QUADRUPEDS. 17 
black hairs at the tip. The fur is long and thick ; the 
upper parts of the body are of a pale gray colour, with a 
reddish tinge, the under parts white ; but the upper part 
is most valuable. This animal prefers cold to temperate 
climates ; he pursues his prey into the highest branches of 
trees; neither the wild cat, the martin, the ermine, nor 
even the squirrel, can escape him ; and such is his native 
ferocity, that in a state of captivity, on the slightest irrita- 
tion or insult, he expresses his anger by a kind of snarling 
scream. 
THE CAT. (Felis Cattus, var. domestica.) 
Grimalkin, to domestic vermin sworn 
An everlasting foe, with watchful eye 
Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinkey gap 
Protending her fell claws, to thoughtless mice 
Sure ruin. 
JOHN PHILIPS. 
IT was formerly supposed that the common domestic Cat 
was nothing more than the wild Cat of the woods, rendered 
tame by education. This opinion is, however, now 
doubted, on the ground that the tail of the wild Cat is 
thick and bushy, like that of a fox, while that of the 
domestic Cat tapers to the point. The Cat of the 
Egyptians, of which so many mummies have been found, 
