68 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
THE DOMESTIC CAT | 
By Louis WaIN : 
Or the domestication of the cat we know 
very little, but it is recorded that a tribe of cats 
was trained to retrieve—z.¢., to fetch and carry 
game. In our own time I have seen many cats 
fetch and carry corks and newspapers, and on 
one occasion pounce upon a small roach at the 
end of a line and place it at its owner’s feet. 
Gamekeepers whom I have known agree that, 
for cunning, craftiness, and tenacity in attain- 
@ ing an object, the semi-wild cat of the woods 
Phota by T. Fall] [Baker Street shows far superior intelligence to the rest of the 
ee ED) woodland denizens. It is quite a usual thing to 
Most white cats are Laer oe they have ordinarily hear of farm cats entering upon a snake-hunt- 
ing expedition with the greatest glee, and 
showing remarkable readiness in pitching upon their quarry and pinning it down until secured. 
These farm cats are quite arace by themselves. Of decided sporting proclivities, they roam the 
countryside with considerable fierceness, and yet revert to the domesticity of the farmhouse fire- 
side as though innocent of roving instincts. They are spasmodic to a degree in their mode of life, 
and apparently work out one mood before entering upon another. It will be remembered that 
this spasmodic tendency—the true feline independence, by the bye—is and has been characteristic 
of the cat throughout its history, and any one who has tried to overcome it has met with failure. 
Watch your own cat, and you will see that he will change his sleeping-quarters periodically ; 
and if he can find a newspaper conveniently placed, he will prefer it to lie upon, before anything 
perhaps, except a cane-bottomed chair, to which all cats are very partial. If you keep a number 
of cats, as I do, you will find that they are very imitative, and what one gets in the habit of doing 
they will all do in time: for instance, one of my cats took to sitting with his front paws inside my 
tall hat and his body outside, and this has become a catty fashion in the family, whether the object 
be a hat, cap, bonnet, small basket, box, or tin. If by chance one of the cats is attacked by a 
dog, a peculiar cry from the aggrieved animal will immediately awaken the others out of their 
lethargy or sleep, and bring them fiercely to the rescue. They 
are, too, particularly kind and nice to the old cat, and are 
tolerant only of strange baby kittens and very old cats in the 
garden as long as they do not interfere with the 
“catty” subject. The same quality obtains in Spain 
or Portugal, where a race of scavenging cats 
exists, which go about in droves or families, 
and are equal to climbing straight walls, 
big trees, chimneys, and moun- 
tainsides. Long, lanky, and 
thin, they are built more on the 
lines of a greyhound than the 
ordinary cat, and are more easily 
trained in tricks than home cats. 
The TorroisEsHELt has long 
been looked upon as the national 
cat of Spain, and in fact that 
country is overrun with the 
breed, ranging from a dense 
Photo by T, Fall] [Baker Street 
LONG-HAIRED WHITE 
White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at all events hard of hearing 
