THE INTELLIGENCE OF CATS. 375 



would go up the stairs, into every room, jump upon the bed and 

 wake up each one ; and, if it was early, would stay in the rooms a 

 little while, but, if it was late, would hurry down-stairs. A cat at 

 Poor's Mills, Maine, would hold up her right or left paw, or both, 

 correctly, as she was directed, previous to receiving her food. 

 The'ophile Gautier's Eponine, a " delicate, lady-like cat," was 

 allowed to sit at the table at dinner. Although she preferred 

 fish, she would eat her soup first, when reminded, in polite lan- 

 guage, that a person who had no appetite for soup ought to have 

 none for fish. 



Some of these acts may be only coincidences ; but observation 

 for ten years of my own cat, concerning whom it has often been 

 remarked that she seemed to understand what we were talking 

 about and was listening to it, has satisfied me that more of them 

 were done with knowledge. The story of the adventure of The'o- 

 phile Gautier's Madame The'ophile with the parrot, on first being 

 introduced to it, indicates a comprehension of the significance of 

 language, and has its humorous side also. The cat, looking upon 

 the bird as a " green chicken," stealthily approached it as with the 

 intention of seizing it. The watchful bird, at the critical mo- 

 ment, asked her, in good French : " Have you breakfasted, Jockey ; 

 and on what on the king's roast ? " and broke out into song. The 

 astonished cat retreated hastily, and hid for the rest of the day, 

 but renewed her attack on the morrow, to be rebuffed in the same 

 manner. From that time she treated the parrot with the respect 

 due to a being having the power of speech. 



Montaigne says : " When I play with my cat, how do I know 

 whether she does not make a pastime of me, just as I do of her ? 

 We entertain ourselves with mutual antics; and if I have my 

 own times of beginning or refusing, she, too, has hers." The 

 sportiveness of kittens is exuberant, and makes them the most 

 delightful of pets. Lindsay's remark is superfluous, except that 

 it has to be made for the formal completeness of his treatise, that 

 dogs and cats take part in the fun and frolic sometimes rough or 

 boisterous enough of their child playfellows. They give every 

 evidence, in fact, that such fun and frolic are the most enjoyed 

 features of that period of their lives. As the animal matures it 

 becomes more sedate, and even assumes a meditative air, but the 

 taste for sport does not die out till infirmity begins to wear upon 

 it. A cat mentioned in the Animal World would allow itself to 

 be rolled up or swung about in a table : cloth, and seemed to enjoy 

 the fun ; and Wood's dignified Pusset would let his friends do 

 anything they pleased with him lift him up by any part of the 

 body, toss him in the air from one to another, use him as a foot- 

 stool, boa, or pillow, make him jump over their hands or leap on 

 their shoulders, or walk along their extended arms, with perfect 



