18 
CARNIVORA. 
exceed twenty-five years ; though it has been said, 
that some have been kept in a state of confinement 
for nearly three times this period. The mane ap- 
pears to increase as the lion advances in age, and 
not to depend for its growth on that of the animal. 
The female is without it altogether. The lion laps 
in drinking, but turns the tongue downwards, con- 
trariwise to the dog. 
The characters of the lion and the tiger have 
been of late considered as perfectly similar. This 
assertion, contradicted by the ancients and early 
moderns, has wholly arisen from some remarks made 
by travellers to the Cape. No doubt, where si- 
milar appetites, similar propensities, similar means, 
and similar circumstances occur, a great similarity 
of character must be found. Although individuals 
are observed to be more undaunted and ferocious, 
in proportion to the increased distance at which 
they may be found from the habitations of mankind, 
more especially the civilized races, yet the lion, 
when compared with the tiger, is a noble animal ; 
he possesses more confidence, and more real courage ; 
he likewise differs in his permanent attachment to his 
mate, and protection of his young ; while the tiger 
shows no partiality beyond the period of heat in the 
female, and is himself frequently the first and greatest 
enemy to his own offspring. The former of these 
traits of character is substantiated by a great variety 
of authors and testimonies, and denied only by the 
assertion of the colonists of the Cape, who report 
that the lion, when he fancies himself unperceived. 
