THE CAT 



8i 



a little of the same mad gayety. They rub 

 against each other until the whole troop works 

 itself into such a state of intf).\ication that the 

 fete usually ends in a fight. 



The sympathy, or rather the affection, of 

 these animals is given more to the house than 

 to its owner, which does not, how- 

 ever, preclude instances where cats 

 have been as greatly attached to their 

 masters as some dogs have been. 

 Perty tells us of a cat falling into 

 despair at the death of her master, 

 refusing all nourishment and dying 

 three days after him. Who knows if 

 cats would not have given to their 

 masters the affection they now bestow 

 upon localities, if man had constrained 

 them, as he has dogs, to serve him 

 and keep him company ? Perhaps in 

 time this progress may come about. 



It is impossible to deny that serious 

 misunderstandings exist between cats 

 and birds. Any one who has seen a 

 cat watching and attacking an inno- 

 cent robin feels indignant at such cruelty ; but 

 that fault may be easily corrected by simply 

 taking a bird in )Tjur hand and making it peck 



her room in Buckingham I'aJace, did not know 

 the simjjle sclieme we have just mentioned, or 

 she would not ha\'e so sternly forbidden the pres- 

 ence of cats in any ])art of her various [jalaces. 

 Some cats are \'ery fond of horses and pre- 

 fer to sleep in stables, occasionally on the backs 



ToLER.4N'CE 



the cat's nose. In seed and grain shops, where 

 birds are also kept and sold, the latter are never 

 molested by the cats that are kept in the shop 

 to protect the grain from mice. The late queen 

 of England, who liked to have birds flying about 



On the W.\tcii 



of their friends. Others live on very good terms 

 with the dogs of the household, though some 

 dogs are trained, especially in German\-, to 

 strangle cats, whose days are infallibh' nrnn- 

 bered when their eneni)- appears. Bassets when 

 trained, even while puppies, will kill cats with 

 remarkable rapidit}' ; but old cats will take the 

 defensive, growl, hiss, and put up their backs, 

 and, if the occasion is fa\'orable, will fling them- 

 selves upon the dog with all claws out. Then, 

 if the dog is not trained, he loses an eve and 

 part of his skin; but if he has been taught to 

 strangle, he seizes the cat instantly b_\- the 

 throat or the nape of its neck and issues \ic- 

 torious from the combat. A cat's method of 

 attack clearly reveals its sa\-age origin ; all 

 other members of the feline race, tigers among 

 them, always spring on the back ot their prey 

 if possible. 



V. Gene.vlogy of Cats 



As we have already said, the breeding of cats 

 of pure race is not done on the vast scale em- 

 ployed in the case of other domestic animals. 



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