THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



RECREATIVE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE CA.T FAMILY. 



THE domestic cat is generally a family pet, but not always 

 deservedly so, for it occasionally plays the thief if there be any 

 toothsome morsel within sight or smell, and no one there to ! 

 watch it. But notwithstanding this frailty, it is generally so 

 quiet and unobtrusive, remaining on the hearth for hours with- ! 

 .out once giving any sign of its presence, and, moreover, so ! 

 useful in keeping down the mice, that few householders like to 

 .be without one. Far below the dog in vigour and intelligence, I 

 >it is nevertheless an animal of extreme interest, for it seems 

 still to have most of the wild instincts of the tribe to which it 

 belongs. 



Just watch Puss while trying to catch that unwary fly which ! 

 has alighted on the floor. With eyes keenly fixed on its j 

 intended prey, and nose to the ground, it stealthily advances 

 to within springing distance, then at one bound it has brought 

 a paw down on the insect, and in the next instant it is eating 

 it with apparent relish. Its game generally is of larger kind, 

 -and not so easily caught. A sparrow, tempted by the crumbs 

 thrown out of doors, has ventured to come for its humble meal. 

 While it is busy pecking at these fragments, Puss, who has seen 

 the bird arrive, is revolving in its feline mind how it may f 

 encompass the sparrow's destruction. It advances quietly and 

 very cautiously, under cover of every object that happens to bo j 

 nn the way of it and the bird, and when it has reached its last 

 vantage ground, makes a spring, which is the first intimation : 

 the bird has received of its presence. For a moment the 

 sparrow is paralysed, then it shrieks out in terror, while Puss 

 cruelly carries it away. This game the cat plays at with 

 greater freedom if it can have access to a neighbouring garden 

 or orchard. There it will move noiselessly about, ever on the 

 alert for any game that may turn up. Did you ever see it 

 capture a mouse ? How it has curled its tail preparatory to 

 the spring ! And what a savage growl it has uttered when it 

 lias got the stupefied creature within its grasp ! These are the 

 qualities tivo cat has in common with the tiger of Indian jungles 

 and the lion of African deserts, and we find it well fitted for 

 the work. The cat has very acute hearing, especially for those 

 rihrill sounds which mice omit, and any approach to such a 

 aound will instantly take its attention, which is shown by its 

 turning an oar towards the direction whence it supposes the 

 sound to have come. Ages of domesticity have not caused it 

 to lose control over its ear muscles. It is mentioned by Darwin j 

 fthat cats which are entirely white and have blue eyes are 

 generally deaf, but ho further adds that it has been stated by j 

 Mr. Tait that this peculiarity is confined to the males. The 

 domestic cat is easy and graceful in its movements. Pettigrew 

 tias pointed out as a curious fact in animal locomotion that if 

 one observes a cat from above when walking, a continuous 

 wave of movement is observed travelling along the spine from 

 before backwards, a movement which characterises the walk of 

 other quadrupeds, and which results from the diagonal order in 

 -which they lay down their feet when walking. He points out 

 that this movement closely resembles the crawling of the 

 serpent and the swimming of the eel. The cat's sight is good, and 

 appears to be adapted for seeing with a minimum amount of 

 light in its nocturnal prowlings. Its feet are specially adapted 

 'both for silently treading along, and also for seizing and tearing 

 its prey. Observe it when stretching itself against a table- 

 leg or other upright piece of wood; its claws are then ex- 

 tended, and frequently leave their marks, to the no small 

 -.annoyance of the good housewife. Ordinarily the claws are 

 drawn in, so that if you feel at the under-*urfaee of the foot it 

 appears quite soft, the doubled-up claw of each toe having a 

 oft cushion under it ; this it is which makes its tread so noise- 

 less. The claw is doubled up without any exertion on the part 

 of the cat, so that when it makes its spring on its prey a special 

 snuscle is called into play which causes them to be extended. 



