CATS AND DOGS 375 
believed that the appreciation of this service led the ancient 
Egyptians, who were an agricultural people, to give them 
such careful protection and even to reverence them. But 
we now have at our command such simple devices for trap- 
ping rats and mice that by their diligent use we may easily 
keep them under control without the help of cats. 
Harm Done. — We now feel that the cat’s popularity is not 
altogether deserved. In allowing her to associate intimately 
with the members of the family we must bear in mind that 
her body is often infested with disease germs, so that she may 
easily be the means of spreading infection. But it is as the 
great enemy of our birds that she comes into conflict with the 
interests of the farmer and gardener. A cat can be trained. 
when young to let birds alone, but we rarely see one that 
seems to have had the advantage of such an education. Espe- 
cially fledglings that have just left the nest fall an easy prey 
to her. It is estimated that a single cat kills, on an average, 
fifty birds in a season. Many states protect the birds by 
law and impose a penalty for every one that people kill. But 
it seems absurd to fine a man for shooting one bird while his 
cat is allowed to roam at large and kill fifty every summer. 
If he were obliged to pay fines for her also, she would be an 
expensive luxury. In some European cities where birds are 
valued and protected more consistently, people having cats 
are required to confine them upon their own premises, and 
those allowed to run at large are regarded as public nuisances. 
In America it seems that we are merely protecting the birds 
for the sake of feeding them to cats. 
Docs: 
The dog is more widely distributed among the peoples of 
the earth than any other animal. Often he is kept solely for 
