64 
THE STORY OF THE LION . 
members of the family by the long hair growing on the head, neck, and 
shoulders of the males to form the flowing mane. This mane varies in size 
and color in different individuals, but, contrary to what has often been stated, 
is seen on Indian as well as on African lions. Frequently the long hair of 
the mane is continued as a fringe down the middle line of the belly. Another 
distinctive characteristic of the male lion is the brush of long hair at the tip 
of the tail. In the middle of this brush of hair, at the very extremity of 
the tail, is a small horny appendage surrounded by a tuft. Much speculation 
has been indulged in as to the use of this so-called “thorn” in the lion’s tail. 
One old story says that it is employed to rouse the animal to fury when the tail 
is lashed against the flanks. 
The hair on the remainder of the body of the male lion, and on both 
the head and bodv in the female, is short and close. In the adults of both 
sexes the color of the body-hair is the well-known yellowish-brown, or tawny, 
but the tint varies in different individuals. The long hair of the male’s mane 
may vary from tawny to> a blackish-brown. Young lion-cubs are marked with 
transverse dark stripes running down the sides of the body, and likewise by 
a single stripe of similar tint along the middle of the back. The mane of 
the male does not make its appearance till the animal is about three years 
of age, and continues to grow until the age of about six years. The full 
length of a lion’s life does not appear known, but it has been ascertained 
that they will live to thirty, and it is said even till forty years. 
For a long period it was considered that the Indian lion differed from its 
African relative by the total absence of the mane in the male, which was 
regarded as indicating a distinct species. Owing to the differences in the 
length and color of the manes of African lions from, different districts, it was 
likewise held that there were two< or more species in Africa. It, however, 
has been definitely settled that such variations are not constant, and that 
there is but a single species. Although it may be that some adult specimens 
of the Indian lion are maneless, yet well-maned examples have been killed, 
while those which were stated to prove the existence of a maneless race are 
now known to have been not full grown. 
With regard to the variations of the African lion, the Dutch hunters main¬ 
tain the existence of from, three to four distinct species. 
For my part, I cannot see that there is any reason for supposing that 
more than one species exists, and as out of fifty male lion skins scarcely two> 
will be found exactly alike in the color and length of the mane, I think it 
would be as reasonable to suppose that there are twenty species as three. The 
