200 MAMMALIA— CAT. 



THE DOMESTIC CAT,i 



Though an animal of prey, is a useful domestic. It is neither wanting in 

 sagacity nor sentiment ; but its attachments are stronger to places than to 

 persons. The form of its body corresponds with its disposition. The cat 

 is handsome, light, adroit, cleanly, and voluptuous : he loves ease, and 

 searches out the softest furniture in order to repose on, and rest himself. 



Young cats are gay, lively, pretty, and would be very proper to amuse 

 children, if the strokes of their paws were not to be feared. Their dispo- 

 sition, which is an enemy to all restraint, renders them incapable of a 

 regular education. We are told, nevertheless, of the Greek friars of Cyprus 

 having taught cats to hunt, take, catch, and destroy the serpents with 

 Avhich that island was infested ; their scent, which in the dog is an eminent 

 quality, is far from being good, and therefore they do not pursue animals 

 which ,they no longer see ; they do not hunt, but wait and attack them by 

 surprise. 



The most immediate physical cause of this inclination which they have 

 lo spy out, and surprise other animals, comes from the advantage which 

 they receive from the particular conformation of their eyes. The pupil, in 

 man, a^ well as in the greater part of animals, is capable of a certain degree 

 of contraction and dilatation ; it enlarges a little when there is no light, and 

 -contracts when it becomes too strong. 



In the eye of the cat, and of nocturnal birds, this contraction and dilata- 

 tion are so considerable, that the pupil, which in obscurity is large and 

 round, becomes, in broad day, long and n arrow like a line ; and for this 

 reason, these animals see better during the night than during the day, the 

 form of the pupil being always round when it is not constrained. During 

 the day, there is a continual contraction iri the eyes of the cat, and it is only 

 by effort, as it were, that he sees in a strc.ng light; whereas, at twilight, the 

 pupil resuming its natural form, he sees perfectly, and profits from this 

 advantage, to know, attack, and surpr ise other animals. The whiskers, 

 too, appear to aid him in the chase, ^oy possessing qualities analogous to. 

 those of the antennae of insects. 



• Fdis ca his, Lin. 



