Lion

the largest and most powerful animal of the cat family. A well grown male measures about nine feet from the end of the nose to the end of the tail, the tail being about one-third of the total length. The male is of a tawny yellowish color, and may be distinguished from the female or lioness by its greater size, and by a shaggy, flowing mane which imparts an appearance of great majesty and strength. The lion has a powerful muscular frame and a large head with an intelligent, almost human face. It carries itself in a proud, fearless way that has gained for it the well merited name "king of the beasts." It is preeminently a hunter. It has the eyes and claws of a cat. It keeps the hours of a cat. It stalks its prey like a cat, springing upon antelopes and even giraffes with a terrific roar. It will not touch carrion unless driven by excessive hunger. Dr. Livingstone's Travels, and DuChaillu's Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa give many authentic anecdotes of the way the lion hunts and is hunted. Speaking of the lion's roar, the former makes the remarkable assertion that it can be told from the call of the ostrich only by the fact that it is heard at night.

If remains in the floors of limestone caverns are to be credited, the lion ranged over half of Europe. Within historical times, it was common in the Mediterranean countries of Europe and in Asia Minor, Egypt, and the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. The lion is now seldom found, however, north of the Sahara. A few lions are still found in Arabia, Persia, and India. They are smaller than the African lion. The male is almost without a mane. He is altogether an inferior looking animal. There appear to be two species. The Boer settlers found great numbers of the African lion in the Cape region, but their rifles have exterminated both the lion and the wild game on which it fed. The region of the world in which lions are now most numerous is said to be the vicinity of Mount Kilimanjaro, southern Abyssinia, and Uganda.

The lioness brings forth from two to four spotted whelps. Great care is taken to make a grassy lair deep in some thicket surrounded by a jungle of cane, grape vines, and thorns. Formerly, when a lion was desired for a menagerie, a pit was dug and baited with a live goat. The adult lion, when taken, was thrust into a cage and transported at great expense and no little danger. Nowadays trappers locate the lion's lair and watch their opportunity. When the parents are away on a hunt for game, the hunters steal in and take the cubs. If caught in the act by the returning lions, the hunters must use their spears and rifles promptly. The rage of the lioness in defense of her young is proverbial. If taken young enough, and taught to suckle a rubber-nippled bottle, the little whelps can be carried, like kittens, in a basket for thousands of miles. A lion reaches its full size in about five or six years. A full grown lion is worth $1,000 in Hamburg or New York.

The lion is an intelligent animal and may be taught many tricks. A Swiss lion trainer who had pleased the king of Abyssinia was presented with thirty-two live lions. He brought twenty-four of them safely to Europe in cages. He taught his lions to climb on each other's shoulders and form pyramids, as well as to perform many other interesting tricks. He gave exhibitions in the principal cities.

Of all wild animals, the lion occupies the largest place in literature and in history. The winged lion of St. Mark's is the peculiar device of Venice. The lion has long been the emblem of England. The political writers of America are quite given to "twisting the tail of the British lion." In heraldry the lion is variously represented. The chief positions are rampant, erect on his hind legs; passant, walking; couchant, lying down with head erect; and dormant, asleep with his head resting on his fore paws.

The character of the lion has given rise to a number of proverbial expressions. Richard of England was called "The Lion Hearted." "The lion's share," has arisen from Aesop's fable of the lion who hunted with the fox and the wolf, claiming one-third of the game for his own share as a hunter, a second third by virtue of his kingship, and the last third on general principles. It will be remembered that Christian and Hopeful in The Pilgrim's Progress found lions in the way, typical of difficulties to be overcome. A person to whom high attention has been shown is said to be "lionized." To put one's "head into the lion's mouth" is to incur a great and needless danger.

The American "mountain" lion is merely the native panther or cougar. The name also appears in dandelion, ant-lion, and many other names of plants and animals.

See Cat; Tiger; Uganda; Living-Stone