CARNIVORA. 
17 
the thinking, ever anxious to discover the object to 
be attained by the means employed, are led into idle 
speculation on the works of the Creator ; and are 
obliged at last to confess, that, although in the 
aggregate there is abundance to show, that his mercy 
is over all his works, yet, when examined in detail, 
his economy is sometimes partially obscure. 
It may be necessary once more to observe, that a 
long description will not be given of those animals, 
which are represented in the plates ; that the figures 
form the principal object of this work ; and that the 
descriptions are rather intended to illustrate them, 
than the figures to illustrate the descriptions. To 
these, therefore, we refer. 
There appear to be at least three distinct varieties 
of the lion ; viz. the African, which is much the most 
common ; the Asiatic, and the black-maned lions. 
The first of these is represented in the vignette, 
and a figure of each of the other varieties will be 
given hereafter. The observations immediately fol- 
lowing may be considered applicable to the species in 
general. 
The period of gestation of the lioness is about 
four months, and the young, when first born, are 
very small in proportion to their adult size. They 
arrive at maturity in about five years, and are then 
nearly eight feet in the length of the body, with a tail 
of about four feet. If we judge from the length of 
their nonage, and from their size and general con- 
stitution, as observed by Buffon, it should seem pro- 
bable, that the average life of this animal does not 
c 
