ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT 149 



the face of the moon. The word is compounded of 

 the consonants P, SH, and T. T is the Coptic 

 feminine article, which, being discarded, the name 

 is reduced to P SH. But the aspirate SH should 

 be the tenuis S, and then the word would be PS, 

 as in Hebrew, which may be pronounced Pas or 



AN EGYPTIAN FOWLER'S CAT. 

 {Front a Tomb at Thebes.') 



Pus. It thus appears that our familiar name for 

 the cat can boast of a very high antiquity. 



One of the most ancient representations of the 

 cat is to be found in the Necropolis of Thebes, 

 which contains the tomb of King Hana^ of the 

 eleventh dynasty. A statue of this king represents 

 him as standing erect, with his favourite cat 

 Boubaki at his feet. It has been conjectured, from 



