THE DOMESTIC CAT 



Saturday Review thought that he was able to interpret 

 its utterance as a protest against captivity. What 

 was proved, however, is the power of caterwauling in 

 a voice not inferior in variety of tones to that of domestic 

 pussy. To the casual onlooker the true wild cat of 

 Europe does not differ widely from many specimens of 

 domestic cats. It is difficult, indeed, to distinguish with 

 absolute certainty some so-called domestic cats from 

 a genuine wild specimen. This does not in the least 

 prove that the tame cat and the wild cat are the same 

 speices ; that idea admits of disproof, which we shall 

 set forth presently. What it undoubtedly does prove 

 is the close interbreeding for many generations of the 

 two stocks. So intertwined nowadays are the two 

 races that it is better to speak of both, and not limit 

 ourselves to one. As to the real wild cat, it has been 

 extinct in England since, at any rate, 1843 ; indeed, 

 some put its final disappearance much earlier. The 

 late Rev. H. A. Macpherson considered that historical 

 evidence placed the death of the last wild cat in the 

 Lake district, which would naturally have harboured 

 cats for a longer period than more cultivated tracts, 

 as long ago as 1754. Pennant, so well known as the 

 correspondent of Gilbert White, termed the animal the 

 " British tiger," a name well earned by its ferocity, 

 and perhaps by its size relative to the domestic cat. 

 The amount of spitting and swearing which will prob- 

 ably greet a prolonged attention to a caged cat at the 

 Zoo, will amply bear out the justice of Pennant's name. 

 Not an atom of white hair is ever to be found about the 

 true wild cat ; but other positive differences, owing to 

 the repeated crossings already referred to, are prac- 

 tically wanting. 



It may be asked, however, how it is that if cats have 

 been common in this country in the past though rare 

 now, our domestic variety is not an offshoot from 



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