These are characteristics of the whole family of cats, which 

 includes the lion, tiger, panther, leopard, ounce, serval, jaguar, 

 puma, and ocelot, &c., for they have all the noiseless footfall, and 

 the peculiar claws which are retracted whon running, walking, 

 or jumping, but protracted when springing on their prey. They 

 -walk on their toes, and are therefore said to bo digitigrade, as 

 opposed to plantigrade (from Latin, gradior, I walk, and planta, 

 ^he sole of the foot), a name given to those carnivores which 



apply the sole of the foot to the ground like the bear. Their 

 heads are round ; jaws short and powerful, armed with teeth, 

 and their tongues like files, rough, with horny papillas directed 

 backwards, which serve to scrape off the last remains of flesh 

 from any bone they may be licking. Their long whiskers aro 

 very sensitive organs of touch, and they have a keen sense cf 

 smell. The family is a carnivorous or flesh-eating one, and 

 along with some other families of animals, forms the great order 

 of carnivora. 



The cats i.e., lion, tiger, panther, &c. have, in common with 

 other carnivora, short intestines, which results from their flesh- 

 eating habits : a wonderful adaptation of the alimentary 

 apparatus to the kind of food habitually eaten by these animals. 

 The shortness of the intestinal canal appears all the more 

 wonderful when we contrast its length with that of the intestines 

 possessed by herbivorous animals like the sheep and cow ; thus 

 in the cat tribe the intestinal tube is not more than three times 

 the length of the whole body, whereas in many herbivorous 

 animals it is thirty times as long as the body. 



We may now proceed to give a short account of some of the 

 more important members of the cat, or Felidte family. 



The lion has for long been regarded as the "king of beasts," 

 as the symbol of courage and strength, and it is perhaps on this 

 account that more tales have been told of its daring and prowess 

 than of any other animal, if wo except the dog. How far these 

 narratives may have been true it is at times difficult to decide, 

 even if one were disposed to disprove and take away the charm 

 of stories of the Androcles class. It appears under the most 

 trying circumstance? to preserve a noble and dignified bearing, 

 as if conscious of the enormous strength it can put forth when 

 required, a strength so great that it has been known to carry a 

 heifer in its mouth as easily as a cat would a rat, and has even 

 leapt over a fence or ditch with its burden. Some of its traits 

 are very well shown in the accounts that have been given of it 

 by travellers of undoubted veracity. Livingstone's experience 

 was both startling and interesting. He had just fixed on the 

 valley of Mabotsa in South Africa as a suitable place for 

 establishing a mission station, when he was informed that 

 several lions had been destroying the cattle of the natives. 

 Livingstone at once proceeded to help the people to exterminate 

 the animals. They were traced to a small wooded hill, which 

 the natives surrounded, and, with the intention of driving the 

 lions into a favourable position for firing at, they beat through 

 the underwood. Livingstone had fired at one of the animals, 

 and was just reloading, when he was startled by the warning 

 cry of his comrades, and upon looKing round for the cause, he 

 saw a lion just in the act of springing on him. He thus 

 graphically describes the situation : 



" I was upon a little height. He caught my shoulder as he 

 sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. 

 Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier 

 dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that 

 which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the 

 cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no 

 sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all 

 that was happening. It was like what patients partially under 

 the influence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, 

 but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the 

 result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and 

 allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This 

 peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the 

 carnivora ; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent 

 Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to 

 relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of 

 my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, a native school- 

 master, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or 

 fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels ; 

 the lion immediately left me, and attacking Mebalwe, bit his 

 thigh. Another man, whose hip I had cured before, after he 

 had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while 

 he was biting Mebalwe ; he left Mebalwe and caught this man 

 by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets he had received 

 took effect, and ho fell down dead." Livingstone on this 

 occasion got off with one of his bones crunched to splinters, and 

 with eleven teeth wounds in his arm. Now there is every pro- 

 bability that if any other animal had been similarly placed to 

 Livingstone, it would have been instantly despatched. The lion 

 seems to have an instinctive fear of man, even when it has him 



