THE DOMESTIC CAT. 211 



I never saw an animal fight so desperately, or one which was so difficult 

 to kill. If a tame tat has nine lives, a wild-cat mu;->t have a dozen." 



The Manul, /v/zj manul, is a Siberian wild-cat, somewhat lower than 

 the European one in stature, and clad in a very thick coat of yellowish 

 and dark-brown hair (growing out of a close gray fell. It is found on 

 the North of the mountainous border of Central Asia, exclusively on the 

 steppes. It is mentioned here because some naturalists perhaps justly 

 regard it as the original of the Angora cat. 



THE MALAY CAT. 



The Malay Cat or Kuwuk, Felis Javanensis TPlate XI), is of a 

 grayish-brown color with dark black bands. During the day it hides in 

 hollow trees, sallying out to plunder by night. The natives describe it 

 as very sagacious, but fierce and untamable ; they affirm that, in order to 

 approach fowls unsuspected, it imitates their voices. 



The Chinese Cat, Felis undatus (Plate XIj, is a dwarf variety, reach- 

 ing a length of barely two feet, including tail. Its color is a brownish- 

 gray, and four longitudinal stripes, two over the eyes, two on each side 

 of the nose are very conspicuous. The stripes from the eyes turn 

 toward the shoulders ; those from the nose run along the back on each 

 side of a row of oblong spots : the flanks are covered with small round 

 spots which extend also over the tail. 



This dwarf cat is found in India, the Sunda islands and Japan, and in 

 China is the representative of the wild-cat. It is one of the wildest and 

 bloodiest species of the family, and resists all attempts at taming. 



THE DOMESTIC CAT. 



There seems to be little doubt that we must regard as the ancestor 

 of our household cat, the Nubian Cat, which, in the hoariest antiquity, 

 all Egypt reverenced, worshipped and embalmed. While other animals 

 were worshipped locally, the cats were deemed holy everywhere. If a 

 house took fire, the cat was the first thing saved ; if a cat died, the 

 Egyptians went into mourning; whoever purposely or accidentall}' killed 

 one was put to death ; not even the name of a Roman citizen could save 

 the offender. The bodies of the cats were carefully embalmed and 

 placed in the tomb, and they are still the most common mummies found 

 in the sepulchres. 



