42. The COMMON FOX (Canis vulpes, Fig. 24) is an animal of the dog tribe, of brown colour, with sharp muzzle, erect and pointed ears, and straight and bushy tail tipped with white.
This animal is found in almost every country of the world.
Although foxes occasionally commit great depredation in poultry-yards, and among game, they are serviceable to mankind by destroying many kinds of noxious animals. Their skin also constitutes a soft and warm fur, which, in many parts of Europe, is used for muffs and tippets, for the linings of winter garments, and for robes of state. So great is the demand for these skins, that, at Lausanne, there are furriers, who in a single winter, have received betwixt two and three thousand of them from different parts of the adjacent country. The flesh of the fox is eaten by the inhabitants of some countries of the Continent.
43. The ARCTIC FOX (Canis lagopus) is an animal of the dog tribe, smaller than the common fox, of white or bluish grey colour; the hair very thick, long, and soft, the tail straight and bushy, and the feet very hairy.
The extreme parts of North America, and the country around the Frozen Sea, are those which the Arctic fox principally inhabits.
These animals are principally killed on account of their skins, their fur being light and warm, though not durable. In winter this changes to a white colour, and becomes much thicker. The inhabitants of Greenland split the tendons, and use them as thread; they also sometimes eat the flesh of these animals.
The modes in which they are caught are various: by stone traps; in holes in the snow, the openings to which are surrounded by snares; in pitfalls, the surfaces of which are so covered that the animals are unable to discover them; and with arrows and guns.
44. The LION is an animal of the cat tribe, distinguished, from all others, by his body being of uniform tawny colour, the tail being long and bushy at the end, and the neck and chest of the male being clad with a shaggy mane.
The deserts of the interior of Africa, Persia, India, and Japan, are inhabited by these animals.
The skin of the lion was formerly used as the tunic of heroes. At this day it serves both as a mantle and a bed for many of the African tribes. His flesh, though of strong and disagreeable flavour, is occasionally eaten by the savages, who do not dislike it the more on that account. The fat of the lion is considered to possess many medicinal properties.