120 



MAMMALIA. FELID.E. 



peninsula of Cutch. In all probability there is but 

 one true species of lion, and this in general is charac- 

 terized by the possession of a uniformly tawny or 

 yellowish-ruddy fur, the tail presenting a bushy tuft of 

 long black hairs at the tip. The male is also furnished 

 with a large flowing mane, which covers the back part 

 of the head, as well as the entire neck, extending 

 over the shoulders to a greater or less extent The 

 young are frequently marked with roundish spots and 

 dark stripes along the back. Curiously banded hybrids 

 have also been occasionally produced by associating 

 the lion with the tigress. In our introductory obser- 

 vations on the Garni vora, we have already dwelt on 

 the structure of the skeleton of this most highly 

 developed type of the order, and in our remarks on the 

 Felidse proper, we have been careful to illustrate the 

 distinguishing characteristics common to the lion and 

 its allies ; but there still remains an apparently trifling 

 matter which has given rise to much controversy, and 

 cannot therefore be passed unnoticed. We allude to 

 the occasional presence of a corneous thorn-like prickle 

 developed at the extremity of the lion's tail. For a 

 long period we remained sceptical as to the genuine 

 character of this peculiar dermal process, conceiving it 

 to be a merely accidental thickening or induration of 

 the caudal integument, and serving no particular pur- 

 pose in the economy of this animal's habits. The 

 question has, however, been fairly set at rest by 

 Messrs. Bennett and Woods ; the former gentleman 

 having, at a meeting of the Zoological Society of 

 London in 1832, exhibited one of these claw-like 

 appendages which had been previously removed from 

 the tail of a lion then living in the society's menagerie, 

 Regent' Park. This claw is about the third of an inch 

 long, solid throughout the greater part of its extent, 

 sharp at the apex, and slightly hollowed out at the 

 base. Its function has been supposed to be connected 

 with a lashing of the tail for the purpose of stimulating 

 anger ; but in our view it is more probably concerned 

 in the action of scratching out or combing hair where 

 portions of the fur have been accidentally matted 

 together. Be that as it may, its existence is a remark- 

 able fact ; and what perhaps is still more strange, is, 

 that its presence has recently received confirmation 

 from a source of authority far more ancient than the 

 oft-quoted statements of Didymus of Alexandria, who 

 flourished forty years prior to the Christian era. The 

 Assyrian sculptures plainly aver that the lion-hunting 

 people of that early period, some seven hundred years 

 before Christ, were well acquainted with this horny 

 development, seeing that their artists have faithfully 

 depicted it on the imperishable monuments of their 

 ancient might ! Strange, we repeat, that the elucida- 

 tion of a long-disputed point in natural history and 

 science, should at length receive assistance and con- 

 firmation from the disinterred memorials of a by-past 

 race of a people who bred and reared lions expressly 

 for the chase and other kinds of sports ! " Let the 

 spectator," says M. Bonomi, in his attractive volume 

 entitled, " Nineveh and its Palaces," " now examine 

 these interesting sculptures, and consider for himself 

 the 'Various attitudes of the dead and dying lions, 

 what a familiarity with the result of the various wounds 



each separate example displays ! How this lioness, 

 wounded in the spinal cord, drags her paralyzed hinder 

 quarters after her ! How that lion, wounded in the 

 eye, puts up his paw with agony to the spot ! How 

 another, pierced with four arrows, is staggering in the 

 last convulsion ! How yet another, wounded in the 

 brain, has fallen over on his back ! How this one, 

 wounded in the lungs, stops to pour out the life-stream ! 

 And lastly, how certain it is that the king and his 

 court, and the inhabitants of Nineveh in general, must 

 have been familiar with such exhibitions to have 

 required so many cruel details at the hand of the 

 artist ! " These and other records also testify that in 

 early times lions were extremely numerous in the 

 eastern parts of Asia ; and we also learn from Hero- 

 dotus that they formerly existed in Europe, the 

 baggage camels of Xerxes' army being, we are told, 

 attacked in their march from Acanthus towards that 

 part of Turkey now called Salonica. But in modern 

 times it is to Africa that the lion-hunter directs his 

 steps. Accordingly we have of late years, especially, 

 received important additions to our knowledge of the 

 instincts and habits of the lion ; and it is now pretty 

 well understood that the noble qualities ascribed to 

 this beast by Buffon and his copyists, have existed only 

 in their imaginations, since, on the contrary, it has 

 been continually shown, that the lion, like the tiger, is 

 ever ready to take advantage of a comparatively weak 

 and unguarded prey, and by the execution of a mo- 

 mentary dash, to bring it to the ground. A full- 

 grown lion weighs from thirty-five to nearly forty 

 stone ; consequently few animals can resist the fearful 

 crash of such a weight falling upon them unawares. 

 Except when pressed for food, the lion is certainly a 

 rather lazy and indolent beast ; but this unwillingness 

 to commit havoc for the mere pleasure of the sport, 

 does not entitle it to receive the character of being 

 brave, noble, or magnanimous qualities which it 

 assuredly does not possess. If we turn our attention 

 to the testimony of eminent and distinguished travellers, 

 what do we find ? Sparrman mentions the case of a 

 farmer, named Jacob Kok, who, " when walking over 

 his lands with his loaded gun, unexpectedly met a 

 lion. Being an excellent shot, he thought himself 

 pretty certain, from the position in which he was, of 

 killing it, and, therefore, fired his piece. Unfortunately 

 he did not recollect that the charge had been in it for 

 some time, and consequently was damp; so that his 

 piece hung fire, and the ball, falling short, entered the 

 ground close to the lion. In consequence of this he 

 was seized with a panic, and took directly to his heels ; 

 but, being soon out of breath, and closely pursued by 

 the lion, he jumped on a little heap of stones, and there 

 made a stand, presenting the but-end of his gun to his 

 adversary, fully resolved to defend his life as well as 

 he could to the utmost. This deportment had such 

 an effect on his pursuer, that he also made a stand, 

 and lay down at a distance of a few paces from the 

 heap of stones, seemingly quite unconcerned. Jacob, 

 in the meantime, did not stir from the spot ; besides, 

 he had in his flight unfortunately dropped his powder- 

 horn. At length, after waiting a good half hour, the 

 lion rose up, and at first went very slowly, and step by 



