? 4 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



the common Cat will frequently lay hold of a morsel 

 with her claws, which she cannot otherwise reach, 

 and convey it to her mouth. We have seen a Cat 

 which, in the presence of the family, frequently per- 

 formed a feat with these organs which would seem 

 to require great strength, precision, and agility. In 

 the boards of the kitchen floor was a round hole, 

 about two inches in diameter ; here the Cat would 

 sit and watch the rats as they ran to and fro on 

 the earth about six inches below the floor ; at length 

 she would dash down one paw, and seldom failed to 

 bring up a rat through the hole with her talons. 



The Cats are furnished on each side of the face 

 with a series of long and stiff projecting bristles, 

 (vibrissce,) often absurdly called smellers, imbedded 

 in a soft elastic pad. They appear to be organs of 

 feeling, and to be endowed with great sensibility. 

 Of the other senses, their sight is acute, especially 

 during night, and their hearing still more developed, 

 but they derive little aid from the organs of smell. 



It has been wisely ordained, however, that with 

 all these advantages of physical force, their intellec- 

 tual powers are by no means commensurate. "Were 

 it not for that degradation in their mental faculties, 

 which renders them incapable of employing their 

 physical powers in concert with each other, what 

 ravages would they not be enabled to commit ? 

 What could resist their prodigious and destructive 

 force, if that force were accompanied by the sagacity 

 of the Dog, or even of the Wolf ? But it has been 

 wisely provided that in the same proportion as these 



