CONCERNING CATS 49 
Pussy consents to be semi-domesticated in the West 
because she is cute enough to know that she is a gainer 
thereby. She is petted and pampered, so in return 
“blinks amiably” at, and purrs to, her benefactor. 
There is no denying the fact that the cat is a very 
intelligent animal. Feline toleration of the human 
race is, then, comprehensible; but why do so many 
human beings love the cat? 
One can of course easily understand why the whole 
race of domestic servants in Europe look with kindly 
eyes upon the miniature tiger. It is the scapegoat of 
the genus servitor. It bears the burden of many break- 
ages of crockery, not all of course; to ascribe to pussy 
all the damage sustained by the household china would 
be tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden 
eggs, for it would lead inevitably to the rapid expulsion 
of the cat—hence it happens that articles of crockery 
have a foolish and disagreeable habit of coming to 
pieces in the hands. Oh! fragile cups and saucers, 
why come asunder at the gentle touch of Mary Ann? 
Then, again, cats keep down the population of mice, 
hence the affection with which servants regard poor 
pussy. But this does not explain the love which the 
elderly spinster of all classes entertains towards a most 
objectionable quadruped. Victor Hugo has, I think, 
discovered the reason. According to him, “Dzeu a 
Jatt le chat pour donner 4 Vhomme le plaisir de caresser le 
tigre,” 
People keep cats just because cats are felide. The 
cat is obviously a tiger in miniature, hence the fascina- 
tion which it exercises over the human mind. 
E 
