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POLYDACTYLISM IN CATS; AND OTHER 

 FEATURES, 



BY 



REV. A. R. WINNINGTON-INGRAM. 

 (Read November 6th, 1900). 



A remarkable race of many-toed cats has recently come 

 under my observation. These cats have usually seven 

 toes on each of their front feet, the extra toes being three 

 dew claws instead of one ; while on the hind feet they have 

 six toes like ordinary hind toes, but six instead of four. 

 The number of toes, however, is occasionally varied, for 

 I examined one cat which had seven toes on one front 

 foot, six on the other front foot, and the hind feet had re- 

 spectively six toes and five toes. 



Now it seems highly probable that this polydactylism 

 is atavic — a throwing back to remote ancestors who were 

 polydactylous, ancestors between the Fishes and Amphibia. 

 We, in common with Amphibia and all descended there- 

 from, developed our pentadactylous condition by a gradual 

 abortion of the digits. Yet in these days polydactylism 

 is known among us ; and in former days this was also the 

 case ; for we read in the Bible (II. Samuel, xxi., 20) of a 

 polydactylous man "that had on every hand six fingers, 

 and on every foot six toes, four-and-twenty in number," 



