THE WHITE OR SILVER LIONS. , G9 



THE WHITE OR SILVER LIONS, 



IN MR. CROSS'S MENAGERY, ROYAL MEWS, CHARING-CROSS. 



The lion is the noblest and most formidable animal of the cat tribe. In length it is from six to eight 

 feet, and its tail, which is terminated by a tuft of black hair, is in itself about four feet long. The 

 general colour of the body is a pale tawny, inclining to white beneath ; but in the species now under 

 our consideration, the colour is a silvery white, the mane partaking of a fulvous hue, and the tuft at 

 the^termination of the tail a jet black. The claws are retractile, not into sheaths but into the intervals 

 between the toes, by means of a particular articulation of the last joint. The last bone but one by 

 bending itself outward gives place to the last, which is only articulated to it, and to which the claw 

 is fastened so as to bend itself upward and sideways more easily than downward ; from which results, 

 that the bone which is at the end of every toe being almost continually bent upward, the point which 

 rests upon the ground is not the extremity of the toe, but the node of the articulation of the two last 

 bones, and thus in walking the claws remain elevated and retracted between the toes, whose last joint 

 bends only downward, because this toe does not naturally rest upon the ground, being considerably 

 smaller than the others. The lioness is generally about three-fourths the size of the lion. 



The animals now under our consideration are natives of Senegal, and are a most interesting species 

 of the tribe. In grandeur and nobility they cannot be said to come up to the lion of central Africa, 

 nor of Asia, and in some other of their exterior characteristics they bear a very faint resemblance. 

 The mane of the silver lion is by no means so long or shaggy as that of the common lion ; on the 

 contrary, it is much shorter and more curly ; nor does it surround the head with that profusion which 

 imparts such a dignified appearance to the aspect of the other animal. There is also in its look a 

 degree of greater mildness and placidity, although its tremendous strength impresses the beholder 

 with no very pleasing sense of what his situation would be, were he to be exposed to the ungoverned 

 and formidable power of the animal. 



There seems to be no doubt that in those places where mankind have made the greatest advances 

 towards civilization, the lion has lost much of his native boldness and ferocity. Experience seems to 

 have taught him, that in cunning and resources he is inferior to man ; and he therefore seldom attacks 

 the human race unless forced to it by the imperious calls of hunger. The lion has often been 

 brought from his native forests into Europe, and he generally appears the principal character in all 

 the metropolitan and itinerant menageries. When taken young, he is capable of being made very 

 gentle and tractable, and when brought up among domestic animals, he is easily accustomed to live 

 and even to sport occasionally with them. He is gentle and caressing to his master, and if he some- 

 times resumes his natural ferocity, he seldom turns his rage against his benefactors. When led into 

 captivity he discovers symptoms of uneasiness without anger or peevishness ; and in time he as- 

 sumes the habits of gentleness, obeys his master, and sometimes spares the animals that are thrown to 

 him for prey. He has been known to live peaceably with them ; to afford them part of his food, and 

 even to want food himself, rather than deprive them of that life which he generously had once spared. 

 An instance of this might be adduced in the story of the dog who was put into the cage of a lion 

 in the menagery at the Tower some years ago for food ; the stately animal, however, spared his life, 

 and they lived together for a considerable time in the same den, in the most perfect harmony, and 

 appeared to entertain a great affection for each other. The dog had sometimes the impudence to 



