166 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
known. During such excursions they are fond of rolling in beds 
of certain highly-scented pithts, such as valerian and cat-mint , 
and will then work themselves up into an extraordinary degree 
of excitement. The purring sound uttered by a contented 
Cat when caressed is known to all ; but the contrast between 
the animal when in this state, and when standing with arched 
back, ruffled tail, and exposed teeth, spitting and snarling at 
a Dog, is perhaps more marked than in the case of almost 
any other creature. It is scarcely necessary to allude to the 
stealthy, creeping movements of a Cat stalking its prey, when 
the tail is held stiffly, with only its tip moving ina curiously 
worm-like manner, since these traits are exhibited by nearly 
all the wild members of the genus. 
Notwithstanding that they seldom eat those animals (except 
when very young), Cats are most determined foes to Rats, and 
will watch a Rat-hole for hours; while, when they have seized 
their victims, they will not unfrequently deposit them at their 
owner’s feet with a triumphant and self-satisfied air. Their 
mousing qualities need no mention. The female usually 
breeds two or three times in the course of a year, the number 
of kittens in a litter generally varying from five to six. Gilbert 
White relates an instance where a Cat deprived of her kittens 
suckled and brought up three young Squirrels ; and there are 
several cases known where young Rats have been similarly 
treated. 
The following anecdotes of Cats are taken from Jesse’s 
‘ Gleanings in Natural History.” In the first case, a gentle. 
man in Jamaica being in want of a Cat, “one was given him 
which was not full-grown. It was put into a canvas-bag, and 
a man on horse-back brought it a distance of five miles from 
the place where it was bred, and from which it had never been 
removed before. In doing so, he had to cross two rivers, one, 
named the Mino, which was about eighty feet wide and two and 
