ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC CAT 153 



appearance of our own wild cat, which is now so 

 marked in the variety known as " tabby." ^ 



An argument in support of this view is to be 

 found in the fact that in India, where no wild 

 species of the cat resembles Felis catus in colour 

 and markings, the tabby variety of domestic cat is 

 unknown, and the household breeds in that country 

 resemble the native wild species — e.g., Felis chaus 

 and Felis ornata — with which imported tame 

 animals have undoubtedly crossed (Blyth, Journ., 

 Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xxv., p. 441). Similarly in 

 South Africa the wild Felis caffra has impressed 

 its character upon imported tame varieties ; and 

 the domestic breeds in South America, accord- 

 ing to Azara, have been in the same way affected 

 by inter-breeding with certain wild species peculiar 

 to that country. From these several cases, to 

 adopt the words of Darwin, " we see that in 

 Europe, as in Africa and America, the common 

 cat, which lives a freer life than most other 

 domesticated animals, has crossed with various 

 wild species, and that in some cases the crossing 

 has been sufficiently frequent to affect the character 

 of the breed." 



As to the particular species of cat which was 



domesticated by the ancient Egyptians, opinions 



differ. Many naturalists favour the view that 



Felis chaus., a widely distributed species extending 



from N.E. Africa to India, was probably the 



^ The origin of the word " tabby " is perhaps not generally 

 known. It is a corruption of the Turkish utabi (O. Fr. tabis. 

 Span, tabi), a particular kind of waved silk imported from 

 Bagdad, and so named after the locality where it was made. 



