The Book of Cats. 73 



very useful to paralysed persons, who instinctively 

 encourage its approach, and from the touch derive 

 some benefit. Those who suffer from rheumatism 

 often find the presence of a Cat alleviate their 

 sufferings. The same gentleman, writing of a 

 favourite Cat, says, that if a hair of her mistress's 

 head were laid upon the animal's back it would 

 writhe as though in agony, and rolling on the floor, 

 would strive to free herself from the object of her 

 fears. The pointing of a finger at her side, at a 

 distance of half a foot, would cause her fur to 

 bristle up and throw her into a violent tremour. 



It is difficult to account for the fondness of Cats 

 for fish, as nature seems to have given them an ap- 

 petite, which, with their great antipathy to water, 

 they can rarely gratify unassisted. Many instances 

 have, however, been recorded of Cats catching fish. 

 A Mr. Moody, of Sesmond, near Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne, had a Cat in 1829 which had been in his 

 possession for some years, and caught fish with 

 great assiduity, and frequently brought them home 

 alive. Besides minnows and eels, she occasionally 

 carried home pilchards, one of which, about six 

 inches long, was once found in her possession ; she 

 also contrived to teach a neighbour's Cat to fish, 

 and the two were sometimes seen together watching 



