THE EGYPTIAN CAT. 24 i 



the thin long tail, and a size of the body perfectly 

 similar with our Felis maniculata. Another simila- 

 rity is its disposition for propagating, under the same 

 roof, for many years, provided the external circum- 

 stances remain unchanged. All this, taken together, 

 must strongly favour the opinion, that Felis manicu- 

 lata is the type of our domestic cat, as the Egyp- 

 tians undoubtedly had domesticated this animal much 

 sooner than the Europeans. Still there are, on the 

 xther hand, among the varieties of our domestic cats, 

 many which have all the characteristic features of the 

 wild cats of our forests, such as few, broad, widely- 

 separated streaks on the head, 8-12 similar streaks 

 on the lateral parts of the animal, the short, thick, 

 and woolly tail, with four or more black rings, and a 

 body larger by one-third, and so forth. 



'' This investigation and comparative view now 

 leads us to the conclusion, that it is with the house 

 cat the same as with other domestic animals ; namely, 

 many people, during the progress and development 

 of social life, while living in totally different cli- 

 mates, had domesticated different small kinds of 

 cats, which, when these people approximated to each 

 other, and intermixed, would equally intermix ; and 

 hence produced those great varieties. At the same 

 time we must bear in mind, that the whole genus 

 of cats, even in a wild state, is susceptible of varying 

 their colour, as has really happened in the case of 

 Felis onca, Linn., and others. Of the former species 

 even perfectly black ones have been found. 



