94 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



which they arc killed on the spot. Nevertheless, 

 the fact is generally true, for they know how to 

 turn and twist while falling, so that the center 

 of gravity gets placed in such a way as to oblige 

 the body to make a half turn at the last, bring- 

 ing the feet to the ground. A cat once fell 

 from the fifth story of a house, and though be- 



How stealthily, treacherously, it creeps along, 

 like the cunning thief it is ! . . . 



Buffon, as we see, was no friend to cats ; 

 but long before his day they had cruel enemies 

 who fought them more directly. In 1747 

 Archbishop Clement Augustus of Cologne 

 published an edict that all cats should have 



wildered for a moment, picked itself up quickly their ears cut off. This singular measure was 



intended to protect hares and young pheasants. 

 The poor maimed creatures would no longer 

 go marauding, or what is still more probable, 

 the subjects of the prelate would feel 

 their affection for the animal cool- 

 ing after such disfigurement. 

 Moreover, every ear not cut 

 off was subject to a fine of 

 a quarter of a florin. 

 Madame de Custine, a 

 great friend of cats, took 

 up their defense. She 

 wrote, among others, to 

 Champfleury, another 

 friend of pussy, saying that 

 they deserved to be placed 

 efore dogs, whose attachment 

 nd fidelity was too mechanical, 

 whereas we could not too much ad- 

 mire the independence of cats. 



There are many extravagant judg- 

 ments pronounced by partisans and 

 should love to paint the figure of a seated cat adversaries of the feline race. The sportsman, 

 beside the old dame knitting near the cradle in especially, cries out, " Death to cats ! " It is 

 a tranquil home ! true that these animals can and do cause great 



damage to game and poultry. The wild cats 

 XII. For and Against ^^st certainly be regarded as beasts of prey, 



In all that we have so far said there is surely deserving of antipathy and of all the measures 

 no ground for an injunction against cats; the taken for their destruction; but the domestic 

 fors certainly have it all their own way. But cat, provided it is not left to care for itself, 

 let us now turn our eyes to the againsts. We does not do the mischief that many persons 

 will take Buffon to witness. He does not spare imagine. In any case, it is easy to take effectual 

 poor pussy ; he thinks her " an animal that measures against it without resorting to tor- 

 deserves no confidence ; which should be kept tures, such as setting traps, or to open murder 

 only from necessity, to guard against another by means of dogs. 



and scampered away. 



A cat seated is an ideal image of repose. 

 No other animal conveys such an impression of 

 perfect rest and quiet meditation. The 

 dog, which is much nearer to man 

 by reason of his development 

 cannot equal the cat in that 

 position. The graceful 

 pose, the perpendicular 

 front slope, the hind legs 

 wrapped by the supple 

 tail, the short and vigor- 

 ous neck meeting the 

 back in a pretty little 

 curve, and the beautiful 

 round head with its pointed 

 ears give to the seated cat a 

 singularly peaceful air, to which 

 the contented expression of its neatly 

 cut face contributes much. Is it sur- 

 prising that the artist's eye has been 

 so struck by this attitude that he 



" They mean to fling 

 ME into the Water" 



unpleasant animal — the mouse. At night, 

 instead of sleeping near its master," contin- 

 ues the learned naturalist, " it rambles off, 

 through woods and fields, pursuing and de- 

 stroying game. How many nests it ruins ! 



The usefulness of the cat after death is 

 relatively small, provided we except the intes- 

 tines, which are used for making violin strings, 

 and the pelt, which appears in commerce as a 

 real fur. 



