LION (AS. leo. OF. lion, lent. Fr. lion, ft. leone, Bore, from Lat. leo, from Gk. law, 'con, lion). The most famous of the great eats (l'elis leo), and distinguished from all others by its mane and the hairy tuft at the end of the tail. It inhabits Africa and Southwestern Asia. A lion of large size stands three feet high, and measures about nine and one-half feet from the nose to the tip of the tail, which is about three feet long; but most specimens fall short of these figures. The greatest size seems to be attained in South Africa.
The weight rarely reaches 500 pounds.
The skull of an adult may measure 13 inches in length, and inches in breadth across the cheek - bones. In accordance with its desert life, its col or is a uniform pale tawny, some times reddish, and occasionally almost black. Though never streaked or spotted. the mane is frequently darker than the coat, or even diversified with blackish patches. Kittens arc obscurely spotted and striped at first, as is the case with other eoneolorons species of groups generally spotted, but this disappears after a few months. The
lioness is somewhat smaller than the lion, and has no mane—nor have young males. Some times they never acquire more than a scanty orna ment of this kind, but the so-called 'maneless lion of Gujarat' seems not to exist as a separate race. There is. however, great diversity in this feature, as in color, even within the same litter. The mane is evidently a sexual ornament, and also a shield, which some protection to the males in the combats which occur in this species more frequently and with more fierceness than in the case of any other wild eat of which we know. The whole frame is extremely museu lar. and the fore parts in particular are remark ably powerful. giving, with the large head and copious mane, a noble appearance to the animal. which, with its strength and its appalling voice, has led to its being called the 'king of beasts.' The accompanying nobility of character which has been ascribed to it by Baron and his follow ers seems, however, largely fanciful.