THE CAT. 63 



light. It is remarkably cleanly in its nature : its hair 

 is glossy, smooth, and sleak ; and, when forcibly rub- 

 bed in the dark, emits electrical sparks. 



The wild cat is something larger than the tame kind j 

 but, from the fur being longer, it appears much supe- 

 rior in size : its teeth and claws are much more formi- 

 dable ; its head is bigger, and its face more flat. The 

 general colour of this animal in England is a yellowish 

 white, intermixed with grey. It inhabits the most 

 mountainous and woody parts of the island ; feeds only 

 by night, and lives in trees. It is one of those few 

 quadrupeds which is common to the nens as well as to 

 the old continent, for when Columbus first discovered 

 that country, a hunter brought him one that he had 

 found in the woods : they are common likewise in 

 many parts of Africa and Asia, and the colour of some 

 of them is inclining to blue. In Chorazan, a province 

 of Persia, there is a species of this animal with a most 

 beautiful skin ; the colour is a greyish blue, and nothing 

 can exceed the lustre and softness of its skin : the tail 

 curls upon the back like a squirrel's, and the hair upon 

 it is at least six inches in length. Another variety of 

 this creature is called the lion-cat, or, more properly, 

 the cat of Angora : these are larger than either the 

 tame or the wild cat ; their hair is longer, and hangs 

 about their head and neck so as to give the creature 

 an appearance of a lion ; in general, the "animal is 

 white, though sometimes it takes a dun hue. 



THE LION. 



Though man can endure both heat and cold, and his 

 constitution in general is not materially affected by the 

 clime, yet all inferior animals in the creation derive 

 health and vigour from their native air. The rein-deer 

 thrives but in its fields of ice ; and the lion degenerates 



