PART XI. 

 OUR FOUR-FOOTED COMPANIONS. 



THE PET OF THE HOUSEHOLD. 



1. Webster, in an early edition of his dictionary, goes 

 out of his way to abuse the creature, and even makes him- 

 self little less than slanderous. " The domestic cat," he 

 says, " is a deceitful animal, and, when enraged, extremely 

 spiteful. It is kept in houses chiefly for the purpose of 

 catching rats and mice." 



2. Would a dog have done worse ? In all the sixty 

 thousand words of the English language, which, of course, 

 the great lexicographer knew by heart, could he not find a 

 couple of dozen that would have been more applicable, or 

 at least more charitable ? If he had been born as weak as 

 pussy, and had found it as hard to escape kicks and pick 

 up a living, might he not have grown up a bit of a diplo- 

 matist ? I should like to know, also, whether he was not 

 himself subject to be " extremely spiteful when enraged." 



3. Then, too, " kept in houses chiefly for the purpose 

 of catching rats and mice " ! No account taken of the 

 gamesome ways of kittens ; of the pleasure derivable from 

 the grateful purr, the gracious movements, the furry ca- 

 resses ; of the affection which man, woman, and child have 

 lavished upon the most pettable of all pets. It is enough to 



