THE DOMESTIC CAT. 26l 



escaped from the bowsprit, and were taken by the wreckers ; 

 and that these were the first of the kind ever seen in the island. 

 They are described as being rather taller than the common 

 cat, but not so broad and strong; their colour is generally 

 a lightish grey. They resemble more the hare and rabbit 

 in their movements, than the domestic cat ; which, perhaps, 

 may be owing to their hind legs being so much longer than 

 those of the common cat. One having bred with a common 

 cat, had four kittens, two of which had very short thick tails, 

 about two inches long."* 



The rabbit-like appearance of these tailless cats may perhaps 

 explain the following miraculous occurrence, which was pub- 

 lished in the British Traveller, in May 1823 : " There is in the 

 possession of Mr. Henley, at Chatham, a cat which has littered 

 a kitten and four rabbits," A writer in the Manx Paper 

 remarking upon this, says, " We are inclined to believe the 

 four rabbits to be nothing more than kittens of the same 

 description as some cats in this island (Man) ; namely, without 

 tails, and which must originally have been a freak of dame 

 Nature's here, but which she is now showing at Chatham." 



Mr. Le Keux says, that " the tailless cat is not uncommon in 

 Cornwall, and that Dr. Leach received one from the Isle of 

 Wight."f 



If the latter statement is not a mistake, it may be concluded 

 that Dr. Leach's cat was either wrecked on, or imported to the 

 Isle of Wight, for the breed does not appear to be known there. 



* Mag. Nat. Hist. (1832), vol. v. p. 717. 



t Illustrations of Natural History (1830), vol. i. p. 356. 



