ié8 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
known to bring a Mouse to her door in the middle of the 
night, and mew till it waggopened, when she would present it 
to her mistress.” 
Cats not unfrequently make friends with other animals, 
notably Horses ; but perhaps the most curious instance of such 
a friendship is one related by the author just quoted. An 
engineer in the United States once caught a young Alligator, 
which he took home with him, and made so perfectly tame, 
that 1t would follow him about like a Dog. “Its great favourite 
however, was a Cat, and the friendship was mutual. When 
the Cat was reposing herself before the fire, the Alligator would 
lay himself down, place his head upon the Cat, and in this 
attitude go to sleep. If the Cat was absent the Alligator was 
restless ; but he always appeared happy when the Cat was near 
him.” So far as the present writer is aware, this is the only 
instance on record of the existence of an attachment between 
a Mammal and a Reptile. 
Commercial Value-—The pelage of the Cat forms an article of 
considerable commercial importance; and the following par- 
ticulars in regard to the trade in Cat-skins are taken from Mr. 
Poland’s valuable work on ‘ Fur-bearing Animals.” ‘The fur, 
which is stated to be one of the warmest, is extensively em- 
ployed for coat-linings, muffs, trimmings, and rugs. Black 
skins are the most valuable; the best examples coming from 
Holland. American skins, of which some three thousand are 
annually imported into England, are generally white, blue, 
black, or tabby, but are of rather inferior quality ; the price 
varying from threepence to eighteenpence per skin. Austra 
lian skins, which are generally red-tabby, are the least esteemed 
of all. ‘There is considerable annual fluctuation in the market- 
value of Cat-skins ; but the very best black Dutch pelts some- 
times command as much as from six to eight shillings each 
As is well-known, when rubbed, the fur of the Cat 1s highly 
