400 THE WILD CAT 



Scotland. Plenty of alleged wild Cats have l)een seen and even 

 shot ; but these are too frequently merely feral Cats, i.e. domestic 

 tabbies which have reverted to a hunting life. The real Wild 

 Cat differs from the domestic races by the proportionately longer 

 bociy and limbs, the shorter and thicker tail ; the pads of the 

 toes are not quite lilack. The period of the gestation of the 

 Wild Cat, according to Mr. Cocks, is a week or so longer than 

 that of any domestic Cat. 



The Domestic Cat is in fact regarded as the descendant of the 

 Eastern F. caffra, or (perhaps and) the closely-allied F. inaniculata. 

 It is highly pr(jbable, however, that after introduction into this 

 country as a domestic animal it has interbred with the Wild Cat. 

 Many allied species of Cats will interbreed, even two so far 

 apart as the Lion and the Tiger. There are interesting archaeo- 

 logical and linguistic reasons for regarding the Domestic Cat as 

 an importation. The legend of Dick Whittington's Cat points 

 to it l)eing a rare and valuable animal, which a tamed F. catus 

 would not at that time have been. There was an enactment in 

 Wales of a penalty against him who should kill the king's Cat, 

 again suggestive of its rarity and consequent value. The very 

 name " Puss " is a hint of a foreign origin. Some would derive 

 it from Perse, and upon this is based the notion that the Cat is 

 from Persia. But it seems that Puss is the same as Pasht and 

 Bubastis, showing so far an Egyptian origin for the animal. The 

 ancestral Cats mentioned above are natives of Egypt.^ 



The genus Cynitelurns, which includes but a single species, 

 C. JLihatas, the Cheetah or Hunting I^eopard, is separated from 

 Felis by a number of characters. In the first place the claws 

 are non-retractile, or at least less retractile than those of the 

 true Cats. It is, moreover, longer legged. The molar is more in 

 a line with the other teeth of the jaw, and the upper carnassial 

 tooth has no inner tubercle. Messrs. Windle and Parsons have 

 lately pointed out many Dog-like features in the muscles. This 

 animal is about as large as a Leopard, but has plain black spots. 

 As its vernacular name implies it is used for sport, and is quite 

 easily tameable. It will purr like the Puma. The Cheetah 

 occurs in India, Persia, Turkestan, and also in Africa ; the latter 



1 See E. Hamilton, The U'ild Cat of Europe, London, Porter, 1896 ; and M. G. 

 Watkins, Gleanings frovi the Natural Historij of the Ancients, London, Elliot Stock, 

 1896. 



