DESCRIPTION. 37 



DESCRIPTION. 



Although some of the early writers on Natural 

 History, as Albertus Magnus, mention the Wild Cat, 

 it is chiefly in reference to the medicinal efi"ects 

 of certain parts of the animal on the diseases of 

 humanity, as in podagra, &c. 



The first general description of this animal is in 

 Gesner's ' Historiae Animalium,' published in 1551, 

 where he describes one from Switzerland, where it 

 appears at that time to have been common ; he calls 

 it Felis sylvestris, and states that it is similar to the 

 Domestic Cat, only 'larger, with thicker and longer 

 fur. The body is everywhere of a brown or tawny 

 (fuscous) or, as Albertus says, grey colour, mixed 

 with rufous on the back ; a black line runs along 

 the back, and between the breast and neck is a 

 broad spot mixed with very white hairs. Pads of feet 

 black. The tail thicker than that of the Domestic 

 Cat, with two or three blackish rings ; the extreme 

 point quite black. 



Aldrovandus, Klein, and others, give descriptions 

 similar to Gesner, if they are not taken direct from 

 his work. 



Daubenton (Bufi'on's ' Histoire Naturelle, generale 

 et particuliere,' 1756) gives a fuller and very careful 

 description of this animal, and many subsequent 

 vsrriters on the Natural History of the Wild Cat of 

 Europe have taken his observations as the basis of 

 their remarks. 



Thos. Bell ('History of British Quadrupeds,' 1837), 

 William Macgillivkat ('The Naturalist's Library,' 

 1838), and John Heinrich Blasius (' Naturgeschichte 



