MAMMALIA — CAT. 201 



Cats seem to have a natural dread of water, cold, and oad smells. They 

 are very fond of perfumes, and giadly suffer tnemse.ves to be taken and 

 caressed by persons Avho use them. The scent of valerian has so powerful, 

 and so delicious an effect on them, that they appear transported with plea- 

 sure by it ; and, in order to preserve this plant in gardens, it is common to 

 surround it with a close fence. Cats will smell it from afar, will run and 

 rub themselves against it, and will pass and repass so often over it, as to 

 destroy it in a short time. 



One of the most remarkable properties of the domestic cat is, the anxiety 

 with which it makes itself acquainted, not only with every part of its usual 

 habitation, but with the dimensions and external qualities of every ob- 

 ject by which it is surrounded. Cats do not very readily adapt themselves 

 to a change of houses ; but we have Avatched the process by which one, 

 whose attachment to a family is considerable, reconciles itself to such a 

 change. 



He surveys every room in the house, from the garret to the cellar; if a 

 door is shut, he waits till it be opened to complete the survey ; he ascertains 

 the relative size and position of every article of furniture ; and when he has 

 acquired this knowledge, he sits down contented with his new situation. It 

 appears necessary to a cat, that he should be intimately acquainted with 

 every circumstance of his position, in the same way that a general first 

 examines the face of the country in which he is to conduct his operations. 

 If a new piece of furniture, if even a large book or portfolio, is newly placed 

 in a room which a cat frequents, he walks round it, smells it, takes note 

 of its size and appearance, and then never troubles himself further about 

 the matter. 



This is, probably, an instinctive quality ; and the wild cat may, in the 

 same way, take a survey of every tree or stone, every gap in a brake, every 

 path in a thicket, within the ordinary range of its operations. The whiskers 

 of the cat, as we have mentioned in the case of the lion, enable it to 

 ascertain the space through which its body may pass, without the inconve- 

 nience of vainly attempting such a passage. 



The memory of a cat must be very strong, to enable it to understand this 

 great variety of local circumstances, after a single observation. The same 

 power of memory leads this animal, much as its affection may be doubted, 

 to know the faces of individuals. We have seen a cat exhibit manifest 

 delight upon the return of its master, or of a person from whom it had 

 received peculiar kindness. There are several instances of strong attach- 

 ment to the human race, in cats, though, in number and intensity, they fall 

 short of the attachment of the dog. 



Cats appear to possess, in some degree, the power of fascination. "There 



was at my house, a little while ago, a cat, seen watching a bird upon the 



top of a tree, and for some time they mutually fixed their eyes upon each 



other. At length, the bird let herself fall resistless into the cat's claws, 



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