242 



ORNAMENTAL CATS 



dwellings, and the celebrated naturalist Temminck, in his mono- 

 graph of the genus Felis, adduces strong evidence of the cat being 

 originally domesticated in Egypt ; also that the gloved cat (F. 

 maniculata) of Egypt and Nubia is, in all probability, the original 

 stock of the domestic cat, though the race has been much modified 

 by crossing. The wild cat of Europe, therefore, has been regarded 

 as the domestic cat returned to the wild state rather than its original 

 stock, and is occasionally found in large woods. 



Cats, regardless of breed, may be divided into two classes : 

 i. Ornamental. 2. Useful. 



ORNAMENTAL CATS are notable for youthful sportiveness and 

 fondness of being handled, petted and nursed, gentle demureness 

 of manner in after life, highly sensitive and fond of ease, and evinc- 

 ing little anxiety except for comfortable quarters and the continu- 

 ance of enjoyment. Docile, tractable, and even good-tempered 

 drawing-room, kitchen, and other well-taken-care-of-and-much- 



TtwTcteAjo* Cardboard^ (Jin cter beet urifh Thorns. 



Jt.fl. Alt>otyc .. _f _ -- . - ttm 



FIG. 134. CAT GUARDS. 



