82 THE WILD CAT OF EUROPE. 



Egyptian Cat was introduced into Europe as a 

 domestic animal some 300-400 years before the 

 Christian era, although it was not domesticated by 

 the Eomans till much later *. 



In the ancient city of Tarentum there are certain 

 representations which prove that these early Greek 

 colonists in Italy possessed the Domestic Cat. 



FKANgois LE NoEMANT in his work, ' La Grande 

 Grece,' vol. i. p. 97 et seq., states that on one of the 

 coins of that city, of the finest period (500 and 400 

 B.C.), there is the figure of the well-known Taras riding 

 on a dolphin, and on the reverse is the figure of a 

 young man sitting and holding a bird in his right 

 hand, which a cat standing erect against his leg is 

 endeavouring to seize. On one of the ancient 

 Tarentine vases is a representation of a young girl 

 caressing a cat, and on another is a girl amusing 

 herself by holding a mirror to a cat which she carries 

 in her arms. 



Mrs. Janet Boss (' The Land of Manfred,' 1889) 



* Sir JoBN Ltjbeock, " On the Ancient Lake Habitations of 

 Switzerland," Nat. Hist. Eeview, 1862, states that Ihe bones of Cats 

 have been found amongst the debris deposits in the mud of Lakes 

 Mooseedorf, Wanwyl (Mauensee), and Robenhausen (Pfaffikonsee). 

 These bones are said to be those of the Wild Cat (Felis catus ferus), 

 on the authority of M. Kiitimeyer, who, Sir John states, can from 

 the texture and condition of the bones in many cases distinguish 

 the species and even determine -whether the bone belongs to a wild 

 or domesticated animal. But it is possible that these bones may 

 be those of a domesticated imported Cat, as, with these animal 

 remains, hatchets have been found made of nephrite, a substance 

 which must have come from Egypt or Asia ; the discovery also, in 

 the debris, of the six-rowed barley (ffordeum Jiexastichon), which, 

 according to De Candolle, was the species generally cultivated by 

 the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Eomans, proves that there 

 must have been communication with those nations and the lake- 

 dwellers of Switzerland. 



