ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
47 
from a height, as to come down upon their feet, is well known. 
Even when thrown with the head or hack downwards they will 
turn, so that the feet shall come first to the ground ; and from 
heights which would destroy the lives, or at least break the 
bones of any other animal, puss will land in safety, andbound 
away without a limp. This peculiarity is owing to the chief 
bulk of the foot being composed of elastic tendons, and balls, 
or cushions, consisting of a substance intermediate between 
cartilage and tendon, being attached to the sole of each foot? 
the middle one being made up of five distinct parts, besides a 
similar pad to each toe. In walking, the cat tribe do not 
touch the ground with their claws, for these remain sharp 
even in old age (which some persons may have learnt to their 
sorrow). But in seizing their prey, or inflicting vengeance, 
the feet by means of the claws, become instruments capable 
of holding the victim, or piercing the skin of an enemy. This 
is performed by an elastic ligament acting as a spring, by 
which the claw is drawn up or backward, and to bring down 
which, muscular action is necessary ; this is effected by 
the contraction of a strong muscle to which the tendon is 
attached, the shortening of which pulls down the claw, atta- 
ched in its turn by a ligament to the bone. 
The long hairs on the upper lips of the cat tribe, are of 
great importance to these prowlers. They are the organs 
of touch, each one being connected with the nerves of the 
lip, so that the slightest contact with any object is known to 
the animal instantly. These hairs project round the head to 
such a distance as to equal the diameter of the animal’s body, 
so that by them they can measure the size of an aperture 
before they attempt to pass through it. The writer well 
remembers in Leicestershire, when a boy, seeing sundry cats 
which had been shorn of their whiskers, in consequence of 
poaching proclivities ; the gamekeepers asserting that under 
such manipulation, a cat would never venture far from home 
among bushes. 
