64 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

length ; the general colour tawny, inclining to white beneath ;
the head is very large; the ears rounded; the face covered
with short hair, while the upper part of the head, the neck,
and shoulders are coated with long shaggy hair, which forms
a mane; the tail is tufted with black. Neither the mane
nor the tuft on the tail are fully developed, till the animal
is six or seven years old. The female is smaller, destitute
of a mane, and whiter underneath.

The lion, like the rest of the feline tribe, sleeps during the
day, his eyes not being formed for strong light. As night
sets in, he rouses from his lair, and begins his search for
prey, when his roar resembles distant thunder, putting to
flight every animal within hearing. Tis strength is pro-
digious, enabling him to carry off a buffalo or antelope with
the greatest ease, and his teeth are so strong, that he
breaks their bones without difficulty; the tongue, as in
other feline animals, is covered with reversed prickles, which,
in the lion, are strong enough to tear the skin; and the
muscles belonging to the jaw, as well as those which support
the head, are very strongly developed. The lioness has only
one brood in the year, generally from two to four in number,
which she nurses with great care and assiduity. The usual
period of a lion’s life is supposed to be about twenty-two