THE DOMESTIC CAT. 



little dependence is to be placed on colour in such cases, the 

 tortoise-shell cat is., I presume, universally admitted to be 

 derived from the same race as the tabby ; yet the distribution 

 of the colours is totally different, and there is no wild species 

 yet discovered bearing the slightest resemblance to that parti- 

 coloured variety. 



" The not unfrequent occurrence of figures of the cat, among 

 the sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptians, as well 

 as its mummies in their tombs, appears to supply the earliest 

 records of its existence in a domestic state ; and to indicate 

 that country as the probable locality in which the original 

 breed is to be sought. 



" Temminck and some others have concluded that the Felis 

 Maculata, a new species discovered by Riippell in Nubia, and of 

 about the same size as our domestic cat, and having several 

 characters in common with it, is the true original of that animal. 

 One of the most obvious distinctions between the British wild 

 cat and the domestic, is the difference in the length and 

 thickness of the tail -, and in its being taper in the latter, 

 whilst in the former it is quite as thick, if not thicker, at the 

 extremity than at the base : but in Riippell' s Nubian species 

 the tail is much longer in proportion than is ever seen in the 

 domestic race ; and although somewhat slender in the greater 

 part of its length, it has a thickened and tufted termination. 

 The ears too are much longer and broader, and the legs longer 

 and more slender. In fact this Nubian wild cat appears to be 

 more removed from our domestic cat, in essential zoological 

 characters, than even the British wild cat ; and I cannot but 

 come to the conclusion, that we have yet to seek for the true 

 original of this useful, gentle, and elegant animal."* 



Domestic cats differ considerably in their size, according to 

 the sex and breed. He-cats (or Tom-cats as they are gene- 

 rally called) are usually larger and more noble looking than 

 those of the other sex ; but most of the former that are kept 

 are emasculated, in which state, always accompanied with a 



* Abridged from A History of British Quadrupeds (1837), pp. 182-186. 



