HABITS AND HAIR OF CARNIVORES 97 



back is made clear, theory of origin apart. And I submit that 

 the presence of it in this region in this animal is a stamp of his 

 persistently ferocious nature, as much as the various peculiarities 

 of arrangement of hair on man's eyebrows in a previous chapter 

 are of the mental and moral habits of the individual man. As 

 rulers of old used, in their genial fashion, to brand a supposed or 

 actual criminal on his shoulder or forehead, so is the lion branded 

 with an hereditary mark of his nature and the past life of himself 

 and his ancestors. I doubt not that if short-haired terriers were 

 living a wild life among numerous foes their bristling hair would 

 have become fixed in a similar fashion. I would only here draw 

 the attention of the reader to the fact that this reversed area of 

 hair on the lion's back cannot be held to add to the general fright- 

 fulness of the possessor. It would be invisible to an approaching 

 foe, as it lies hidden behind the great head and mane. This 

 pattern on the lion's back will be referred to later in a somewhat 

 different connection. 



H 



