340 THE WILD CAT. 



cats, which may have sprung from Felts caffra. 

 were wont to wander off into the woods, where 

 undoubtedly many a tabby became amicably 

 acquainted with Felis catus. Her kits were born 

 under the shelter of man's roof and grew up as 

 domestic cats, which, in turn, were impregnated 

 by wild toms, till the blood of Felis catus became 

 firmly infused in the make-up of their descendants 

 possibly predominating over that of the original 

 FeUs caffra. Had the interbreeding gone on long 

 enough, an untamable strain would have resulted. 

 Such strains probably did result, and remained in 

 the wild, which brings us back to our starting- 

 point, where it was stated that probably no such 

 thing exists to-day as a wild cat in whose genera- 

 tion the domestic species has not at some stage 

 participated. Similarly, there is probably no 

 domestic cat that has no strain of the wild cat 

 in its blood. 



DISTINGUISHING FEATURES. 



The distinguishing features of the wild cat are, 

 first, its great size. As a rule this alone settles 

 the question, for an adult wild cat may measure 

 as much as 3 feet 8 or 9 inches from tip to tip ; 

 a wild strain of the domestic species never attains 

 this size. Second, its tail, which is relatively 

 shorter, more bushy, and more distinctly ringed 

 than that of the other species. Pulled forward 

 over the back, the tail does not extend farther 

 than the tips of the shoulder-blades, while the fur 

 covering the appendage is almost as dense as that 

 of a prime red fox. 



The head of the wild cat is proportionately 

 wider and less elongated than that of the tame 

 variety, its ears being enormously far apart ; while 



