THE OAT 



CHAPTER I. 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION OF THE CAT FAMILY, 



WITH A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE 



VARIOUS FELINE SPECIES. 



ZOOLOGICALLY speaking, the cat is a 

 mammal belonging to the order Carnivora, 

 or flesh-eaters. Modern classification, based 

 chiefly upon characters drawn from the bony 

 skeleton which changes slowly with develop- 

 mental processes through the course of geologic 

 time, and preserves the evidences of common 

 ancestry much longer than the softer parts of 

 the organism divides the carnivores into three 

 suborders, known as Cynoidea, containing the 

 dogs, wolves, foxes, and jackals ; Arctoidea, in- 

 cluding bears, racoons, and most of the SO- 

 IL 



