lOO 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



her nose, and again came to thank me " — actually refraining from 

 enjoying the food she was so much in want of till she had repeat- 

 edly acknowledged her obligations for it. 



A story is quoted by Mrs. Cashel Hoey from the London 

 Spectator, of " Nero/' who, loving all the family and showing his 

 love for each in different ways, especially loved his master, and 

 was usually the first to hear his step. He could distinguish the 

 click of his master's door-key, and would run to answer it ; was 

 distressed if his master failed to return at evening, and would go 

 look for his portmanteau, to see if that was gone too — that being 

 his sign that master was taking a journey. If the portmanteau 

 was in its place, he was satisfied ; if not, he would lie down and 

 refuse food. If he knew the master was going away, he would 



try to hide himself in 

 the cab ; and if mas- 

 ter appeared with his 

 hat on in the day- 

 time, supposing he 

 was going out, would 

 try to take it off ; but 

 if at night, was con- 

 tented, for master 

 had come home. 



The cat's strong 

 attachment to its 

 home, and indispo- 

 sition to change it, 

 are not peculiar to it, 

 but are common to 

 all animals, includ- 

 ing man. The trait 

 is often manifested, 

 and sometimes in 

 remarkable ways, in 

 dogs, horses, and cat- 

 tle. In man it is fre- 

 quently illustrated in 

 the affection known 

 as " homesickness." 

 The ability which 

 animals display un- 

 der its influence in finding their way back to their old accustomed 

 haunts from long distances and by difficult or tortuous ways, or 

 even by roundabout roads, when return over the direct route (as 

 when it includes the crossing of bodies of water) is impossible, is 

 the wonder of naturalists, and up to this time one of the unsolved 



Fig. 10.— Finely Marked Spotted Tabby Cat. By permission, 

 from Harrison Weir's Our Cats and all about Them. Pub- 

 lished by Hougbton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York. 



