156 Lloyd's natural history. 



more populated districts of the Cape Colony, it is still abun- 

 dant in the interior. As its habits appear to be generally 

 similar to those of the common Wild Cat, they require no 

 detailed notice. 



This Cat was tamed by the ancient Egyptians, and vast 

 numbers of its remains embalmed and preserved. Although 

 some writers hold a different view, the black sole of the foot 

 suggests that the Caffre Cat is the chief stock from which the 

 Domestic Cats of Europe have been derived ; but in different 

 countries there has been more or less subsequent crossing 

 with the various indigenous species. On this subject more 

 will be said under the heading of Domestic Cats. 



It is noteworthy that the fossilised remains of the Caffre 

 Cat have been obtained from the cavern-deposits of the rock 

 of Gibraltar, in company with those of various kinds of ex- 

 tinct Mammals, and it may be inferred that at the time when 

 these creatures flourished, Spain was still connected by land 

 with Africa. 



XXX. DOMESTIC CATS. FELIS DOMESTICA. 



Fclis domestica, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 80 (1788). 



Felis torquata, F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mamm. pi. 54(1826); 



Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India, p. 85 (1888). 

 Felts megalotis, Miiller, Verh. Nat. Gesch. Zool. pp. 29, 54 



(1839-44); Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pi. ii. p. 233 



(1891). 



Felts huttoni, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. 69 



(1846). 

 Although Domestic Cats are commonly spoken of as con- 

 stituting a "species," yet this term must be used in quite a 

 distinct sense from that in which it is employed when speak- 

 ing of the wild members of the Family. For instance, if all 

 the breeds of Domestic Cats were descended from the Caffre 



