Mammal Study 



271 



side of the head and are filled with sensitive hairs; they ordinarily open 

 forward, but are capable of movement. The cat's whiskers consist of 

 from twenty-five to thirty long hairs set in four lines, above and at the 

 sides of the mouth; they are connected with sensitive nerves and are 

 therefore true feelers. The cat's fur is very fine and thick, and is also 

 sensitive; as can readily be proved, by trying to stroke it the wrong 

 way. While the wild cats have gray or tawny fur, variously mottled 

 or shaded, the more striking colors we see in the domestic cats are the 

 result of man's breeding. 



Cats are very cleanly in their habits. Puss always washes her face 

 directly after eating, using one paw for a wash-cloth and licking it clean 

 after she rubs her face. She cleans her fur with her rough tongue and 

 also by biting; and she promptly buries objectionable matter. The 

 mother cat is very attentive 

 to the cleanliness of her kit- 

 tens, licking them clean from 

 nose tip to tail tip. The ways 

 of the mother cat with her 

 kittens do much to sustain 

 the assertions of Mr. Seton 

 and Mr. Long that young 

 animals are trained and edu- 

 cated by their parents. The 

 cat brings half-dazed mice to 

 her kittens, that they may 

 learn to follow and catch them 

 with their own little claws. 

 When she punishes them, she 

 cuffs the ears by holding one 

 side of the kitten's head firm 

 with the claws of one foot, 

 while she lays on the blows 

 with the other. She carries her 

 kittens by the nape of the neck, 

 never hurting them. She takes them into the field when they are old 

 enough, and shows them the haunts of mice, and does many things for 

 their education and welfare. The kittens meantime train themselves to 

 agility and dexterity, by playing rough and tumble with each other, and 

 by chasing every small moving object, even to their own tails. 



The cat loves warmth and finds her place beneath the stove or at the 

 hearthside. She likes some people, and dislikes others, for no reason we 

 can detect. She can be educated to be friendly with dogs and with 

 birds. In feeding her, we should give her plenty of sweet milk, some 

 cooked meat and fish of which she is very fond; and we should keep a 

 bundle of catnip to make her happy, for even the larger cats of the wilder- 

 ness seem to have a passionate liking for this herb. The cat laps milk 

 with her rough tongue, and when eating meat, she turns the head this 

 way and that, to cut the tough muscle with her back teeth. 



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''Interested!" 



