DOMESTIC CATS 



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familiar that its utility is sometimes apt to be lost sight of. To realize its useful- 

 ness we must imagine ourselves in a land where no such animal is known, but where 

 the annoying creatures upon which it preys shall have multiplied with that rapidity 

 natural to them. The familiar tale of Whittington may serve to illustrate what 

 would be the effect of its introduction into such a land. It has been calculated that 

 a single cat may devour twenty mice in one day ; but this, of course, is by no means 

 the limit of its powers of destruction. Its effect in putting to flight the creatures it 

 pursues is, again, far in excess of its destructive energy. Were every cat in Eng- 





THE DOMESTIC CAT. 

 (One-sixth natural size.) 



land simultaneously destroyed, the loss through the entailed increase of vermin 

 would be enormous. ' ' 



On account of these invaluable qualities the domestic cat has been introduced 

 into almost every country in the world. There is, however, still some degree of 

 uncertainty as to the period when domesticated cats were first known in Europe, 

 although they were undoubtedly in existence there previously to the Christian 

 era. The Mammal used by the ancient Greeks for the purpose for which we 

 employ the cat, and called by them ailuros, was long considered to be the same as the 



