400 THE WILD CAT CHAP. 
Scotland. Plenty of alleged wild Cats have been seen and even 
shot ; but these are too frequently merely feral Cats, 7.e. domestic 
tabbies which have reverted to a hunting life. The real Wild 
Cat differs from the domestic races by the proportionately longer 
body and limbs, the shorter and thicker tail; the pads of the 
toes are not quite black. The period of the gestation of the 
Wild Cat, according to Mr. Cocks, is a week or so longer than 
that of any domestic Cat. 
The Domestic Cat is in fact regarded as the descendant of the 
Eastern F. caffra, or (perhaps and) the closely-allied F. maniculata. 
It is highly probable, however, that after introduction into this 
country as a domestic animal it has interbred with the Wild Cat. 
Many allied species of Cats will interbreed, even two so far 
apart as the Lion and the Tiger. There are interesting archaeo- 
logical and linguistic reasons for regarding the Domestic Cat as 
an importation. The legend of Dick Whittington’s Cat points 
to it being a rare and valuable animal, which a tamed F. catus 
would not at that time have been. There was an enactment in 
Wales of a penalty against him who should kill the king’s Cat, 
again suggestive of its rarity and consequent value. The very 
name “Puss” is a hint of a foreign origin. Some would derive 
it from Perse, and upon this is based the notion that the Cat is 
from Persia. But it seems that Puss is the same as Pasht and 
Bubastis, showing so far an EKeyptian origin for the animal. The 
ancestral Cats mentioned above are natives of Egypt.' 
The genus Cynaelurus, which includes but a single species, 
C. jubatus, the Cheetah or Hunting Leopard, is separated from 
Felis by a number of characters. In the first place the claws 
are non-retractile, or at least less retractile than those of the 
true Cats. It is, moreover, longer legged. The molar is more in 
a line with the other teeth of the jaw, and the upper carnassial 
tooth has no inner tubercle. Messrs. Windle and Parsons have 
lately pointed out many Dog-like features in the muscles. This 
animal is about as large as a Leopard, but has plain black spots. 
As its vernacular name implies it is used for sport, and is quite 
easily tameable. It will purr lke the Puma. The Cheetah 
occurs in India, Persia, Turkestan, and also in Africa; the latter 
1 See E. Hamilton, The Wild Cat of Europe, London, Porter, 1896 ; and M. G. 
Watkins, Gleanings from the Natural History of the Ancients, London, Elliot Stock, 
1896. 
