In ancient times they were known in Greece, but civiliza¬ 
tion has long since driven them out of Europe. 
As with all animals whose wide range of distribution ex¬ 
poses them to many different climates and kinds of food, 
under the action of which, with other conditions, they are 
apt to vary more or less, the lion of different parts differs 
much in appearance, chiefly in color and thickness of mane, 
but as these variations are indefinite and do not involve the 
slightest change of structure, they are looked on as being of 
no specific importance. 
The lion reaches maturity at about eight years of age. A 
full grown male should be from ten to ten and a half feet 
long, including the tail, and should weigh about four hun¬ 
dred pounds. Mr. F. C. Selous, the famous hunter and ex¬ 
plorer of South Africa, states that wild lions rarely grow as 
large and luxuriant manes as those kept in menageries. 
The Tiger {FeKs tigris)j among the cats, is the sole 
rival of the lion, in strength and size. Its range is much 
more restricted, as it is never found outside of Asia, where its 
principal home is in Hindostan and the adjacent islands, 
though it is sparingly found in Siberia on the north, and 
through China into Korea on the north-east. Tigers from 
the cold regions of northern Asia have fur almost as long and 
thick as that of the well-known Persian cats. 
The male and female tiger are similar in appearance, and 
have been beautifully adapted by nature for the purpose of 
stealing unobserved upon their prey; the tawny yellow ol 
their skin, striped with vertical bars of black, blending so 
perfectly with the jungle of canes and bamboos, among which 
they live, that it is almost impossible to detect their presence 
until revealed by motion, when it is usually too late for the 
startled victim to escape. 
Eleven feet in extreme length, with a weight of four hun¬ 
dred and fifty pounds, would be the dimensions of a very 
large tiger. 
The Leopard (Felis pardus) has much the same distri¬ 
bution as the lion, and varies almost to the same extent. 
The Black Leopard is a rare and beautiful animal, but is 
merely a color variety of the common form ; animals of both 
colors being found, as is stated, in the same litter. 
Among the members of the cat family now found in a wild 
