THE DOMESTIC CAT. 251 



viduals of the ordinary species, there are, even in this respect, 

 distinctions which can scarcely be considered otherwise than 

 as essentially specific j as, for instance, the tail of the wild cat 

 invariably terminates in a black tuft. But, it may be asked, 

 if they be not of the same species, how is it that the female 

 tame cats, after wandering into the woods, return pregnant by 

 the wild cat, and produce fertile young ? After a very careful 

 investigation and much reflection on the matter, I am led to 

 conclude, that this long-received notion of their intermixture, 

 repeated and transmitted from one writer to another, is erro- 

 neous. The error has arisen, simply from the fact, that a female 

 domestic cat has been occasionally known to leave her home 

 in the neighbourhood of woods, said to be frequented by the 

 wild cat, and returned with young j but as no one pretends to 

 have detected the paternity of such litters by actual observation, 

 it is equally reasonable to suppose that the father in such cases 

 was some cat of the domestic race which had resumed a half- 

 wild state in the woods. It is well known, that the domestic 

 cat's attachment to its native home is not always so strong as 

 to prevent it from wandering into the woods and forests in 

 search of birds and other wild animals; gamekeepers and 

 sportsmen are well aware, that in numerous instances these 

 truants never return to their former home, but breed and rear 

 their progeny in a state as wild as that of their original pro- 

 genitors could have been. 



"The markings of the striped or tabby variety of the domestic, 

 are frequently so similar to those of the wild cat, that they 

 might lead to a strong presumption of the intermixture of the 

 two races, if not of their absolute identity, were it not for the 

 fact that, in most domesticated animals, colour is of little value 

 as a guide to their origin. The greater number of the present 

 genus, too, have a decided indication of. a striped character 

 in the markings of the body j even the lion, when very young, 

 showing distinct stripes on the sides. The species from which 

 the domestic cat has sprung, may have a tendency at least 

 to a similar kind of pattern of the fur j besides, to show how 



