i8 



SLEEPING BEAUTIES. 

 (.Photo: Mrs. S. Francis Clarke.) 



CHAPTER II. 



CATS OF TO-DAY. 



THE term " Cat " is applied in its widest 

 sense to all feline animals. The follow- 

 ing are the various names by which the 

 cat is known in different countries, and it is 

 curious to note that, with two exceptions, 

 they all begin with a " C " or a " K," and 

 differ very little in pronunciation : Irish and 

 Scotch, Cat ; French, Chat ; Dutch, Kat ; Dan- 

 ish, Kat ; Swedish, Katt ; 

 German, Katti or Katze> ; 

 Italian, Gatto ; Portuguese 

 and Spanish, Gato ; Polish, 

 Kot ; Russian, Kots ; Turk- 

 ish, Keti; Welsh, Cetti; Corn- 

 ish, Katt ; American, Katz. 

 In the English house and 

 home we call her " puss," 

 and it is the name which ap- 

 peals most to our hearts. 

 No woman likes to be called 

 a " cat," but to be likened to 

 a puss or pussy is suggestive 

 of something or someone soft 

 and pretty, with gentle, win- 

 ning ways. Archbishop 

 Whately has said that only 

 one English noun had a true 

 vocative case, " Nominative, 



MISS F. SIMPSON'S " BONNIE BOY. 



(Photo: Gunn &* Stuart, Richmond.') 



cat ; vocative, puss." I do not think that in 

 any other country there is a pet name for the 

 cat, just as there is no word in any foreign 

 language that breathes the same tender 

 truth to the hearts as " home." Puss and 

 home ! The terms seem so closely connected 

 with each other, and suggest peaceful hap- 

 piness and restful repose. 



Truly, the history of 

 the cat has been a strangely 

 chequered one. Perhaps, 

 because she is such a secret, 

 complex, and independent 

 creature she has remained 

 somewhat of a puzzle to 

 humankind, and is therefore 

 to a great extent misunder- 

 stood ; but those who will 

 take the trouble to consider 

 the cat and try to understand 

 her, will find that puss is- 

 none of those things she has 

 been accused of being. It 

 is only those who are in 

 constant contact with cats 

 who understand how intelli- 

 gent they really are ; al- 

 though their intelligence is 



