240 THE EGYPTIAN CAT. 



cat of the ancient Egyptians. It is a well known 

 fact, that this nation, of which nothing now remains 

 hut some monuments, had brought up the cat to he 

 a domestic animal, as may he judged hy the cat- 

 mummies, and their representations on the monu- 

 ments of Thebes *." 



A question arises now, whether this domestic rat 

 might have been bequeathed or transferred hy the 

 Egyptians to the contemporary civilized Europeans ? 

 Great difficulties lie in the way of giving a satisfac- 

 tory answer to this question, in as far as there are 

 such great varieties of cats to be met with among 

 us, as to make it no easy matter to decide, by the 

 aid of drawings, and an account of figure, which of 

 them is to be considered as the type for our domestic 

 animal. We have strictly compared the wild cat of 

 Nubia with our own domestic cat, and, after a careful 

 examination, found that there is among us a kind of 

 grey- white cat. possessed of the principal features of 

 the Fells maniculata; such as the eight small streaks 

 on the forehead, the two streaks running along the 

 cheeks, and the two rings around the chest, and 

 likewise ih ' cross streaks and hands on the extre- 

 mities. We have farther observed in the same kind 



* See Description de PEgypte, Hypagees" de Thebes, 

 vol. ii. planche 45. No. 14. a cat represented; again, in the 

 same volume, planche 51. No. 3, a cat's mummy, and, 

 planche 54. No. 7, the skeleton of a cat's mummy, which, 

 from thesizeof its body, form of its head, and, above all, from 

 its long tail, may be considered as in perfect accordance 

 jrilh our Felis maniculata. 



