master, but otherwise it becomes more 

 attached to the house and locaHty in 

 which it lives, preferring to return to its 

 old home and live among strangers rather 

 than to follow its owner to a new home. 



How remarkable is the fact that no 

 one can cause a Cat to alight except upon 

 its feet, no matter how short or long may 

 be the distance from which it jumps or 

 is thrown ! AC;'" can also swim, though 

 in the main it a^iors the water. Occa- 

 sionally its great appetite for fish will 

 overcome its dislike of getting wet, and 

 it will jump into a pond and do its own 

 fishing. 



Mr. Scheitlin understandingly de- 

 scribes the Cat in the following lan- 

 guage : "The Cat is an animal of a high 

 order of intelligence. Its bodily struc- 

 ture alone indicates this. It is a pretty, 

 diminutive lion, a tiger on a small scale. 

 It shows the most complete symmetry 

 of form, no one part of it too large or too 

 small. That its every detail is rounded 

 and beautiful is even shown by an ex- 

 amination of the skull, which is more 

 symmetrical than that of anv other ani- 

 mal. Its movements are undulating and 

 graceful to the extent that it seems to 

 have no bones. We value our Cats too 

 slightly because we detest their thievish 

 propensities, fear their claws and love 

 their enemy, the dog, and we are not 

 able to show equal friendship and admi- 

 ration for those two opposite natures. 



"Let us examine the Cat's qualities. We 

 are impressed by its agility, yet its mind 

 is as flexible as its body. Its cleanliness 

 of habit is as much a matter of mental 

 bias as physical choice, for it is con- 

 stantly licking and cleaning itself. Every 

 hair of its fur must be in perfect order ; 

 it never forgets as much as the tip of 

 its tail. It has a discriminating sensibil- 

 ity as to both color and sound, for it 

 knows man by his dress and by his voice. 

 It possesses an excellent understanding 

 of locality and practices it, for it prowls 

 through an entire neighborhood, through 

 basements and garrets and over roofs 

 and haysheds without bewilderment. It 

 is an ideally local animal, and if the fam- 

 ily moves it either declines to accompany 

 them, or. if carried to a new residence, 

 returns at the first opportunitv to the old 

 homestead ; and it is remarkable how un- 



erringly it will find its way back, even 

 when carried away in a sack for a dis- 

 tance of several miles." 



Large families are the custom with 

 Cats, for usually five or six kittens are 

 born at one time. As these cunning little 

 objects are totally blind for nine days 

 after birth, the devoted mother Cat must 

 work industriously to properly care for 

 them and especially to preserve them 

 from danger. They must be hidden away 

 from harm, as the father Cat would be 

 perfectly willing to devour them, and 

 would attack them as readily as he would 

 a rat or a mouse. The mother Cat lifts 

 her helpless little ones very tenderly by 

 compressing the skin of their necks be- 

 tween her lips and gently carries them 

 to a place of safety. 



While attending to the duties of moth- 

 erhood the Cat is in a sympathetic frame 

 of mind and will sometimes care for the 

 young of other animals as well as for 

 her own. Mr. Brehm tells us that when 

 a boy he brought a little squirrel, yet 

 blind, to one of his Cats, which accepted 

 the strange child axnong her own and 

 tenderly cared for it, and after her own 

 kittens had been given away she regard- 

 ed it with increased affection. They be- 

 came inseparable companions and under- 

 stood each other perfectly, though each 

 talked in its own language. 



Cats frequently form friendships for 

 other animals, and even dogs and Cats 

 become friendly, in spite of the impres- 

 sion to the contrary. 



While living in a large city where 

 yards were small and infrequent, I was 

 the happy owner of a beautiful tree, 

 which stood near the rear of the house. 

 There were many pet Cats in the neigh- 

 borhood, and all delighted to visit my 

 tree. Undoubtedlv some were attracted 

 by the English sparrows which were al- 

 most omnipresent among the upper 

 branches, but all enjoyed clawing, 

 stretching and scratching up the friendly 

 trunk. One day a strange kitten ap- 

 peared, and although smallest and young- 

 est of all the Cats, by its superior in- 

 telligence it soon became king among 

 them and ruled them all, causing many a 

 commotion in the previously tranquil 

 group. This young Cat gained entrance 

 to my next door neighbor's house and 



84 



