THE CAT KIND. 65 



usual haunts, and, pursuing the course of those singular 

 little animals, preys on them to the last. 



THE CAT KIND. 



In this genus are included some of the most formidable 

 animals in our lower creation. The lion, the tiger, the 

 leopard, the ounce, and the lynx, belong to this fierce 

 and rapacious family. They are all remarkable for the 

 sharpness and strength of their claws, which they can 

 contract or protrude at pleasure. They are likewise dis- 

 tinguished for the roundness of their heads, the shortness 

 of their snouts, and the whiskers which grow on their 

 upper lips. They lead a ravenous and solitary life : and 

 are neither susceptible of friendship with each other, nor 

 of attachment to man. Even the common cat has very 

 little sense of obligation ; and unlike the dog, is neither 

 patient under injuries nor mindful of favours. 



THE COMMON CAT. 



This animal is too well known to require any elaborate 

 description. It is the only one of its genus that has been 

 taken under the protection of man, or made him the least 

 return for his trouble by its services. The female goes 

 with young fifty-six days, and brings forth five or six 

 kittens at a time. They live till about the age of ten 

 years : though I am acquainted with an instance of a cas- 

 trated male having reached the thirty-second year of his 

 age ; and which, indeed, till within the last twelve months, 

 was active and industrious in pursuit of its prey. 



The kitten is the most sportive of all animals, but as it 

 grows up it loses every amiable feature of character, and 

 all the innate treachery of its kind becomes visible. 

 Though taught by education to disguise its propensities, 

 it only waits for a favourable moment to throw off the 

 mask, and to indulge its native rapacity. The cat has only 

 the semblance of attachment ; and the assiduity which it 

 shows is rather to gain favour than a desire to afford 

 pleasure. It hunts for birds, and many of the smaller 



