278 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



The clavicles are more nearly developed than in others belonging to 

 the order, but do not articulate with the sternum or scapula. The 

 skull is short and rounded; the buUse much inflated. The tongue is 

 rough, being covered with sharp, hard papillse which point backwards.* 

 The heel does not touch the ground in walking (digitigrade) . The front 

 feet have five and the hind feet four toes ; a caecum is present but small ; 

 other characters as given for the order. 



Their food consists principally of animals which they have killed. 

 They are largely nocturnal in habits and, with few exceptions, are more 

 or less arboreal. 



Representatives of this family are found in a wild state throughout 

 the greater portion of the world, except in Australia and Madagascar. 

 Two genera and some 20 or more species and subspecies occur in North 

 America, and three species have been recorded within our limits. 



The origin of the Domestic Cat is uncertain, but it is generally 

 supposed to have decended from an African species (probably F. 

 caffra or a closely allied fonn) , which had become domesticated in Egypt 

 at a very early periodf and was undoubtedly introduced in Europe, 

 where it may, or may not, have interbred with the Wild Cat (F. cattus) 

 of that country. That Domestic Cats were held in high esteem in 

 Britain in ancient times is shown by an old Welch law| in force during 

 the reign of Hoel dda, or Howel the Good, who died a. d. 948, enacting 

 that, if any one stole or killed the animal guarding the prince's granary, 

 he was to forfeit a milk ewe, its fleece and lamb, or as much wheat as 

 when poured on the Cat suspended by its tail, the head touching the 

 floor, would form a heap high enough to cover the tip of the tail. 



During the following 600 years, however, their pecuniary value 

 decidedly decreased and in Topsell's time (1607) they had acquired a 

 somewhat unsavory reputation in many countries. § That ancient 

 writer devotes a number of pages to describing their habits, and judging 

 from his account of them, they differed but little from those of their 

 descendents at the present day. For example, he states that they are 



* Noticeable when the hand is licked by a Domestic Cat and, of course, much 

 more pronounced in larger animals belonging to the family; the tongue of a Lion 

 would tear the skin. 



t Cats were held sacred by the ancient Egyptians and many of their mummies 

 have been found, ^lianus tells us that at Bubastis (later known as Tel Basta) 

 consecrated Cats were fed upon fish kept in reservoirs for the purpose (De Animalium 

 Natura, 161 6). 



% Quoted by Thomas Pennant, British Zoology, I, 1776, pp. 69, 70. 



§ Cats were objects of superstition, being regarded as the familiars of witches 

 and Satan was supposed to assume the shape of a black Cat. Among the many 

 popular superstitions which obtain even at the present day may be cited: That a 

 Cat "sucks" a baby's breath; that it has nine lives; that, if when washing its face its 

 paws are extended above its head, rainy weather may be expected; that a black Cat 

 crying on the roof of a house is a sinister omen, and many others equally absurd. 



