250 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



attacks of any bird of prey. And, moreover, 

 one finds that the hissing and spitting sounds to 

 which we have alluded are uttered by jaguars 

 and tigers as well as by the smaller Felidse. Yet 

 evidence apparently so adverse to my suggestion 

 that we have in the markings of many cats a 

 curious instance of protective mimicry, loses much 

 of its negative force when we remember that with- 

 out doubt the traits we are dealing with are all of 

 vast antiquity, and probably date back to a time 

 when the ancestors of all cats were small and 

 feeble creatures living- in a world which swarmed 

 with huge reptiles and formidable birds. We 

 know that it does not take any very long time — in 

 the Geological sense — to increase or diminish the 

 normal bulk of an animal a hundred-fold, and we 

 know also that physiological phenomena, such as 

 some of the above, are often exceedingly stable 

 under changed environment. A minor objection 

 to the theory is the fact that the European wild 

 cat, although apparently standing in need of pro- 

 tection from eagles, is not marked in the serpen- 

 tine way, but is simply streaked and mottled so 

 as to present a general resemblance to its usual 

 surroundings. All such matters are settled by 

 nature's protection department much as actuaries 



