st 
[ DOMESTIC CATS. 159 
must largely have affected the domesticated breeds of widely 
different climates. 
From the account referred to, it appears that in the cold- 
storage warehouses of Pittsburg there were originally no Cats 
or Rats. The temperature in the cold rooms was too low. 
The keepers soon found, however, that the Rat is an animal 
of remarkable adaptability. After some of these houses had 
been in operation for a few months, the attendants found that 
Rats were at work in the rooms where the temperature was 
constantly kept below the freezing-point. They were found 
to be clothed in wonderfully long and thick fur, even their 
tapering, snake-like tails being covered by a thick growth of 
hair. Rats whose coats have adapted themselves to the con- 
ditions under which they live, have thus become domesticated 
in the sterage warehouses in Pittsburg. The prevalence of Rats 
in these places led to the introduction of Cats. Now, it is well 
known that Pussy is a lover of warmth and comfort. Cats, too, 
have a great adaptability to conditions. When Cats were turned 
loose in the cold rooms they pined and died because of the 
excessive cold. One Cat was finally introduced into the rooms 
of the Pennsylvania Storage Company which was able to with- 
stand the low temperature. She was a Cat of unusually thick 
fur, and she thrived and grew fat in quarters where the 
temperature was below 30°. By careful nursing, a brood of 
seven kittens was developed in the warehouse into sturdy, 
thick-furred Cats that love an Icelandic climate. They have 
been distributed among the other cold-storage warehouses of 
Pittsburg, and have created a peculiar breed of Cats, adapted 
to the conditions under which they must exist to find their 
prey. These Cats are short-tailed, chubby pussies, with hair 
as thick and full of under-fur as the Wild Cats of the Canadian 
woods. One of the remarkable things about them is the 
development of their “feelers.” Those long stiff hairs that 
