Concerning Kittens 



mild disdain out of their yellow and green eyes at 

 people. Each cat has his name, and knows it. In 

 travelling, each one has his own little wire cage (his 

 bed wherever he remains stationary), and when they 

 are on the stage, each occupies his own separate low 

 compartment on a table especially made for them, 

 except when actually performing. These cats have 

 the remarkably bright faces and intelligent eyes that 

 the cat-lover recognizes as a distinguishing mark 

 of the pet cat who has been trained and talked to 

 from kittenhood. 



Herr Techow claims that the secret of his success 

 is a comprehension of the cat temperament. This is 

 more than instinct, for in the present stage of devel- 

 opment they achieve results more by intuition than by 

 reason. In this respect, however, some men would 

 say they know of parallels. The most luminous 

 index of a cat's temperament is its tail, which in a 

 high-strung, nervous cat is constantly waving back 

 and forth, just as people drum on tables or chair 

 backs with their fingers. Phlegmatic, placid cats 

 rarely wave their tails. Herr Techow's conclusions 

 are that cats with the artistic, nervous organization 

 have the best minds, but are hard to keep amused 

 and interested in their work. The slow cats thus 

 often outstrip them in the end — a case of the tor- 

 toise and the hare. This matter of temperament can 

 never be lived down, and comes out very curiously 

 in the performances. One animal will walk over the 



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