Buffon's Natural History. Volume 06 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 06 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
him, and will sometimes spare the lives of those animals which are
thrown to him for prey; he will even live peaceably with them, spare
them part of his subsistence, and has even been known to want food
himself rather than be the means of depriving them of that life which
his generosity had spared. The lion cannot be said to be cruel, since
he acts from necessity and never kills more than he consumes; while the
tiger, the wolf, and all the inferior species, such as the fox, marten,
polecat, ferret, &c. kill without remorse, and seem rather to satisfy
their malignity than their hunger.
The outward form of the lion speaks the superiority of his internal
qualities. His figure is striking and grand; his look confident and
bold; his gait stately, and his voice tremendous. His bulk is not
overgrown like that of the elephant, or the rhinoceros; nor is his
shape clumsy like the hippopotamus, or the ox. He is in every respect
compact and well-proportioned; a perfect model of strength joined
with agility. He is muscular, bold, and neither charged with fat nor
unnecessary flesh. He manifests his muscular power by the ease with
which he makes prodigious bounds and leaps; by the strong and swift
movements of his tail, which is alone sufficient to strike a man to
the earth; by the facility with which he moves the skin of his face,
and particularly that of his forehead, which adds greatly to the
expressions of fury in his countenance; and, lastly, by the power he
has of moving the hair of his mane, which not only bristles up but is
agitated on all sides when he is enraged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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