The second catlike quality that the lion has is that his tongue is rough. He can use his tongue, as the tiger does, to scrape off small pieces of meat from a bone.
The third quality of the lion like that of other cats is that the lion's claws also are retractile: that is, the lion can draw in his claws, or thrust them out, just as he pleases.
The fourth quality the lion has like all other felines is that his paws also are padded with thick muscles underneath. So the lion, too, can stalk his prey silently, or harden the muscles to strike down and stun the prey with his paw, or use the muscles like springs in leaping--as I have already described to you on pages 71-72. The lion can run with a series of leaps or bounds, like any other feline.
But there is a fifth quality which all felines have, though I did not mention it before, because a few other animals also have it. This quality is that they have _sensitive whiskers_. You have noticed the whiskers of an ordinary cat. If the cat were asleep, and you touched a hair of the whiskers, the cat would wake up at once. Why? Because each hair of the whiskers is very sensitive.
All felines have sensitive whiskers; that is, each hair can _feel_ any object it touches. This is a very useful quality in a feline in going about in the jungle, especially in darkness; for then the whiskers give warning of any object close at hand, by just touching it.
But, as I said, a few other animals besides felines have sensitive whiskers.
In the same manner there is another quality which all felines have, as well as a few other animals. And that quality is to be able _to see in the dark_.
But it must not be totally dark. It is a mistake to suppose that a cat can see in absolute darkness. No animal can. For a cat or any other feline to see, there must be at least a tiny bit of light--even if the light is not sufficient for a human being. The eyes of the Cat Tribe are formed in such a manner as to catch the tiniest bit of light.
That is why the lion, the tiger, and all other felines can see at night in the jungle. For there are usually a few stars visible, even when there are passing clouds. Or, if the whole sky is covered with one big cloud, then the cloud itself may reflect a little light coming from various parts of the land.