CAT. 



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should never be lost sight of when we speak of do 

 mesticated animals, and wild races as their probabl 

 parents : wild nature has undergone very grea 

 changes since man first began to domesticate animals 

 and as the places in which civilisation was begun an 

 now, to a greater or less extent, exhausted and deso 

 late, it is by no means improbable, that the paren 

 races of those animals which have been preserved ir 

 a domestic state, have perished from wild nature a; 

 one of the effects of the change. On this point all 

 or nearly all, is of course hypothesis, but it is hypo- 

 thesis which is necessary to a full understanding o 

 the question. 



It is altogether unnecessary to give any description 

 of an animal so very generally known as the domestic 

 cat; but we may mention one or two of the more re- 

 markable varieties, observing that it is just as difficult 

 from their present appearance, to refer them all to one 

 origin, as it is to believe that that origin is the wild 

 cat now met with in this country; and we may add 

 that though there are slight differences of disposition 

 in these varieties, and that the most beautiful are in 

 general also the most gentle in their dispositions, yet 

 that there is much less difference in manners than in 

 appearance, and that those which are best fed and 

 most kindly treated arc invariably the best natured 

 and the most attached. 



The Cat of Aurora is a very beautiful variety, with 

 silvery hair of line silken texture, generally longest 

 on the neck, but also long on the tail. Some are yel- 

 lowish, and others olive, approaching to the colour of 

 the lions ; but they are all delicate creatures, and gentle 

 in their dispositions. It is perhaps worthy of notice, 

 that Butibn attributes the produced hair of this species 

 to the fineness of the climate of Syria, whereas Angora 

 is on the north side of the mountains of Taurus, at a 

 considerable elevation, and exposed to the storms from 

 the Black Sea; and therefore the variations of the cli- 

 mate appear to have more influence in the production 

 or the long fur, if that be a climatal production, than 

 the fine climate ; but Buffon was no philosopher. 

 The annexed figure represents the cat of Angora. 



Cat of Angora. 



The Persian Cat. It is worthy of remark that, in 

 the province of Chorassan in Persia, which is in the 

 north near the mountains, and nearly on the same 

 parallel of latitude with Angora, there is also a spe- 

 cies or rather variety of cat, with the fur very much 

 produced and very silky, perhaps more so than the 

 cat of Angora. This 'Persian variety is, however, 



differently coloured, being of a fine uniform grey on 

 the upper part, with the texture of the fur as soft as 

 silk, and the lustre as glossy ; the colour fades off on 

 the lower part of the sides, and passes into white, or 

 nearly so, on the belly. This is probably one of the 

 most beautiful varieties, and it is said to be exceed- 

 ingly gentle in its manner. 



The Chinese Cat is another variety with the fur 

 beautifully glossed, but it is different from either of 

 those which have been mentioned. It is variegated 

 with black and yellow, and different from most of the 

 race, it has the ears pendulous. 



It would not be easy, at least upon rational grounds, 

 even of analogy, to consider any of these varieties 

 as descended from the wild cat ; and, so far as we 

 are aware, there is not, in all the wide extent of 

 longitude over which they extend, any wild species 

 at all resembling any of them. It is worthy of remark, 

 however, that they all belong to a zone or latitude in 

 which many of the other genera of mammalia that 

 are exposed to the weather, have the hair much pro- 

 duced, and, whether coarser or finer in the staple, 

 uniformly of a silky gloss ; but the information which 

 we possess respecting its natural history, either phy- 

 sical or animal, is neither full nor precise so far as it 

 oes. It is enough to unsettle some of those theories 

 which are stated with sufficient dogmatism, but not 

 enough to substitute more rational ones in their stead. 

 The Tortoise-shell Cat is one of the most beautiful 

 varieties of those which have the fur of moderate 

 length, and without any particular silvery gloss. 

 The colours are, very pure white, black and reddish 

 orange ; and, in this country at least, males thus 

 marked are said to be very rare, though they are 

 abundant in Egypt, and in some parts of the south of 

 Europe. This variety has other qualities to recom- 

 mend it besides the beauty of its colours. Tortoise- 

 shell cats are very elegant, though delicate in their 

 form ; but they are at the same time very active, and 

 among the most attached and grateful of the whole 

 ace. Cats generally, and it should seem those of 

 this colour especially, are much more apt to form 

 attachments to persons, and that not from selfish 

 motives, than the world is disposed to give them 

 credit for. A gentleman in the neighbourhood of 

 London had a tortoise-shell cat which, though he 

 lever fed it, or paid much attention to it, formed an 

 attachment for him equal to that of any dog. It knew 

 lis ring at the bell, and, at whatever time he came 

 lome, it was rubbing against his legs long before the 

 servant came, saw him into the sitting room, and then 

 valked off. It was a very active animal, and usually 

 went bird-catching during the night, but when its 

 master rose, which was generally early in the morn- 

 ng, the cat was always ready to receive him at the 

 door of his room, and accompanied him in his morn- 

 ng walk in the garden, alternately skipping to the 

 ops of the trees, and descending and gamboling 

 xbout him. When he was in his study it used to pay 

 lirn several visits in the day, always short ones, but 

 t never retired till he had recognised it. If rubbing 

 gainst his legs had not the desired effect, it would 

 nount the writing table, nudge his shoulder, and, if 

 hat would not do, pat him on the cheek ; but the 

 moment that he had shaken it by the paw and given 

 t a pat or two on the head, it walked off. When he 

 r'as indisposed, it paid him several visits every day 

 ut never continued in the room ; and although it 

 vas fond of society generally, and also of its food, it 

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