146 On the Geology of Cherry Island and Sjntzbergen. 



The coal of Spitzbergen, which extends beyond north latitude 

 79°, resembles cannel coal. The gypsum also, which occurs ex- 

 tensively in many parts, belongs to the secondary rocks of this 

 coast. Specimens of it can easily be procured in Finnmark. 

 Very far towards the north, on the west side, limestone occurs 

 extensively distributed : it is possible that it may belong to the 

 primitive chain, if this stretches out so far, but more probably it 

 is of newer formation. 



From what is known of the east coast of Greenland, it ap- 

 pears, between north latitude 71° and 72°, to resemble Spitzber- 

 gen so much, that we may place there the western boundary of a 

 particular territory, which is bounded on the south by the Scan- 

 dinavian primitive mountains ; but on the east embraces a part of 

 Nova Zembla, and may extend forward to the Strait of 

 Waigatz. 



N. B. — The preceding observations were delivered at the 

 meeting of Naturalists in Berlin, in September 1828, by the ac- 

 tive and enterprising traveller Keilhau himself. 



Is the Domestic Cat originally a native of this Country 9 



Xt has for years been a question with naturalists — Is the Wild 

 Cat of Europe the original of our Domestic Cat .'' Some have 

 referred all the varieties of the house cat to our wild cat ; others, 

 as Brehm, Fleming, &c., rejecting this opinion, maintain that 

 the house, or domestic cat, belongs to a wild species no where 

 found in Europe, and that the European wild cat is a peculiar 

 and distinct species. In the former volume of the Journal, 

 vol. vii. p. 369, we noticed the discovery of a species of cat in 

 Nubia, by Rvippel, the Fells maniculata, which he regards as 

 the original stock from which the domestic cat of the Egyptians 

 was derived, and whence, probably, alsosprung the domestic cat 

 of Europe. This opinion we consider as probable. However 

 it may turn out as to the species from which the domestic cat 

 originated, there can be little doubt of its being different from 

 our common wild cat, Felis Catus. 



