236 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



dilated and express docility. The claws are ensheatlied. In this 

 happy temperament Felis 2Mrdus resembles the domestic cat in its 

 desire to lick or rub its head and trunk against the object towards 

 which it is displaying its affection and to pat or pound it gently 

 with the soft pads of its extended feet. This latter peculiar habit is 

 most probably in origin the same as that pounding which young- 

 kittens may be seen to perform on the teats of their mother when 

 they are suckling and at that time they are no doubt affectionate. 



When we contrast the expression of the emotions of affection 

 and anger it is clearly evident that they are in direct opposition to 

 each other. Compare the supple trunk, the elevated ears, the 

 dilated eyes, the ensheathed claws and the happy countenance of 

 affection, with the rigid body, the depressed ears, the half closed 

 eyes, the projecting claws and the fierce and pinched expression 

 of anger. All these characteristics associated with anger are, to a 

 greater or less extent, of some service to the animal if it be con- 

 sidered that its anger is directed towards some other animal which 

 it is about to attack ; and in its native haunts there can be no other 

 cause which so frequently and acutely excites its anger. 



But on the other hand it does not seem possible to detect any 

 serviceable asset in the opposed expressions associated with affection. 

 They can only be explained on the Principle of Antithesis which 

 states that any action or series of actions which have for long periods 

 of time been directly associated with any sensation or emotion will 

 be immediately suppressed imder emotions of a directly opposing 

 nature and that an antagonistic set of muscles will be brought into 

 play so as to produce an opposite action or series of actions, though 

 they may be of no use. 



During play the animal may assume almost any posture. It may 

 roll on its back on the ground and wave its paws in the air and with 

 its claws completely ensheathed endeavour to grasp the object with 

 which it is playing. It may spring towards its playmate and leap 

 upon him. It may seize him between its teeth, but will never injure 

 him or express in its attitude or countenance any desire to do so. 



Just as man has his hates and loves, so have the lower animals 

 their hates and loves also. Wonderful is the mind of man and 

 great is the gulf which divides it from that of the very highest of 

 the brutes, yet every impulse of its will, eveiy sensation it receives, 

 every emotion it excites is, in a fundamental manner, experienced 

 in the minds of those very brutes whose ignorance we so despise. 



References : — 



(1) B N. H. S. Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3. 



(2) B. N. H. S. Journal, Vol. 20, No. 4. 



(3) Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, by Charles Darwin. 



