1882.] Domesticity in Animals . * 709 
But to complete Mr. Swainson’s discomfiture, the bison 
has been found and reported by the most eminent authori- 
ties in America to be readily susceptible of domestication.* 
There is little inducement to multiply the tame breed on the 
large scale as the cows are not good milkers. But in the 
absence of ordinary cattle they would be of great value. It 
must, therefore, remain a problem why the Red Indians did 
not have herds of tame bison just as the Tartars of the 
Asiatic steppes have their oxen. The fault evidently lay 
with them rather than with the bison. 
Mr. Swainson’s rule concerning the pre-ordained capa- 
bility of certain animals for tameness breaks down in another 
direction. Of the carnivorous animals which enter into 
general domestication, viz., the dog and the cat, he pro- 
nounces the former to be the rasorial type of the carnivorous 
circle. But he does not venture to refer to the cat. This 
animal is assuredly one of the typical forms of the Carni- 
vora, and hence according to theory, it should be hostile to 
man. Yet no creature show a greater craving for human 
sympathy. This is the more remarkable as it is not a gre- 
garious or social species, and even in a state of tameness 
shows no marked liking for the companionship of its own kind. 
Two mature cats of the same sex seldom meet each other 
without muttering an execration. How strikingly different 
is this from the behaviour of dogs among themselves ! That 
an animal so unsociable to its fellows should not merely 
tolerate but desire human society is very singular. Most 
singular it must seem since our domestic cat has been less 
modified by civilisation than most tame animals, and if cir- 
cumstances require, can resume her place in the wilderness 
with more ease than any other tame species. Another 
peculiar circumstance is that several nearly allied forms, 
including the wild cat of Britain, seem hitherto utterly un- 
tameable though certainly belonging to the same type as 
Felis domestica. 
We do not know whether it will be considered a blame- 
worthy digression, but it seems to us and to not a few other 
observers that the moral character of the cat has altered for 
the better, and is still altering within say the last century. 
There are few persons now given to studying closely the 
habits of animals who would join in those sweeping charges 
of treachery, selfishness, and ill-temper which were brought 
against her by earlier writers. Perhaps she has been ma- 
ligned because of her unwillingness or incapacity to be an 
accomplice in human vices and follies. 
* J. A. Allen. History of the American Bison, p. 585. 
