54 



VERTEBRATES. 



that it is larger and slenderer, that its colors are 'more beautiful, 

 and its tail rather shorter. The fur is of a reddish color, the 

 whole beautified with black spots, and streaks of difiFerent figures. 

 They are long on the back, and round on the belly and paws. On 

 the ears are black stripes, which run acjoss ; but, in other respects, 

 they entirely resamble those of a cat. These colors, however, 

 which naturalists have taken great pains minutely to describe, are 

 by no means permanent, being differently disposed in different ani- 

 mals of the same species. 



The Cat is a quadruped with which we are all familiar. 

 Though in a tame and domesticated state it is most sociable, useful, 

 and harmless, yet the wild animal is as furious as the tiger, and 

 bloodthirsty as the hyena. In all quarters of the globe it is found 

 in a wild and unreclaimed state. Though the domestic varieties are 

 exceedingly numerous, there is no doubt that they have all origi- 



Wild Cat. 



nated in that species which roams in woods and forests. The 

 various points of appearance and manners in which the wild and 

 domestic agree, plainly show that both species have proceeded from 



