THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



human body is as a corpse, but when the 

 spirit has satisfied its desires it retakes its 

 proper form." 



He continues : " Having one day killed 

 a cat which had made inroads upon my 

 larder, a druggist of the neighbourhood came 

 to me in a great fright and entreated me to 

 spare all animals, for he said he had a daughter 

 who had the misfortune to be a ' barecy,' and 

 that she was often in the habit of assuming 



part in little rhythmical dramas, cunningly 

 presented to the drowsy child, who falls asleep 

 with a familiar image parading fantastically 

 through his brain." French nursery rhymes 

 are much prettier than English. For instance, 

 this bald and commonplace statement is not 

 calculated to catch the attention of the juvenile 

 mind : 



" Great A, little A, bouncing B, 

 Cats in the cupboard, and can't see me." 



A STUDY. 

 (From the painting by Madame Ronner.) 



the shape of a cat in order to eat the sweet- 

 meats served at my table." 



Milton tells us " that when the cat washes 

 her face over her eares, we shall have a great 

 store of raine." A cat sneezing is supposed to 

 bring luck to a bride on her wedding day. 

 Sailors have in all times been prone to super- 

 stition as regards cats. A black cat's appear- 

 ance on the ship foretells disaster, but if a 

 cat should disappear overboard the greatest 

 consternation is caused amongst the crew. 



Very plentiful are the nursery rhymes, fairy 

 tales, and stories concerning cats a good-sized 

 book would not contain them. " The cat," 

 says M. Champfleury, " is the nurse's favourite 

 and the baby's earliest friend. It plays its 



How much softer and daintier are the fol- 

 lowing lines : 



"A, B, C, 



Le chat est alle 

 Dans la neige ; en retournant 



II avait les soulicrs tout blancs." 



In passing, I should say it is strange that to 

 the French a cat is always masculine, and to 

 the English feminine. 



In the days of good Queen Anne the story 

 of pussy's venturesome journey to London 

 was put into verse, and what child has not 

 listened eagerly to these lines from that time 

 down to our present day ? 



