THE WILD CAT OF SCOTLAND 73 



Mceatae. It was against these that Antoninus Pius built 

 his famous wall, the remains of which are now known as 

 Graham's Dyke. The Romans had at that time introduced 

 most of the luxuries which always accompanied their legions, 

 and with them, it may be supposed, the domestic cat. This 

 is indeed but a supposition, but there is a certain amount of 

 corroboration of the very early introduction of the domestic 

 species into the country, and notably the discovery by the Rev. 

 Dr. Joass, at Golspie in Sutherlandshire, of a part of a jaw 

 (the left mandible) of a cat, which, from its size, etc., closely 

 resembles the domestic race, in those curious ancient habita- 

 tions called Brochs. Although this is not at all conclusive, 

 there is a probability that the domestic cat was known in 

 Scotland in the early historical period, and previous to the 

 final evacuation of the Romans in 436 A.D. Should this 

 conjecture be correct, we have a period of nearly 1500 

 years for the two closely allied forms to interbreed with 

 each other ; and, from the known propensities of both races 

 to wander, especially during the season period, promiscuous 

 intercourse would be the rule and not the exception, for 

 this has been found to be the case wherever the two races 

 coexist. Darwin (" Animals and Plants under Domestica- 

 tion ") gives numerous instances, and Sir W. Jardine (" Nat. 

 Libr.," vol. ii. p. 243) notes several cases of the same in the 

 north of Scotland, the so-called hybrids being undistinguish- 

 able from the Wild Cat. Mr. Layard (" Catalogue of South 

 African Museum ") says that the domestic cats of South 

 Africa breed freely with the wild cats, and that their off- 

 spring are fertile ; and Mr. Walter Elliott also shows (" Journ. 

 Asiatic Society ") that the Felis catus interbreeds with the 

 domestic cat. Moreover, M. Gyon, a surgeon in the Algerian 

 army, quoted by M. Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire, notes that 

 the domestic cat breeds with the wild cat, and adds that in 

 these mixed unions the female is, as a rule, of the domestic 

 variety. Many other instances could be mentioned, but one 

 rather more interesting than usual may be given in conclu- 

 ding the remarks on this part of the subject. Mr. Harrison 

 Weir, in " Cats and all about them," says that Lord Hope- 

 toun exhibited at the Crystal Palace show some hybrid 

 kittens, the father of which was a long-haired cat, and the 



