ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT 151 



years since translated into French, there is a 

 chapter on the Wild Cat, in which it is stated, with- 

 out mentioning any date, that the first man who 

 ever employed this animal for the chase was Benou 

 Khafadja, and that the habits of the Cat are 

 similar to those of the Cheeta. It is possible that 

 the Egyptians may have so employed it, but there 

 is no satisfactory evidence of the fact. 



It does not appear that the Cat was known to 

 the early Hebrews, or to the Assyrians, or to the 

 Greeks as a domestic animal. The Greek vases in 

 the British Museum with cat-like animals are F. 207, 

 F. 126, E. 171, E. 172. The last is spotted and 

 led in a string, probably intended for a hunting 

 leopard. F- 207 shows a woman playing with a 

 cat and a bird. F. 126 shows a man with a cat and 

 a bird. E. 171 shows a cat on a stool. It has a 

 long body, long tail and high legs, all characteristic 

 of the cheeta. F. 126 is striped. This and F. 

 207 come as near to our domestic cat as could be ex- 

 pected. Professor Miall thinks a true domestic cat 

 is indicated as an inhabitant of Greek countries from 

 400 to 300 B.C. but there is still room for doubt. 

 The late Professor Rolleston ^ was at some pains 

 to show that the domestic mouse-killer of the 

 Greeks was not a Cat, but a Marten [Martesfoina), 

 the animal called jdXri by Aristotle,^ and repeatedly 

 referred to by Aristophanes^ and other Greek 

 writers as destroying mice, birds, and birds' eggs. 



^Journ. Anat. and Phys., 1868, November. 



"^ Hist. An., ii., 3, 5 ; vi., 30, 2 ; viii., 27, 2 ; ix., 2, 9 ; ix., 7, 4. 



^ Pax., 1079, ed. Bothe. 



