CHAPTER III. 



THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT AND 

 ITS VARIETIES. 



I HAVE referred tersely in Chapter I. to 

 the Wildcat, the Egyptian Cat (which un- 

 doubtedly originally was a Wildcat), and the 

 American Wildcat ; but I now repeat a descrip- 

 tion of these, as they are unquestionably the 

 source of origin of the Domestic Cat. 



THE WILDCAT (F. catus). 



While the Wildcat of western Europe is 

 undoubtedly one of the strongest factors 

 in the origin of the ordinary short-haired 

 house-cat of to-day, and the description of it 

 should be original, and that of the house-cat 

 by comparison, the latter is so much more 

 familiar to us all that it is simpler to describe 

 the Wildcat by comparison. The Wildcat 

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