244 "The Book of Cats. 



fering very considerably from an encounter with 

 such a formidable foe." 



A writer on the subject of wild cats says — 

 " When a domesticated creature is no longer 

 found in the wild state anywhere, like the camel 

 and the lama, or when a reasonable scepticism may 

 be entertained respecting the species assumed to 

 be its savage ancestor, as is the case with the dog 

 and the fowl, the steps of all our reasonings march 

 straight into a blind alley, from which there is no 

 issue, except by turning back, I believe that there 

 never was such an animal as a really wild Pussy. 

 The supposition involves an absurdity. Whose 

 legs could she rub in a state of nature .'* On whose 

 arrival could she set up her back, and arch her tail, 

 and daintily tread on the same little spot .^ From 

 what carpet, Kidderminster or Brussels, could she 

 gently pull the threads with her claws .? In what 

 dairy could she skim the cream ? From what 

 larder could she steal cold roast pheasant .^ And 

 if she did not do these things, or some of them, 

 would she be a genuine Puss "i No, no ! I believe 

 that Adam and Eve had a nice little tortolseshell 

 to purr between them, as they sat chatting on a 

 sunny bank, and that a choice pair of tabbies 

 slumbered, with half-shut eyes, and their feet 



