364 THE CAT. [CHAP. x. 



cartilages develop processes which extend inwards, and lay the 

 foundations of the maxillo-turbinal bones. In the descending plates 

 of the ethmo-vomerine cartilage, the median and lateral ethmoid bones 

 become developed. 



18. Thus all the various parts and organs of the adult animal 

 are gradually developed. But it is only by degrees that the fully 

 mature form is attained, the proportions of the head, limbs, and tail 

 of the kitten being obviously different from those of the full-grown 

 cat. Still the young animal is substantially similar to the old, even 

 in appearance, for, though blind, it is covered at birth with a hairy 

 coat, more or less resembling that of one or other of its parents. 



But although the young one at birth is evidently a young cat, the 

 process by which the substance of the fertilised ovum has grown into 

 a kitten is a wonderfully circuitous one. For a certain time the 

 embryo cannot be said to bear any resemblance to its ultimate form, 

 while for a considerable period that resemblance is but a very general 

 and obscure one. Even the various organs, such as the brain, 

 heart, &c., are, when first formed, not the brain, heart, &c., of a 

 cat, nor does the course taken by the primitive blood-vessels corre- 

 spond with that of the blood-vessels of the adult. These transitory 

 conditions have, however (strange as it may appear to any readers 

 as yet unfamiliar with such subjects) resemblances and analogies 

 with structural conditions which are permanent in quite other crea- 

 tures in animals, that is, very different both in appearance and 

 nature from the cat. 



This curious fact is one of great significance, and it is one of much 

 utility to us. Its utility we shall appreciate when we consider what 

 is the cat's place in nature a question which the phenomena of its 

 development will help us to determine. The full significance, how- 

 ever, of the developmental process will only appear when, at the 

 end of our inquiry, we apply ourselves to the consideration of 

 the problem of the cat's pedigree and origin. 



