, u CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



victim. In the middle <>f tin- foot, in all the oat tribe, there is also placed a large ball or pail, in live 

 |urt>. formed ..f an elastic- substance, intermediate in structure between cartilage and tendon ; and at 

 the Uise of each toe is a similar pad. Meanwhile, the surface of the foot is furry; and, therefore, no 

 meelmnism for a stealthy progress can be more complete. 



illy well adapted are the organs of vision for the capture of prey by night. In the strong 

 li.,'M of .lay, the iris of the domestic cat is contracted, so that a very small quantity of light is admitted 

 to'tliis mirror; but in the twilight the iris opens, and then, the mirror being completely exposed, the 

 ,-ye glares in a m inner with which we are all familiar. The eye of the cat tribe is, therefore, so con- 

 structed as to collect, in one focus, whatever rays of light there may be; and few places are so dark 

 but that some light may be found. An eye thus peculiar is necessary to the lion to perceive his prey ; 

 and he creeps towards it with a certainty which nothing but this distinct nocturnal vision could give. 



The claws of the domestic cat do not touch the ground when it walks, and yet they are capable 

 of extension for the seizure of prey. This is a peculiar and most remarkable property of all the cat 



rig. i. "swadw* rig. 2. 



I.Il.S's l.'l.AW SIIKATIIKD AND fSSHEATHED. 



tribe. At play with his mate or his cubs, the lion uses an unarmed paw, which the engraving (Fig. 1.) 

 exhibits, showing one of the toes with the claws sheathed, the hair being a little thrown back, so as 

 to leave the point visible, which would otherwise be quite covered. But it becomes a formidable 

 weapon when the claw is unsheathed, as in the act of striking, as it is represented in the engraving 

 (Fig. ), for, by a single blow, the lion can rip up the side of a horse or a buffalo. The engravings 

 also show the pads with which the toes are furnished ; and as, to preserve the points of the claws 

 constantly sharp, it is necessary they should not rub on the surface of the ground, they are always 

 directed with their points upwards, and sunk in the hair on the upper surface of the toes. 



The flexibility of the lion's vertebral column allows him to throw himself on his prey with 

 prodigious swiftness, by the exercise of this muscular power ; and so great, indeed, is it that the com 

 prcssion of the muscles on the principal artery of the shoulder would derange the lion's system, were 

 the disaster not provided against by a most singular and beautiful expedient. The bone of the shoulder 

 is perforated in the lion tribe, to give a more direct course to this artery, that it may not be com- 

 pre.ssed by the muscles when called into extraordinary action by the violence with which the prey 

 is seized. The muscles of the lion's fore leg are also unusually firm. Flexible as are the joints of the 

 larger species of the cat tribe, they are knit together by the remarkable strength of the muscles ; and 

 no other provision would at once produce that pliancy and firmness which particularly characterise the 

 limbs of the lion in the act of seizing his victim, and give both a grace and a power to all his ordi- 

 nary movements. 



The weight of the lion's body, as compared with his size, is very remarkable; and this is produced 

 by the extraordinary density of his muscles, and the compactness of his principal bones. Great is the 

 force, then-fore, with which he must alight after a bound of fifteen or twenty feet. The compensation 

 ag.iinst the jar produced by such a leap is remarkable. The lion's foot has nearly as many bones as 

 tin- human, and, in like manner, they are arranged into a great number of joints, so as to produce the 



required, 



Jiut as the cat tribe are exposed, from their modes of life, to much more violent jars upon the foot 

 than man, so are they furnished with a peculiar provision still further to break the force of a fall or a 

 leap. I n the domttl i<- eat, we constantly observe the natural facility with which such creatures balance 

 themselves when sprin<.'ing from a height, so that it is said "a cat will always fall on its feet." The 

 power ot balancing themselves, whether leaping to or from an elevation, is, in some degree, produced 



