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ha ve been divided ; some asserting that the lioness 
went with young six months, and others but two. 
The time also of their growth and their age have 
hitherto been left in obscurity ; some assert- 
ing that they acquired their full growth in 
three years, and others, that they required & 
longer period to come to perfection ; some say- 
ing, (and among this number is M. Buffon) that 
they lived to but twenty or twenty-two years at 
most ; others making their lives even of shorter 
duration. All these doubts are now reduced to 
a certainty ; for we have had several of these 
animals bred in the tower ; so that the manner 
of their copulation, the time of their gestation, 
the number they bring forth, and the time they 
take to come to perfection, are all pretty well 
known. Although the lion emits his urine back- 
wards, yet he couples in the ordinary manner ; 
and, as was said before, his internal structure in 
almost every respect resembles that of a cat. 
The lioness, however, is upon these occasions 
particularly fierce, and often wounds the lion 
in a terrible manner. She goes with young no 
more than five months ; the young ones, which 
are never more than two in number, when 
brought forth, are about the size of a large 
pug dog, harmless, pretty, and playful ; they 
continue the teat for twelve months, and the ani- 
mal is more than five years in coming to perfec- 
tion. As toils age, from its imprisoned state, we 
can have no certainty ; since it is very probable 
that, being deprived of its natural climate, food, 
and exercise, its life must be very much abridged. 
However, naturalists have hitherto been greatly 
mistaken as to the length of its existence. The 
great lion called Pompey, which died in the 
year 1760, was known to have been in the tower 
for above seventy years; and one lately died 
