NATURAL HISTORY. 
59 
The wild animals still indigenous to the county 
may be enumerated as follows. The fox, Vulpes vul- 
garis, found in various coverts, as the ClifFey Wood, 
&c. does not appear to abound, for even the fox- 
hounds of the county are often disappointed when in 
quest of him. The wild cat, Felis catus,^ var. sylves- 
tris, though almost exterminated, still lingers in the 
woods about Suckley and Cracombe, but can hardly 
continue a denizen much longer. The marten cat, 
Maries putorius, is another animal who must retire 
speedily from before the progress of destroying 
man : the annual falls of wood disturb him in his 
retreats, and he is now rarely to be found even in 
places formerly known as his usual haunts. The 
otter, Lutra vulgaris, is more fortunate, as the Teme 
being unnavigable, and having no thoroughfare on its 
banks, he is enabled to carry on his fishing operations 
comparatively unmolested. Some very large spe- 
^ Dr. Fleming objects to the generally received opinion that the domestic cat, 
(F, Catus, var. domestic n) is a variety of the British wild cat. The size of the 
domestic cat is less than that of the wild one, and its tail tapers to a point, while in 
the wild cat it terminates abruptly. Dr. Fleming was therefore of opinion that our 
domestic cat was derived from Asia. M. Ruppel, however, having discovered a 
wild cat in Nubia agreeing very much with the domestic cat, is of opinion that this 
new species, Felis maniculata, which is in perfect accordance with the mummies 
of cats discovered in Egypt, and therefore undoubtedly the origin of the Egyptian 
domestic cat, is the origin of our European variety, which was bequeathed or trans- 
ferred by the Egyptians to the contemporary civilized Europeans. Temminck 
agrees with Ruppel in this view of the case ; and Sir W. Jardine says that there is 
a variety of the domestic cat possessed of the principal features of the Felis mani- 
culata, or Egyptian cat. He therefore thinks that we are indebted to the 
superstition of the ancient Egyptians for our present domestic cat, though since its 
introduction to this country, it may probably have been crossed with our own 
native species, and thus varieties have been produced very similar to our own savage 
wild cat. 
