THE DOMIiS'IIC CAT. 213 



length is about twenty inches, its tail about ten. Its color is a dull- 

 yellow or gray, reddish on the head and back, lighter on the sides, the 

 hind-legs are marked with stripes, and some narrow lines appear on the 

 forehead. lirehm in vain sought to tame a grown up one, but two young 

 ones in the Zoological Gardens of London seemed peacefully inclined, and 

 the eminent traveler Schwcinfurth found that among the Xjam-njams 

 of Central Africa, the Felis niatiiculatus did the mouse-catching of their 

 households. There can be little doubt, then, that this is the species which 

 the ancient Egyptians undertook to tame. The mummies of cats from 

 the earliest monuments of that extraordinary people prove that very 

 little change has been effected in the animal by domestication. 



The descendants of the Egyptian cat are found as household pets in 

 all countries of Europe, in India, Japan and China, in which last empire 

 it is used to tell the time of day by the size of the pupil of its eyes. In 

 Modern Egypt it is still regarded with affection as the favorite animal of 

 Mohammed, and funds exist the interest of which is devoted to feeding 

 cats. In South America it is not found in the Andes, as it cannot endure 

 the cold and thin air of the mountains; in New Zealand it has relapsed 

 into a wild state, and is hunted by the settlers as zealously as they hunt 

 its wild congeners. In the North of Asia it is an article of commerce, 

 the Mantchoos do a large trade in it, selling kittens for sable skins 

 to the neighboring tribes, but it is not found among the Nomad 

 tribes of Eastern Siberia. Whenever the population quits a roving 

 for a settled life the cat makes its appearance ; it was introduced into 

 the regions at the mouth of the Amoor in 1853, and by 1857 had 

 reached the settlements half-way up that stream. The Danish ladies 

 carried cats with them to Greenland. In North America it is in every 

 household. 



The cat is thus a living witness of the progress of mankind, of settled 

 life and incipient civilization. Yet under all circumstances the cat asserts 

 its independence, and submits to man only as far as it chooses. If cared 

 for, it becomes attached to the family ; if neglected, it becomes attached 

 to the house. We are too frequently in the habit of ascribing to the cat 

 treachery and want of affection, as well as of undervaluing its intelligence •, 

 we apply to it the same epithets that a dominant race always applies 

 to a weaker one when it obstinately refuses to resign its independence, 

 and sink into contented slavery. The cat refuses to be our slave or lick 

 the hand that flogs it ; and it will not place its qualities unreservedly at 



