xvi INTRODUCTORY 



five complete toes on the fore-feet the first, or 

 thumb, being very short and placed high up each 

 armed with a sharp claw, whilst the hind legs 

 have four toes the first being of a rudimentary 

 character. They have three pairs of incisor teeth 

 in each jaw, whilst the canine teeth are large and 

 sharp. 



Referring in particular to the cat, it is exceed- 

 ingly difficult to locate its origin with any degree 

 of certainty. That it is a descendant of one or 

 the other form of the mountain or forest cat that is, 

 Felts catus is fairly well established, but whether 

 it sprung in the first instance from the wild species 

 inhabiting Africa, Asia, or Europe is indeterminate. 



The best opinions lean towards a multiple origin. 

 It is just probable that our domestic pussy may 

 have sprung from Western Asia, and be a cross 

 between the Egyptian or North African, and that 

 originating from India or Persia. 



The fact that very ancient fossil remains of the 

 cat have been discovered in the Upper Eocene in 

 Europe, whilst in Asia similar formations have been 

 found in the Upper Miocene, and in America in 

 the Lower Miocene, seems to indicate that possibly 

 the continent of Europe may, after all, have been 

 its cradle. 



All we know definitely, however, is that a small 

 and common type of wild cat (Felts caffrd] has been 

 found throughout the length and breadth of the 



