CAT 
6\it of her mouth, the male immediately leaves his 
^nemy, and feizing on her with his teeth, beats her 
dgainft the ftones till he leaves her for dead. As 
ibon, however, as fhe recovers, fhe crawls to his 
feet, which Ihe licks, and wafhes with her tears, 
which flow in abundance. In the mean time, the 
male {talks backwards and forwards, gnafliing his 
teeth, and tofTing his head like a bear; till at laft, 
on perceiving that his antagonift has carried off the 
little one, he alfo begins to weep. 
When the Sea-Cat lies on the fliore, and diverts 
itfelf, it lows like a cow; when it fights, it growls 
like a bear; when it has vanquifhed it's enemy, it 
chirps like a cricket; but, when it is itfelf van- 
quifhed or wounded, it groans or mews like a com- 
mon Cat ; and, when it quits the water, it generally 
ihakes itfelf, ftrokes it's breaft with it's hinder 
paws, and fmoothes the hair on it. The male, when 
fleeping, lays his fnout to that of the female, as if 
in the adl of kiffmg her; and, when lying in the 
fun, they hold up their paws, and wag them as dogs 
do their tails. They do not, however, fleep found ; 
and their fmell and hearing are furprizingly acute. 
Thefe animals fwim fo very faft, that they can 
eafily accomplifli ten miles in an hour; and when 
they happen to be wounded at fea, they feize the 
fifhing-boats with their teeth, and drag them along 
with fuch fwiftnefs, that they appear to fly, and 
not to fwim on the water; and by this means a 
boat is frequently overturned, unlefs the fteerfman 
is very fkilful. As they are furnifhed with a fora- 
men ovale, they can continue very long under wa- 
ter; but, whenever they grow weak, they arife to 
the top, in order to imbibe frefh air. They often 
fwim on their backs, and fo near the furface of the 
water, that their hinder-paws are frequently dry. 
When they firft go into that element, they turn 
themfelves like a wheel, after the example of many 
other large fea-animals; and, when they quit it, 
they faften their fore-paws into the rocks, and thus 
draw up their bodies, which they can move but 
flowly in fuch fituations; though they are remarka- 
bly fwift in their motions on plain ground. 
The manner of catching thefe creatures, in Be- 
ring's Ifland, was thus : the natives firft: ftruck out 
their eyes with ft:ones, and then beat out their 
brains with clubs. But this bufinefs proved fo 
difficult, that it required at leafl: three hundred 
ftrokes ; and though fometimes their fkulls were 
broken in pieces, and all their teeth beat out, they 
would ftiil keep their places, ft;and on their hinder 
paws, and endeavour to defend themfelves: one 
of them, thus treated, lived full two v/eeks. The 
people of Kamtfchatka kill them with harpoons : 
fome, however, die through age, though much the 
greater number expire with wounds they receive 
in quarrels. 
Cat, Flying. This animal appears to be a 
fpecies of bat, having it's wings, both internally 
and externally, covered with fine foft hair of a red- 
difti grey colourr The wings of one of thefe bats, 
when meafured by Clufius, were twenty-one inches 
long, and nine broad. The head refembles that of 
a wild Cat ; the ears are of a middling fize ; the eyes 
are large and fhining; and the fore-feet, together 
with the tail, are united to the membraneous 
wings;, infcmuch that every part of this creature 
affiils it in flying. The breafl:s of the female are 
large and round; the membranous wings feem to 
be dentated on the edges ; but the interior furface 
is lefs dov/ny, and not of fo deep a yellow as the 
exterior. 
CAT 
In fome of thefe animals, the mouth is obtule,. 
and approximates to the fhape of that of a Cat; 
and, in others, it is long and narrow, and greatly 
refembles that of a fox. This animal delights in 
caverns and fubterrafieous retreats, where it lies hid 
during the winter ; and, hke the bat tribe, only flies 
abroad about the dufk of the evening. 
Cat-Fish, Greater, This creature, which 
feems to be a fpecies of fliark, is by fome natu- 
ralifts called the dog-fifli. The upper-fide of the 
back is of a brownifh colour, variegated tranfverfely 
with broken irregular bars of a darkifli colour ; and 
the belly or under-fide is white. There are faint 
indift:in6l lateral lines palTing from the eyes to the 
tail. The noft:rils have flits which communicate 
with the mouth; and five openings on each fide of 
the head form the gills. It has two finglefinson the 
back, one behind the other ; and on the belly there 
are two pair of fins, between the hindermofl: of 
which the vent is placed. It has likewife a fingle 
fin on it's under-fide, near the tail ; the tail-fin is of 
a peculiar formation ; and all thefe members are 
furnifhed with duflcy fpots. This fifli proceeds 
from an egg of a horny fubftance of a red -brown 
colour, fhaped like a purfe, and flatted and edged 
on it's fides. The (km of the Cat-Fifli is fenfibly 
rough to the touch ; and the teeth, which are veiy 
fliarp, confift: of feveral rows, like thofe of the fhark- 
It is found on feveral of the Britifh coafl:s, and like-i 
wife near the Cape of Good Hope ; whence we may 
conclude, that it is a general inhabitant of the feas 
both in the temperate and torrid zones. 
Cat-Fish, Greatest. This fifli differs fi-ora 
the former in being of an afli-colour, in having 
larger and fewer fpots, a longer and thicker fnout, 
and noflrrils at a confiderable difl:ance from the 
mouth. 
Cat, Sea. A fifli of a very Angular fliape, with 
eyes extremely large in proportion to the body. 
The back is of a purple colour; the belly is blue, 
fpotted with purple ; and the tail is very broad. 
This fifli is not furniflied with any fins, except on 
the tail and the fore-part of the head ; on which laft 
there are feven, pointing dire6tly forward like the 
feelers of flirimps. Another variety of this fifli is 
of a fl:ili more extraordinary figure. The back- 
part forms an oval lump, on which the head feems 
to hang ; it has long large eyes ; and a fmooth Ikin 
inclining to blue on all parts of the body, except 
the belly, which is brown. The entrails contain a 
glutinous matter, of which the Chinefe make ink. 
CATANODROMI. A term of the fame fig- 
nification with Anadromi, the difl;in6tive name of a 
tribe of fifties which at times leave the frefh water 
for the fait, and afterwards return to the form.er 
again. 
CATARACT A. A bird of the gannet kind, 
fo called by Aldrovandus. It refembles the wood- 
pigeon fo exadlly, that it can hardly be diftinguiflied 
from it, except by the inferiority of it's dimenfions. 
Indeed, Mr. Ray fufpe6ls it to be fame; and the 
rather, as it's defcription was only taken from a 
pi£lure. 
C ATAR ACTES . A nam^e given by fome au- 
thors to the large fea-gull; called in Cornwall, in 
which county it is very common, the gannett. 
CATCH-FLY. A tribe of birds common to 
almoft every country in the known world ; but the 
fpecies are moft numerous in the warmer climates, 
where the alternate extremes of heat and humidity 
are very favourable to the propagation of infefts, 
the ufual food of thefe birds. See Fly-Catcher. 
CATERPILLAR. 
