DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 17 



on earth, not even excepting man. 



4. The Cat. 



The domesticated cat has come from the wild 

 cat — not the American wild cat, however, for the 

 cat was domesticated long before America was 

 discovered by the white people. 



Some wild cats have long tails and some have 

 bob tails. The domesticated cat is, of course, 

 from some long-tailed species, probably the wild 

 cat of northern Africa. 



The cat has not been domesticated so long as 

 the dog, and it has not been selected so much for 

 its devotion and intelligence. Its business thru 

 the ages has been to destroy certain small invad- 

 ers of human homes, such as mice, and incident- 

 ally to warm the human heart by its musical purr. 

 Notwithstanding its unimproved nature, it is gen- 

 erally regarded as a desirable ornament of the hu- 

 man fireside. 



The cat and dog are the only flesh-eating an- 

 imals domesticated by man. The cheetah, a kind 

 of leopard, is sometimes used in hunting, but not 

 very successfully. The Romans domesticated the 

 weasel. 



All other domesticated animals, besides the dog 

 and cat, are either hoofed animals, birds, fishes, or 

 insects. 



5. The Horse. 



In the long and arduous journey from savagery 

 to civilization, the horse has borne a noble and in- 



