260 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



boy who wrote in his composition, " A kitten is 

 chiefly remarkable for rushing like mad at nothing 

 whatever, and generally stopping before it gets 

 there," should have made a great naturalist. Like 

 Gilbert White, he knew how to observe. 



A female cat is kept young in spirit and supple 

 in body by the restless vivacity of her kittens. She 

 plays with her little ones, fondles them, pursues 

 them if they roam too far, and corrects them 

 sharply for all the faults to which feline infancy is 

 heir. A kitten dislikes being washed quite as much 

 as a child does, especially in the neighbourhood 

 of its ears. It tries to escape the infliction, rolls 

 away, paddles with its little paws, and behaves as 

 naughtily as it knows how, until a smart slap brings 

 it suddenly back to subjection. Pussy has no con- 

 fidence in moral suasion, but implicitly follows Solo- 

 mon's somewhat neglected advice. I was once told 

 a pleasant story of an English cat who had reared 

 several large families, and who, dozing one day 

 before the nursery fire, was disturbed and an- 

 noyed by the whining of a fretful child. She bore 

 it as long as she could, waiting for the nurse to in- 

 terpose her authority ; then, finding passive endur- 

 ance had outstripped the limits of her patience, 

 she arose, crossed the room, jumped on the sofa, 

 and twice with her strong soft paw, which had 

 chastised many an erring kitten, deliberately boxed 



