68 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo Ijtj I. Fall] 



THE DOMESTIC CAT. 

 ny LOUIS WAIN. 



Of the domestication of tlie cat we know 

 vevy little, but it is recorded that a tribe 

 of cats was trained to retrieve — i.e. to fetch 

 and carry game. In om- 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. (.7amekee23ers whom I 

 have known agree that, for cunning, craftiness, 

 and tenacity in attaining an object, the semi- 

 wild cat of the woods shows far superior 

 intelligence to the rest of the woodland 

 denizens. It is quite a usual thing to hear 

 of farm cats entering upon a snake-hunting 

 expedition with the greatest glee, and showing 

 quarry and pinning it down until secured. 

 (_)f decided sporting proclivities, they roam the 



[Jiab-i- .Stmt. 



caj). bonnet, small 

 a peculiar cry from 



WHITE SHOET-IIAIRBD. 



Most -B-hite cats .ire not albinoes— that is to say, tliey have ordinarily 

 colotired and not red eyes. 



remarkable readiness in pitching upon their 



These farm cats are quite a race by themselves. 



countryside with considerable fierceness, and yet revert to tlie domesticity of the farmhouse fireside 



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 indiqiendence. 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 failm-e. 



Watch your own cat, and you will see that he will change his slee[iing-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 \'ery 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 mv tall hat and his body outside, and this has 

 become a catty fashion in the family, whether the object be a hat. 

 basket, box, or tin. If by chance one of the cats is attacked by a dog, 

 the aggrieved animal will immediately awaken the others 

 out of their lethargy or sleep, and liring them fiercely to 

 the rescue. They are, too, particularly kind and nice to 

 the old cat, and are tolerant only of strange lial\v 

 kittens and very old cats in the garden as long as 

 they do not interfere with the " catt\' " 

 subject. The same quality olitains in Spain 

 or Portugal, where a race of scaveng- 

 ing cats exists, wdiich go about in 

 droves or families, and are equal 

 to climbing straight walls, liig 

 trees, chimneys, and mountain- 

 sides. Long, lanky, and thin, 

 they are built more on the lines 

 of a greyhound than the ordinary 

 cat, and are nnire easily trained 

 in tricks tlian home cats. 



The ToKTOiSEKiiELL has long 

 been looked upon as the national 



J'hotoljii T. Full] 



[Baker Street. 



LOXG-HAIRED WHITE. 

 White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at al] events hard of hearing. 



