Natural Hijiory of the Ancients. 5 5 



woods as foon as poflible. Befides which, the 

 period of geftation of the wild cat is fixty-eight 

 days, twelve days longer than that of the domeftic 

 animal. 1 The late Mr. F. Buckland, too, pointed 

 out, as a ftriking difference between it and the 

 domeftic animal, that its inteftines are much shorter 

 than thofe of the latter animal. Thus they were 

 found to be only five feet in two fpecimens of the 

 wild cat, whereas they would probably be three 

 times that length in the domefticated creature. 2 

 This ftatement, however, requires confirmation. 

 In the spring of 1884 a fuppofed wild cat was 

 mot in a large extent of woodland near Wragby, 

 in Lincolnfhire, called Bullington Wood. Wild 

 cats are fuppofed to have been extinct in this 

 county from quite the beginning of the century. 

 This cat was (luffed, and feen by many others as 

 well as the writer. It might either be a true wild 

 cat in which cafe it had efcaped from confine- 

 ment or elfe was a furvival of the true old 

 Britim wild cat. It is curious, in connection with 

 this, that the laft locality in which the kite was 

 feen in this country was in thefe very woodlands ; 

 and the marten is yet found there. It feemed the 

 general opinion that this was a true wild cat ; 

 with the writer, however, another alternative found 

 favour that it was a defcendant, perhaps in the 

 fourth or fifth generation, from an efcaped domeftic 

 cat. It is a fmgular fact that efcaped cats and 



1 Mivart, ut fup., pp. 2-6. 



2 "Logbook of a Fifherman " (1875), P- 2 5 2 - Darwin 

 " Plants and Animals under Domcftication," ii. 292. 



