking, his look confident, his gait 

 proud, and his voice terrible. His stature is not overgrown, 

 like that of the elephant, or the rhinoceros ; or clumsy, 

 like that of the hippopotamus, or the ox, but is in every 

 respect compact and well-proportioned, and a perfect 

 model of strength joined with agility. 



The lion at present is an inhabitant of the greater part 

 of Africa, and the warmer districts of India. In the days 

 of antiquity, the range seems to have been more extended, 

 and reached to the European boundary, and were even 

 found in the mountains of northern Greece. In Africa, 

 they may now be said to be extirpated in the line of the 

 coast, and nearly mark the boundary of civilization ; while 

 Mr. Bennet remarks, that " In the sandy deserts of Arabia, 

 and in some of the wilder districts of Persia, also in the 

 vast jungles of Hindostan, he still maintains a precarious 

 footing ; but from the classic soil of Greece, as well as 

 from the whole of Asia Minor both which were once 

 exposed to his ravages he has been utterly dislodged and 

 extirpated." 



