4.2 The Book of Cats. 



culties. Cats, however, will never smell the same 

 thing twice over, thereby showing a retentive as well 

 as an acquiring faculty. Then to speak of what 

 may be learned from their mere form and ordinary 

 motions, so full of beauty and gracefulness. What 

 Cat was ever awkward or clumsy } Whether in 

 play or in earnest, Cats are the very embodi- 

 ment of elegance. As your Cat rubs her head 

 against something you offer her, which she either 

 does not fancy or does not want, she instructs you 

 that there is a gracious mode of refusing a thing ; 

 and as she sits up like a bear, on her hind legs, to 

 ask for something (which Cats will often do for a 

 long time together), you may see the advantage of 

 a winning and engaging way, as w^ell when you are 

 seeking a favour as when you think fit to decline 

 one. If true courtesy and considerateness should 

 prevent you not merely from positively hurting 

 another, but also from purposely clashing, say, 

 with another's fancies, peculiarities, or predilections, 

 this too, may be learned from the Cat, who does 

 not Hke to be rubbed the wrong way (who does like 

 to be rubbed the wrong way }), and who objects to 

 your treading on her tail. Nor is the soft foot, 

 with its skilfully sheathed and ever sharp claws, 

 without a moral too ; for whilst there is nothing 



