FEL 



dry, and other tangible qualities. This 

 sense is the coarsest, but, at the same 

 time, the surest of all others ; it is be- 

 sides the most universal. We see and 

 hear with small portions of our bodies, but 

 we feel with all. Nature has bestowed 

 that general sensation wherever there are 

 nerves, and they are every where, where 

 there is life. Were it otherwise, the 

 parts divested of it might be destroyed 

 without our knowledge. It seems that 

 upon this account, nature has provided 

 that this sensation should not require a 

 particular organization. The structure 

 of the nervous papillae is not absolutely 

 necessary to it. The lips of a fresh 

 wound, the periosteum, and the tendons, 

 when uncovered, are extremely sensible 

 without them. These nervous extremi- 

 ties serve only to the perfection of feel- 

 ing, and to diversify sensation. Feeling 

 is the basis of all other sensations. 



FELAPTON, in logic, one of the six 

 moods of the third figure of syllogisms, 

 ^wherein the first proposition is an uni- 

 versal negative, the second an universal 

 affirmative, and the third a particular ne- 

 gative. 



FEUS, the cat, in natural history, a 

 genus of Mammalia, of the order Ferae. 

 Generic character : six foreteeth, inter- 

 mediate ones equal, three grinders on 

 each side ; tongue prickly backwards ; 

 claws retractile. Animals of this com- 

 prehensive class never unite in compa- 

 nies for mutual defence, but accomplish 

 their ferocious and bloody purposes with 

 solitary energy. They are swift and 

 strong, have many of them a peculiar fa- 

 cility in climbing trees, and fulling from 

 any considerable height, alight on their 

 feet. They spring on their prey with 

 the suddenness of lightning, and suck its 

 blood before they devour it. They will 

 eat vegetables only when other food is 

 not within their reach. They are prin- 

 cipally distinguished by their large and 

 pointed claws, which are lodged in a 

 sheath, and protruded or withdrawn at 

 pleasure. The numerous species of this 

 genus differ extremely in size and in co- 

 lour, but in form and character possess a 

 family resemblance, and are crafty, fierce, 

 and sanguinary. There are twenty-three 

 species, of which we shall notice those 

 which follow. 



F. leo, or the lion. This*is the largest 

 species of the Felis genus, and has occa- 

 sionally been known to measure eight feet 

 in length, exclusively of its tail, which is 

 about three or four. Its colour is of a 

 pale tawny, and the male possesses an 



FEL 



extremely full and flowing mane. The 

 female is destitute of this, and is consi- 

 derably smaller than the male. It has 

 been known to live, in a state of confine- 

 ment, to the age of sixty-three or seven- 

 ty years, though, from a philosophical ex- 

 amination of its general structure, it 

 would be concluded that its average du- 

 ration would not exceed twenty-five. 

 The parental affection of the lioness is 

 extreme : in support of her young she 

 braves the most formidable dangers, and 

 is wrought up to a pitch of agitation and 

 exertion, which render her, in such cir- 

 cumstances, a more terrible adversary 

 than the lion himself. She produces her 

 young in the most remote and sequester- 

 ed situations, and to provide for their 

 wants, engages in the most rapid excur- 

 sions, and most daring attacks, returning 

 to her cubs with the fruit of her toils and 

 dangers, with the most impatient impe- 

 tuosity, and feeding them with the yet 

 convulsed members of her prey. It is re- 

 ported, by some authors, that she endea- 

 vours, occasionally, to obscure the track 

 to her den, by brushing out the marks of 

 it with her tail, and when suspicious of 

 particular danger to her young, will re- 

 move them in her mouth to a place of 

 greater security, with looks of unutter- 

 able menace and antipathy at any crea- 

 ture, however formidable, which may 

 shew the slightest disposition to impede 

 her progress. She produces but one lit- 

 ter, consisting of four or five in number, 

 in the year. These are at first extremely 

 small, little exceeding the size of a half 

 grown kitten, and they are five years in 

 attaining their full growth. 



The lion is found in the warmer re- 

 gions of Asia, but attains his highest per- 

 fection in the interior of Africa. His 

 strength is such, that with a single stroke 

 of his paw he has broken the back of a 

 horse, and he has been known, not un- 

 frequently, to carry off a young buffalo 

 between his teeth. He rarely engages in 

 full daylight in the pursuit of prey, but 

 on the approach of night quits his habita-, 

 tion, and with a roar which can be re- 

 sembled only to a peal of thunder, and 

 overwhelms the other inhabitants of the 

 wilderness or forest with consternation, 

 commences his career of havock. His 

 sense of smell is far from being acute, and 

 he depends in the chase only upon actual 

 sight or probable inference. He fre- 

 quently consumes at one repast sufficient 

 to satisfy him for two or three days ; he 

 breaks the bones of the buffalo with per- 

 fect ease, and frequency swaJlows them ; 



