XX 



THE PERFECT PET, THE CAT 



" Let Hercules himself do what he may, 

 The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. " 



THE use of the pet as an aid to health has 

 not been considered as it deserves. No in- 

 stinct is truer than that of the unmarried 

 woman of lonely life to surround herself with 

 pets. The companionship of cats and birds 

 in solitary lives has unquestionably kept more 

 people than we suspect out of the insane 

 asylum ; and if friendless men took kindly to 

 them, there would be fewer misers, drunkards, 

 and criminals than there are now. It seems 

 to be the divinely appointed mission of our 

 furred and feathered friends, who never grow 

 gloomy with care, never suffer from envy, am- 

 bition, or any of our soul-destroying vices, to 

 make us forget our worries, to inspire us with 



