72 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Cat of Scotland than any other naturalist, says, in his " Past 

 and Present Distribution of some of the Rarer Animals in 

 Scotland" ("Zoologist," 1 88 1), that this animal is rapidly 

 becoming extinct ; and he agrees with the late Edward 

 Alston as to its complete extermination in the Lowlands, 

 although it may still be found in some of the wilder districts 

 of the extreme north. 



But was this Wild Cat, which in iSSi had become 

 nearly extinct in many parts of Scotland, a true species, 

 descended from that native cat, the remains of which have 

 been found in the marl deposits existing in early historic 

 days, or was it the offspring of a mixed race resulting from 

 the interbreeding of the original wild race with the imported 

 domestic cat ? 



Most authors who have written on the natural history 

 of this animal state that there are certain well-known 

 characteristics which distinguish it from the domestic variety. 

 It has been found, however, that, on examining a number of 

 specimens of both races, these so-called specific character- 

 istics are as often found in the tabby forms of Fclis catus 

 domestica as in the Felts catus ferns, and cannot be con- 

 sidered as representative, but are caused by the interbreed- 

 ing of the two races for a long series of years. 



We have no direct record as to when the domestic cat 

 was first introduced into Scotland. Possibly the Romans 

 brought it over with them, for we know that it was imported 

 into Italy from Egypt some five hundred years before the 

 Christian era, and, though distributed throughout the 

 provinces, was not common among the Romans themselves 

 till the middle of the first century A.D. 



The Romans under Caesar invaded Britain in the year 

 55 B-C-j and, before the lapse of a hundred years, had re- 

 duced it to a Roman province, with frequent and regular in- 

 tercourse with Rome. We find, moreover, that towards the 

 end of the second century A.D. the Lowlands of Scotland, 

 even up to the great Caledonian Forest, had been covered 

 with an extraordinary number of towns and stations, and 

 for many years the process of Romanising and civilising 

 went on without interruption, except for the occasional in- 

 roads of the far northern tribes, the Caledonii and the 



