. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . nose, extends backwards over his shoulders, and gracefully undulates oneach side of his face and neck. A third is, a long and blackish tuft of hairswhich terminates his tail. In size, the Asiatic lion rarely equals the south-ern African. He is of a more uniform and pale yellow, and has a peculiarappendage in the long hairs which begin beneath the neck, and occupy thewhole of the middle line of the body below. The lioness has no mane, is of smaller size than the
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . nose, extends backwards over his shoulders, and gracefully undulates oneach side of his face and neck. A third is, a long and blackish tuft of hairswhich terminates his tail. In size, the Asiatic lion rarely equals the south-ern African. He is of a more uniform and pale yellow, and has a peculiarappendage in the long hairs which begin beneath the neck, and occupy thewhole of the middle line of the body below. The lioness has no mane, is of smaller size than the lion, more slenderlyand delicately made, and more graceful and agile in her movements. Thehead of the lion is almost uniformly elevated; that of the lioness is almostuniformly carried on a level with the line of her back, which gives her asullen and downcast look. The period of gestation is a hundred and eightdays. Th 2 young are born with the eyes open; but the ear does not be-como cc npletely erect for two months. The lion arrives at maturity mfive years, and is then nearly eight feet long. MAMMALIA—LION. 1G9 THE CAPE There are two varieties of this species, which, from their color, particu-larly of the manes, are designated by the settlers, as the pals and the blacklion. The latter of these is the larger and more ferocious of the two, andis occasionally found of the enormous length of eight feet from the tip of thenose to the origin of the tail. The tail is usually about half the length ofthe body. The pale variety is the more common. The colonists at the Cape bear the lion a deadly hatred for the mischiefwhich he does to them, particularly in the destruction of their horses, forthe flesh of which he seems to have an especial liking. Being excellentmarksmen, they will almost attack him singly; but the more common modeof attacking him is by hunting parties. The hunting of an African lion is described with infinite spirit by MrPringle, who was a settler on the eastern
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidnaturalistsl, bookyear1851
