DIFFERENT SPECIES OF " LEO." 803 



time I have only been able to distinguish it with certainty because 

 it is heard during the day, and the ostrich's during the night." 



Lions were formerly common enough in all Southern Asia, Persia, 

 Asia Minor, and even Greece. They long ago disappeared from these 

 countries, and are rarely met with now-a-days in Hindostan. The 

 Indian lion is smaller than his African congener ; his mane is shorter 

 and less abundant, and several naturalists signalize him as a distinct 

 species, intermediary between the true African lion and the American 

 puma. There are three varieties of Asiatic lions : the Bengal, the 

 Persian or Arabian, and the maneless lion of Goojerat the latter 

 confined to a very narrow district. The African " king of beasts " is 

 spread over the entire continent from the Mediterranean to the Cape 

 of Good Hope ; but the species includes three kinds : the Barbary 

 lion, with a deep yellowish-brown fur and a full flowing mane ; the 

 Senegal, whose fur is of a brighter yellow, and whose mane thinner : 

 and the Cape, of which there are two varieties, one brown, the other 

 yellowish ; the former being the fiercer and more powerful animal. 



A lion of the largest size measures about eight feet from the nose 

 to the tail, and the tail itself about four feet. The male has usually 

 a thick shaggy mane ; the head is large, with rounded ears, and the 

 face covered with short close hair ; great strength and muscular force 

 distinguish his conformation ; and the tail terminates in a tuft 

 of hair, which is not fully developed until he is six or seven years old. 



In Africa the lion has for his fellows the Leopard and the Panther. 

 Many writers at one time confounded these two Felidse, and even 

 classified them with the Indian tiger. For the vulgar, every 

 great cat with a spotted skin is a tiger. But scientific naturalists 

 neither apply this name to the American jaguar nor to other spotted 

 Felidse of the Old or New World ; and it is with difficulty they 

 now agree to recognize in the Leopard and the Panther two ill-defined 

 varieties of the same species. Assuredly they exhibit very marked 

 differences. The Leopard is nearly as large as the lion ; his limbs are 

 robust, his head is strong. From nose to tail he measures four feet, 

 his tail is two feet and a half long, and his body so flexible that he 



