INTRODUCTORY xvii 



African continent, very similar in build to our 

 domestic cat, but having a slighter build and pos- 

 sessing a longer but thinner tail. The markings 

 vary considerably in this type throughout its wide 

 distribution. It will readily breed with the tame 

 animal. It is sometimes called the Egyptian cat. 

 The Egyptians paid a certain reverence to the cat, 

 and seem to have made use of a domesticated form 

 of it for some such purposes as hunting rats and 

 mice out of their granaries, etc. 



We cannot, however, commit ourselves to the 

 positive assertion that the African wild cat was the 

 progenitor of our domesticated friend, though the 

 " tabby " markings that appear on both seem to 

 favour this supposition. 



Besides the above, there is a spotted variety of 

 wild cat that hailed originally from Northern India 

 or thereabouts, and the descendants of which are 

 very prevalent to-day in Hindustan. 



This also readily interbreeds with the domestic 

 cat. Furthermore, there is no doubt that a Euro- 

 pean wild cat has existed from very remote times, 

 inhabiting the then wild steppes and forest portions 

 of the continent. 



The wild cat (Felts catus) as we know it from 

 specimens in museums, etc., very much resembles 

 the tame one, but is generally a little larger and 

 has a somewhat bigger head. Its tail is thicker 

 and shorter, striped with black rings, and has a 



