46 



THE WILD CAT OF EUROPE. 



relatively small round spot of black on the pads, and 

 the colour as far up as the os calcis is of yellowish or 

 yellow grey ; and our Domestic Cats, which retain 

 the colour of the fur of the wild race, correspond in 

 the colouring of the soles and feet invariably with 

 F. caligata and F. maniculata, and not with F. catus, 

 a circumstance, he says, " which speaks for the 

 descent of our Domestic Cat from African Cats or 

 from the closely allied South Asiatic races." 



Fig. 11. 



Fiff. 12. 



MP ij)/iml 



Fig. 11. — The right hind leg of a wild-coloured (" wildfarbigen '') 

 Domestic Cat, as is found also in Felis caligata aud 

 F. maniculata. 



Fig. 12. — The right hind leg of a European Wild Cat. 



In twelve skins, labelled Wild Cats, examined in 

 the Natural History Department of the British 

 Museum, S. Kensington, four — viz., one from Greece 

 and three from Scotland — had black pads to the soles, 

 a light yellowish-grey fur to the heel ; while eight — 

 viz., two from Sardinia, one from the Caucasus, one 

 from Hungary, and four from Scotland — had black 

 toe-pads and dark black-brown fur to the heel-bone. 



