THE CAT KIND. 



29) 



that the females of the tame kind go into the 

 woods to seek mates among the wild ones. 

 It should seem, that these, however, are not 

 original inhabitants of this kingdom, but were 

 introduced first in a domestic state, and af- 

 terwards became wild in the woods, by ill 

 usage or neglect. Certain it is, the cat was 

 an animal much higher in esteem among our 

 ancestors than it is at present. By the laws 

 of Howel, the price of a kitten, before it could 

 see, was to be a penny ; till it caught a mouse, 

 two-pence ; and when it commenced mouser, 

 four-pence : it was required, besides, that it 

 should be perfect in its senses of hearing and 

 seeing, be a good mouser, have the claws 

 whole, and be a good nurse. If it failed in 

 any of these qualities, the seller was to for- 

 feit to the buyer the third part of its value. 

 If any one stole or killed the cat that guard- 

 ed the prince's granary, he was to forfeit a 

 milch ewe, its fleece and lamb, or as much 

 wheat as when poured on the cat, suspended 

 by the tail, (the head touching the floor,) would 

 form a heap high enough to cover the tip of 

 the former. From hence we discover, besides 

 a picture of the simplicity of the times, a strong 

 argument that cats were not naturally bred 

 in our forests. An animal that could have 

 been so easily taken, could never have been 

 rated so highly ; and the precautions laid 

 down to improve the breed, would have been 

 superfluous, in a creature that multiplies to 

 such an amazing degree. 



"In our climate, we know but of one varie- 

 ty of the wild cat : and, from the accounts of 

 travellers, we learn, that there are but very 

 few differences in this quadruped in all parts 

 of the world. The greatest difference,indeed, 

 between the wild and the tame cat, is rather 

 to be found internally than in their outward 

 form. Of all other quadrupeds, the wild cat 

 is, perhaps, that whose intestines are pro- 

 portionably the smallest and the shortest. 

 The intestines of the sheep, for instance, un- 

 ravelled out, and measured according to their 

 length, will be found to be above thirty times 

 the length of its body; whereas, the wild cat's 

 intestines being measured out, will not be 

 found above three times the length of its body. 

 This is a surprising difference; but we may 

 account for it, from the nature of the food in 

 the two animals ; the one living upon vegeta- 



No. 25 & 26. 



bles, which require a longer, and a more te- 

 dious preparation, before they can become a 

 part of its body ; the other, living upon flesh, 

 which requires very little alteration, in order 

 to be assimilated into the substance of the 

 creature that feeds upon it. The one, there- 

 fore, wanted a long canal for properly digest- 

 ing and straining its food ; the other, but a 

 short one, as the food is already prepared to 

 pass the usual secretions : however, a diffi- 

 culty still remains behind ; the intestines of 

 the wild cat are, by one-third, shorter than 

 those of the tame. How can we account for 

 this? If we say that the domestic cat, living 

 upon more nourishing and more plentiful pro- 

 vision, has its intestines enlarged to the quan- 

 tity with which it is supplied, we shall find 

 this observation contradicted in the wild boar 

 and the wolf, whose intestines are as long as 

 those of the hog or the dog, though they lead 

 a savage life, and, like the wild cat, are fed 

 by precarious subsistence. The shortness, 

 therefore, of the wild cat's intestines, is still 

 unaccounted for ; and most naturalists con- 

 sider the difficulty as inextricable. We must 

 leave it, therefore, as one of those difficulties 

 which future observation or accident are most 

 likely to discover. 



This animal is one of those few which are 

 common to the new continent, as well as the 

 old. When Christopher Columbus first dis- 

 covered that country, a hunter brought him 

 one, which he had discovered in the woods, 

 which was of the ordinary size, the tail very 

 long and thick. They were common also in 

 Peru, although they were not rendered do- 

 mestic. They are well known also in several 

 parts of Africa, and many parts of Asia. In 

 some of these countries they are of a peculiar 

 colour, and inclining to blue. In Persia, Pie- 

 tro dello Valle informs us, that there is a kind 

 of cat, particularly in the province of Chora- 

 zan, of the figure and form of the ordinary one, 

 but infinitely more beautiful in the lustre and 

 colour of its skin. It is of a gray blue, with- 

 out mixture, and is soft and shining as silk. 

 The tail is very long, and covered with hair 

 six inches long, which the animal throws upon 

 its back, like the squirrel. These cats are well 

 known in France; and have been brought over 

 into England, under the name of the blue cat, 

 which, however, is not their colour. 

 3A 



