56 The Carnivora. 
not the same cat; but I was staggered at the resemblance, and 
no longer wondered at the welcome the supposed prodigal had 
received. It was-an ordinary striped ‘tabby’ cat, and to this 
day my old neighbour is firm in the faith that it was the very 
animal he lost a week before! I have no hesitation in saying 
that this true story will account for scores of the marvellous 
tales we read about Master Tommy. They are simply cases of 
‘personation.” Attracted by the smell of ‘cat,’ the stray animal 
came upon my neighbour’s premises, and, being welcomed by the 
children, and also finding a ‘ vacant chair,’ adopted the new home 
like the good, sensible cat he turned out to be, and lived happily 
for ever afterwards. The lucky coincidence of colour set aside 
all other difficulties, if there were any; and the cat slayer 
held his peace. Since the case above narrated I have been 
troubled with many cats, but have grown wiser; and my mode of 
dealing with vicious cats now is to send them for a short 
excursion from ‘home ’—say two miles—and in no instance have 
they ever returned._S. M.” 
“Personation,” as here described, may very probably some- 
times occur with cats, among whom, especially the striped 
tabbies, there is now and then a most minute resemblance of 
every detail of marking; but I do not think it possible with 
dogs, whose individuality may be distinguished in every move- 
ment and expression. While no one can prove a negative, many 
people can easily spread one of these stories, which is passed 
from mouth to mouth, gathering as it goes, until a small sub- 
stratum of fact becomes a mountain of fiction. In this form, it 
is hopeless to attempt to demolish it. Whenever I hear one 
of these veritable histories narrated, I ask first “Was it your 
catP” The answer nine times out of ten amounts to this, “ No; 
but A., on whose word I can confidently rely, told it me exactly 
as he heard it from his intimate friend B., a lady of considerable 
ability and very fond of animals, who knew the cat perfectly 
well from seeing it frequently at a house in the village, where 
she gathered all the particulars from the people who took the 
house after the owner of the cat moved. They were much 
