THE CAT AS A T7PB OF THE MAMMALS. 



The cat, more truly than birds, lives by its wits. She 

 does not expend her intelligence in building an elaborate 

 nest for her kittens, but in a 

 variety of ways she has to pro- 

 vide for their safety and main- 

 tenance. Hence she has a 

 large, well - developed brain 

 (Figs. 230, 231), one adapted 

 for designing and cunning; for 

 it is by address, swiftness in 

 forming plans, and shrewd- 

 ness that the cat approaches 

 and seizes its prey and avoids 

 its enemies. Thus, the cat has 

 a mind, and its mental traits, 

 besides being instinctive, are 

 in a rudimentary way ration- 

 al. It has sufficient reasoning 

 power to meet occasional 

 emergencies in its life. In 

 granting the cat a mind and 

 reasoning powers of some 



sort, there is still a world-wide Fiq. aaO.-Cat's brain seen from above, 

 ' , snowmg the deep longitudmal fissure 



difference between a cat S dividing the two hemispheres and 

 . ^ Till • T *^6 cerebellum behind them, c, cru- 



mmd and the human mind, cial furrow ; s, superior, m, middle, f, 

 J, T~, J. n J.1 inferior, external Kvrus:u, vermiform 



tor man dmers irom all tne process of cerebellum; oi, olfactory- 

 animals beneath him in being ° ®' 



able to speak his thoughts, whereas a cat can only mew 

 when hungry, angry, or alarmed. But in giving due 

 credit to our own intelligence we need not underestimate, 

 as is often done, that of the dumb animals. 



Moreover, a cat's mind is a different thing from a cow's 

 or a horse's mind, because the habits, needs, and structure 

 of the cat are so different from those of the patient, dull, 

 ruminating, cloven-footed cow, or the nervous, swift horse. 



The cat springs and jumps; it has, therefore, no need of 

 a true collar-bone, as the fore-limbs must move freely od 

 15 



