120 Felid^. MAMMALIA. Felid^. 
peninsula of Cutcli. In all probability there is but 
one true species of lion, and this in general is charac- 
terized by the possession of a uniformly tawny or 
yellowish-ruddy fur, the tail presenting a bushy tuft of 
long black hairs at the tip. The male is also furnished 
with a large flowing mane, which covers the back part 
of the head, as well as the entire neck, extending 
over the shoulders to a greater or less extent. The 
young are frecpiently marked with roundish spots and 
dark stripes along the back. Curiously banded hybrids 
have also been occasionally produced by associating 
the lion with the tigress. In our introductory obser- 
vations on the Carnivora, we have already dwelt on 
the structure of the skeleton of this most highly 
developed type of the order, and in our remarks on the 
Felidae proper, we have been careful to illustrate the 
distinguishing characteristics common to the lion and 
its allies ; but there still remains an apparently trifling 
matter which has given rise to much controversy, and 
cannot therefore be passed unnoticed. We allude to 
the occasional presence of a corneous thorn-like prickle 
developed at the extremity of the lion’s tail. For a 
long period we remained sceptical as to the genuine 
character of this peculiar dermal process, conceiving it 
to be a merely accidental thickening or induration of 
the caudal integument, and serving no particular pur- 
pose in the economy of this animal’s habits. The 
question has, however, been fairly set at rest by 
Messrs. Bennett and Woods; the former gentleman 
having, at a meeting of the Zoological Society of 
London in 1832, exhibited one of these claw-like 
appendages which had been previously removed from 
the tail of a lion then living in the society’s menagerie. 
Regent’ Park. This claw is about the third of an inch 
long, solid throughout the greater part of its extent, 
sharp at the apex, and slightly hollowed out at the 
base. Its function has been supposed to be connected 
with a lashing of the tail for the purpose of stimulating 
anger ; but in our view it is more probably concerned 
in the action of scratching out or combing hair where 
portions of the fur have been accidentally matted 
together. Be that as it may, its existence is a remark- 
able fact ; and what perhaps is still more strange, is, 
that its presence has recently received confirmation 
from a source of authority far more ancient than the 
oft-quoted statements of Didymus of Alexandria, who 
flourished forty years prior to the Christian era. The 
Assyrian sculptures plainly aver that the lion-hunting 
people of that early period, some seven hundred years 
before Christ, were well acquainted with this horny 
development, seeing that their artists have faithfully 
depicted it on the imperishable monuments of their 
ancient might ! Strange, we repeat, that the elucida- 
tion of a long-disputed point in natural history and 
science, should at length receive assistance and con- 
firmation from the disinterred memorials of a by-past 
race — of a people who bred and reared lions expressly 
for the chase and other kinds of sports ! “ Let the 
spectator,” says M. Boiiomi, in his attractive volume 
entitled, “ Nineveh and its Palaces,” “ now examine 
these interesting sculptures, and consider for himself 
the various attitudes of the dead and dying lions, 
what a firmiliarity with the result of the various w'ounds 
each separate example displays ! How this lioness, 
wounded in the spinal cord, drags her paralyzed hinder 
quarters after her ! How that lion, wounded in the 
eye, puts up his paw with agony to the spot ! How 
another, pierced with four arrows, is staggering in the 
last convulsion ! How yet another, wounded in the 
brain, has fallen over on his back ! How this one, 
wounded in the lungs, stops to pour out the life-stream ! 
And lastly, how certain it is that the king and his 
court, and the inhabitants of Nineveh in general, must 
have been familiar with such exhibitions to have 
required so manj'- cruel details at the hand of the 
artist ! ” These and other records also testifj' that in 
early times lions were extremely numerous in the 
eastern parts of Asia ; and we also learn from Hero- 
dotus that they formerly existed in Europe, the 
baggage camels of Xerxes’ army being, we are told, 
attacked in their march from Acanthus towards that 
part of Turkey now called Salonica. But in modern 
times it is to Africa that the lion-hunter directs his 
steps. Accordingly we have of late years, especially, 
received Important additions to our knowledge of the 
instincts and habits of the lion ; and it is now pretty 
well understood that the noble qualities ascribed to 
this beast by Buffon and his copyists, have existed only 
in their imaginations, since, on the contrary, it has 
been continually shown, tliat the lion, like the tiger, is 
ever ready to take advantage of a comparatively weak 
and unguarded prey, and bj' the execution of a mo- 
mentary dash, to bring it to the ground. A full- 
grown lion weighs from thirty-five to nearly forty 
stone ; consequently few animals can resist the fearful 
crash of such a weight falling upon them unawares. 
Except when pressed for food, the lion is certainly a 
rather lazy and indolent beast ; but this unwillingness 
to commit havoc for the mere pleasure of the sport, 
does not entitle it to receive the character of being 
brave, noble, or magnanimous — qualities which it 
assuredly does not possess. If we turn our attention 
to the testimony of eminent and distinguished travellers, 
what do we find ? Sparrman mentions the case of a 
farmer, named Jacob Kok, who, “when walking over 
his lands with his loaded gun, unexpectedly met a 
lion. Being an excellent shot, he thought himself 
pretty certain, from the position in which he was, of 
killing it, and, therefore, fired his piece. Unfortunately 
he did not recollect that the charge had been in it for 
some time, and consequently was damp; so that his 
piece hung fire, and the ball, falling short, entered the 
ground close to the lion. In consequence of this he 
was seized with a panic, and took directly to his heels ; 
but, being soon out of breath, and closely pursued by 
the lion, he jumped on a little heap of stones, and there 
made a stand, presenting the but-end of his gun to his 
adversary, fully resolved to defend his life as well as 
he could to the utmost. This deportment had such 
an effect on his pursuer, that he also made a stand, 
and lay down at a distance of a few paces from the 
heap of stones, seemingly quite unconcerned. Jacob, 
in the meantime, did not stir from the spot ; besides, 
he had in his flight unfortunately dropped his powder- 
horn. At length, after waiting a good half hour, the 
lion rose up, and at first went very slowly, and step by 
