CONCERNING CATS 



HISTORY does not record the name of the 

 person who first conceived the idea of 

 domesticating the cat. All we know with 

 certainty is that the individual in question 

 was not an Englishman. Some people, learned in phil- 

 ology, assert that pussy was first domesticated in 

 Persia. The evidence upon which this theory is 

 based is the name "Puss/' which is alleged to be a 

 corruption of " Perse." Personally, I would not hang 

 a dog, much less consign a cat to Persia, upon such 

 evidence. 



Wherever it was first domesticated, the cat soon 

 came to occupy a high position in human esteem. 

 This is proved by the fact that cat mummies have 

 been discovered in Egypt, where temples were dedi- 

 cated to the quadruped. How the creature succeeded 

 in thus ingratiating itself is a mystery to me. I have 

 studied the ways of the animal for some years, and 

 have been unable to discover a shred of respectability 

 about pussy's character. It is true that I admire the 

 magnificent way in which the cat always falls on its 

 feet when thrown out of the window. I once saw a cat 

 flung from the third floor "of a London house. Puss fell 



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