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第9章 神狱序列

arry off their victims in their talons, but uniformly devour them upon the spot; and even that portion of their prey which they transport to their young is first swallowed, and afterwards disgorged in the nest.

It is in the night-time more particularly that the Lion prowls abroad in search of his prey, the conformation of his eyes not only, like those of the cat, allowing him to see with a very moderate degree of light, but even rendering the full glare of day distressing and intolerable to him. It is for this reason that travellers, who are compelled to sleep in the open air in countries infested by these animals, are careful to keep up a blazing fire, which the tenderness of their eyes deters them from approaching, unless when they are extremely hard pressed by the calls of hunger. These, it would appear, sometimes become paramount to every other consideration, and urge the Lion, as they do many more ignoble beasts, into the exhibition of a degree of courage, which,[19] in despite of all that has been said on the subject, is by no means his natural characteristic.

The specimen from which this description was taken measured along the back, from the muzzle to the tail, three feet nine inches. It arrived in this country about four years ago, and formed until lately one of the most attractive and interesting spectacles among the animals confined in the Menagerie. It was brought from Borneo when very young, and during its passage was the constant associate of a monkey and of several other young animals. It was thus domesticated in early life, and its manners in confinement greatly resembled those of the Malayan Bear observed by Sir Stamford Raffles, to which it was probably not inferior in sagacity or intellect. It could rest entirely on its posterior feet, and could even raise itself without difficulty to a nearly erect posture; but was more generally seen in a sitting attitude at the door of its apartment, eagerly surveying the visiters and attracting their attention by the uncouthness of its form and the singularity of its motions. When a morsel of bread or cake was held

Felis Tigris. Linn.

Having in the preceding article terminated the series of Mammiferous Quadrupeds at present existing in the Tower Menagerie, we must next direct our attention to the illustration of the Birds, a Class which, although fully entitled to the second place in the arrangement of the Animal Kingdom, is separated by a wide and almost unoccupied interval from that which unquestionably claims the foremost rank.

Vultur fulvus. Linn.

Very different were the feelings by which the Roman generals and people were swayed even in their most civilized times and at the height of their unequalled power. Through all the gloss which history has thrown over the character of these masters of the universe there appears a spirit of unreclaimed barbarity which was never entirely shaken off. From the scenes of their distant conquests their pr?tors sent to the metropolis[xii] of the world bears and lions and leopards and tigers; but a love of science had no share in the motives for the gratification of which they were transmitted, and the chief curiosity manifested on such occasions by the people of Rome was to ascertain how speedily hundreds or thousands, as the case might happen, of these ferocious beasts would destroy each other when turned out half-famished into the public amphitheatre, or how long a band of African slaves, of condemned criminals, or of hired gladiators, would be able to maintain the unequal contest against them. The consul or emperor

But of all the peculiarities by which the Elephant is distinguished, the most singular and at the same time the most useful is the projection which is formed by the blending and extension of the nose and upper lip into an elongated and tapering tube, considerably longer than[167] the head, and truncated at the extremity, where it is surrounded by a slightly elevated margin, which is prolonged anteriorly and superiorly into a finger-like appendage of various and invaluable use. This trunk or proboscis, as it is called, is divided throughout its whole extent into two equal cavities, which are continuous with the nostrils, but appear to have no other connexion with the organ of smell than as being the medium of the passage of odours to the olfactory apparatus, which is confined within the bones of the head, and is indeed seated much higher than usual in consequence of the large space occupied by the roots of the tusks and by the cavities of the maxillary bones. The real uses of the trunk are far higher and more

The New Holland Emeu, as well as the Ostrich and the Cassowary, to both of which it is nearly related, is now generally regarded as belonging to the Rasorial Order, the Gallina? of Linn?us, the feet of which are formed for running and for scratching up the earth in search of the seeds which constitute their usual subsistence. Some of the birds, however, which are referred to it, and particularly those now under consideration, feed upon fruits and roots. The whole of the Order are distinguished by a certain degree of convexity on the upper surface of the bill, the base of which is enveloped by a membrane, in which are situated the nostrils covered by a cartilaginous[222] scale; by the muscular plumpness of their bodies, and especially of their legs; by the shortness of their wings, and the diminution of strength in their pectoral muscles; and by the thickness and strength of their anterior toes, generally three in number, united at the base alone by a connecting membrane, and roughened beneath. These character