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XI. 



DOGS AND CATS. 



It is hard to say which is the most won- 

 derful, to see how a dog's intelligence can 

 be developed by companionship with man or 

 to look at a Great Dane and a toy terrier 

 together, and to remember that both breeds 

 have by man's agency been produced from 

 the same original stock. 



Cats, on the other hand, have never left 

 their wild nature far behind, and can easily 

 return to it, as indeed they often do. Dogs 

 are almost entirely dependent on their 

 human friends, but most cats do something 

 for their living, and some without going wild 

 will find all their own food. I remember 

 one cat in particular that did this; she was 

 an old cat when first I came, and lived on 

 with me for more than fourteen years. As 

 long as she was strong and able to hunt she 

 never came into the house and never asked 

 for food (she was tame enough when she 

 met us out of doors) it was only when she 

 got to be old and feeble that she turned to 

 us and learnt to value the warmth of a fire- 

 side. She must have been 20, and may well 

 have been nearer 25 when she died, and her 

 great age showed itself plainly by every 

 outward sign. In her prime she was a large, 

 handsome animal, but she dwindled down to 



