CONCERNING CATS. 171 



erected to its honour. Whenever a cat died, Brand tells 

 us, all the family shaved their eyebrows; and Diodorus 

 Siculus relates that a Roman happening accidentally to kill 

 a cat, the mob immediately gathered round the house 

 where he was, and neither the entreaties of some prmcipal 

 men by the king, nor the fear of the Romans, with whom 

 the Egyptians were then negotiating a peace, could save 

 the man's life. In so much esteem also was it held, that on 

 the death of its owner the favourite cat, or even kitten, was 

 sacrificed, embalmed, and placed in the same sarcophagus. 

 Some few years ago, Mr. E. Long, R.A., exhibited at the 

 Royal Academy a very fine picture of Egyptians idol-making, 

 idol worshippers and sellers ; the lines from Juvenal being 

 descriptive : 



" All know what monsters Egypt venerates ; 

 It worships crocodiles, or it adores 

 The snake-gorged ibis ; and sacred ape 

 Graven in gold is seen. . . . Whole cities pray 

 To cats and fishes, or the dog invoke." 

 Cat—K metal tripod for holding a plate or Dutch oven 

 before the fire. So called because, in whatever posiuon it 

 is placed, it is supported by the spokes; as it is said 

 a cat will always light on its feet, so the plate-holder will 

 stand firmly in any position. These old brass appliances 

 have now gone out of use and are seldom seen, the new 

 mode of "handing round" not requiring them. Another 

 reason, doubtless, is the lowness of the fire compared with 

 the stove of former years, which was high up in the bygone 

 "parlour grate." 



Cat — A cross old woman was called " a cat "; or to a 

 shrewish, the epithet was applied tauntingly. 



*' But will you woo this wild cat ? " 



Taming the Shrew, Act I., Scene 2. 



Cat.—K ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a 

 narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist. It is 

 strongly built, from four to six hundred tons' burden, and 

 employed in the coal trade. 



