134 ^^*^ ^°^^ rf Cats. 



stance that seemed most com^enlent. She was 

 accustomed, after taking her meals, to fetch a piece 

 of paper and lay it over the saucer, or to put her 

 paw in her mistress's pocket and extract her hand- 

 kerchief for the same purpose. This little per- 

 formance showed some depth of reasoning in the 

 creature, but she would sometimes act in a manner 

 totally opposed to rational actions. Paper or hand- 

 kerchief failing, she has been often seen, after partly 

 finishing her meal, to fetch one of her kittens and 

 to lay it over the plate for the purpose of covering 

 up the remaining food. When kitten, paper, and 

 handkerchief were all wanting, she did her best to 

 scratch up the carpet and lay the fragments over 

 the plate. She has been known, in her anxiety to 

 find a covering for the superabundant food, to drag 

 a tablecloth from its proper locality, and to cause 

 a sad demolition of the superincumbent fragile 

 ware. Please to remember that I have the above 

 upon Mr. Wood's authority, not my own. 



Regarding the attachment of Cats to places, the 

 following remarks of the late Rev. Caesar Otway, 

 in his lecture on the Intellectuality of Domestic 

 Animals before the Royal Zoological Society of 

 Ireland, some years ago, deserve attention. " Of 

 Cats," he says, "time does not allow me to say 



