Natural Hi/lory of the Ancients. 59 



" Though the Egyptians have many domeftic 

 animals, there would be many more did not the 

 following circumftances occur. When kittens 

 are born, their mothers are unwilling to confort 

 with the males, fo the Toms have devifed a plan 

 to remedy this. They carry off and kill the 

 kittens ; but though they kill, they do not eat 

 them. Then the mothers, having loft their kittens, 

 naturally long for others (the cat being an animal 

 fond of young ones), and fo again feek the males. 

 When a fire breaks out, a divine impulfe comes 

 over the cats. The Egyptians feparate and keep 

 watch over them, neglecting to put out the con- 

 flagration ; but the cats, flipping under and leap- 

 ing over the men, fpring into the fire. When 

 this happens great grief takes pofieflion of the 

 Egyptians, and wherever cats have thus perifhed 

 of their own accord, all the inmates of the houfe 

 {have off their eyebrows only ; but whenever a 

 dog has died, their whole body and head. After 

 their death, cats are borne off into facred abodes, 

 where, after having been made into mummies, 

 they are buried in the City Bubaftis" (Book ii. 

 66). Diodorus fays that he faw the Egyptians 

 murder a Roman who had accidentally killed a 

 cat. 



Chabas fays that cats are not feen on any of 

 the hieroglyphic tables illuftrating the life of the 

 Egyptians, but are often employed as the equivalent 

 for the found " meou." The cat dates from the 

 moft ancient times in that country, and is mixed 

 up with the oldeft legends. This mews why it was 



