12 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
racteristic, the habitual position and direction of their 
heads, that of the Lion being almost uniformly elevated 
and thrown upwards with an air of mingled frankness 
and hauteur, agreeing well with the popular notions of 
his tranquil dignity of temper and deportment; while 
the Lioness as constantly carries her head on a level 
with the line of her back, thus giving to her otherwise 
expressive countenance a sullen and downcast look, and 
evincing a nearer approach to the inferior races of the 
feline tribe. This singular distinction appears to be in 
a great measure dependent on the absence of the mane ; 
for it is observed that the young male cubs, until the 
period at which this badge of dignity begins to make its 
appearance, that is to say until they are about twelve 
months old, carry their heads in the same level position 
with the female. 
It cannot be doubted that the lighter and slenderer 
shape of the Lioness, and her consequently greater acti- 
vity, tend in an especial manner to the formation of that 
more lively and sensitive character by which all her 
actions are so strongly marked: but there is another 
cause, no less powerful than these, which operates with 
peculiar force, in the vivid excitability of her maternal 
feelings, which she cherishes with an ardour almost 
unparalleled in the history of any other animal. From 
the moment that she becomes a mother, the native 
ferocity of her disposition is renovated as it were with 
‘tenfold vigour; she watches over her young with that 
undefined dread of danger to their weak and defenceless 
state, and that suspicious eagerness of alarm, which keep 
her in a constant state of feverish excitation: and woe 
be to the wretched intruder, whether man or beast, who 
