254 THF DOMESTIC CAT. 



with which we are very familiar, by far the most electric j that 

 is the most susceptible to electric action. Clear and dry air 

 is well known to be a non-conductor of electricity, and the 

 more dry and clear the air is, the more agreeable to the cat. 

 It is, indeed, highly probable that the love of dry air, as much 

 as the love of heat, brings the cat to bask by the fire when the 

 air is damp and raw : but the subject has not been studied 

 with the attention which it deserves ; for, strange though it 

 may seem to some, the cat may be of real service to the 

 meteorologist, for the body of an animal must, under any 

 circumstances, be a far more delicate instrument than any 

 which can be made by man."* 



Indeed it has been stated, that electricity may be accumulated 

 in its body, and given off suddenly so as to produce a shock. 

 Romer says, if a person take a cat in his lap in dry weather, and 

 apply the left hand to its breast, while with the right he strokes 

 its back, at first he only obtains a few sparks from the hair; 

 but after continuing the manipulation for some time, he receives 

 a sharp shock, which is often felt above the wrists of both arms. 

 At the same moment, the animal runs off with expressions of 

 terror, and will seldom submit itself to a second experiment. 



" The nature of the cat," says Gesner, " is to love the place 

 of her breeding ; neither will she tarry in any strange place, 

 although carried far, being never willing to forsake the house 

 for the love of any man, and most contrary to the nature of 

 a dog, who will travel abroad with his master -, but although 

 her master forsake the house, yet the cat will not bear him 

 company, and being carried forth in a closed basket or sack 

 she will return again." f 



Mr. Rennie says, that he has known a cat travel from London 

 to her home at Chatham, in Kent, a distance of thirty miles j 

 and most people can relate similar incidents. 



The general character of the cat has been greatly traduced 

 by writers, who have seen only the worst portion of the feline 



* Abridged from The Naturalist (1837), vol. i. p. 25. 



t History of Four-footed Beasts, translated by Topsel (1607), p. 82. 



