FELIS. 



age, from the slightest soil ; and the most 

 elegant and splendid furniture being in no 

 danger from annoyance by them. The 

 female is frequentlyobliged to conceal her 

 young from the male, to preclude their 

 being injured and even devoured by him; 

 yet, in some instances, the female herself 

 has been ascertained, in opposition to one 

 of the most grand and prevailing instincts 

 of nature, to eat them immediately on 

 producing them ; in general, however, 

 the young are nursed with particular at- 

 tention and affection, and the accommo- 

 dation of the parent to the sportive pro- 

 pensities and varying gambols of the kit- 

 ten constitutes to the humane, and even 

 the philosophic mind, an interesting spec- 

 tacle. With respect to human beings, 

 even those which have long protected 

 and befriended it, the cat appears little 

 susceptible of kind attachment on the 

 change of habitations, quitting the family 

 with which it had always lived, and re- 

 turning to apartments to which, indeed, 

 it had been long used, but where it could 

 recognize no human friend. In this re- 

 spect its manners exhibit a most disad- 

 vantageous contrast to those of the dog, 

 which are in the highest degree social, 

 affectionate, and grateful. The cat, how- 

 ever, often lives in habits of friendly in- 

 tercourse with various animals in a state 

 of similar domestication with itself, and 

 to which, in a state of nature, it feels an al- 

 most unconquerable hostility. A French 

 lady, of some eminence, by persevering 

 attention and discipline, at length suc- 

 ceeded in accomplishing the extraordi- 

 nary exploit of habituating her dog and 

 cat, her bird and mouse, to take their 

 food from the same plate. Cats, though 

 in general by no means profound sleep- 

 ers, often, and particularly in the depth 

 of winter, and on the approach of snow, 

 can be roused from their sleep only with 

 extreme difficulty ; and will, on these oc- 

 casions, exhale a fragrance similar to that 

 of cloves. On rubbing the backs of 

 these animals the electric spark is imme- 

 diately felt, and the Leyden vial may, in 

 frosty weather, be charged from this 

 source, by means of a connecting wire 

 an4 a glass-footed stool. Those who are 

 pleased with contemplating the opera- 

 tions of animated surprise or curiosity, in 

 any of the productions of nature, will be 

 not a little entertained by the experiment 

 of placing before a young cat, for the first 

 time, a looking-glass ; its delight at the 

 figure thus exhibited is soon allayed by 

 that impossibility of touching it, which it 

 finds to all its attempts j it at length looks 



behind the glass, and with great sudden- 

 ness and vivacity shifts its examination 

 both forwards and backwards, till at last 

 it appears to observe the correspondence 

 between the reflections on the mirror and 

 the movements of its own foot gliding in 

 various directions over the surface, and 

 seems to have developed the mystery 

 originally so perplexing. 



F. lynx, or the lynx, is remarkable for 

 its ears being long and erect, and tufted 

 at the end with long black hairs. The skin 

 of the male is more spotted than that of 

 the female. In America and the North of 

 Europe these animals are to be found in 

 great abundance. They subsist by hunt- 

 ing squirrels, ermines, weasels, and other 

 vermin, which they will pursue to the very 

 tops of extremely hig'h trees. They con- 

 ceal themselves often among the branch- 

 es, and watch with minute observation 

 the approach of hares, deer, and other 

 animals, which they seize with astonishing 

 agility, and after having drank their blood, 

 reject their carcases almost entirely, de- 

 vouring often, of a whole sheep, little 

 more than the brain and liver. When at- 

 tacked by a dog, this animal places itself 

 on its back, and seizing the throat of its 

 adversary, often actually suffocates it, or 

 obliges it at least to retire from the con- 

 flict. The sight of the lynx is prover- 

 bially acute ; its howling greatly resem- 

 bles that of a wolf ; in confinement it ap- 

 pears restless, malignant and untamea- 

 ble, almost constantly uttering a snarling 

 scream. The fur of these animals is an 

 important article of commerce. The far- 

 ther north they are taken, the whiter and 

 more valuable they are ; and the winter 

 furs are preferable to the summer ones. 

 The length of a Russian lynx, from nose 

 to tail, is four feet six inches. The lynx 

 of the ancients appears to have been the 

 creature of imagination. See Mammalia* 

 Plate XIV. fig. 4. 



From the lion to the common cat, 

 through all the intermediate species of 

 this abundant genus, a strong resemblance 

 exists in form, internal structure, and 

 habits ; the shortness of the intestines, 

 the sharpness and number of the teeth, 

 the structure of the feet and claws, are 

 the same in all ; they all feed on flesh, 

 which they rather tear than masticate ; 

 they eat with slowness, and during the re- 

 past growl almost perpetually, as if ap- 

 prehensive of its being intercepted from 

 them ; they all seize upon their prey by 

 crafty approach and stealthy stratagem, 

 rather than by open and intrepid attack. 

 These are the animals from which man. 



