ec ageiae agian 
BIOS ” 
2 gar 
is ig ae” 
ae 
THE DOMESTIC CAT 
Saturday Review thought that he was able to interpret 
its utterance as a protest against captivity. What 
was proved, however, is the power of caterwauling in 
a voice not inferior in variety of tones to that of domestic 
pussy. To the casual onlooker the true wild cat of 
Europe does not differ widely from many specimens of 
domestic cats. It is difficult, indeed, to distinguish with 
absolute certainty some so-called domestic cats from 
a genuine wild specimen. This does not in the least 
prove that the tame cat and the wild cat are the same 
speices ; that idea admits of disproof, which we shall 
set forth presently. What it undoubtedly does prove 
is the close interbreeding for many generations of the 
two stocks. So intertwined nowadays are the two 
races that it is better to speak of both, and not limit 
ourselves to one. As to the real wild cat, it has been 
extinct in England since, at any rate, 1843; indeed, 
some put its final disappearance much earlier. The 
late Rev. H. A. Macpherson considered that historical 
evidence placed the death of the last wild cat in the 
Lake district, which would naturally have harboured 
cats for a longer period than more cultivated tracts, 
as long ago as 1754. Pennant, so well known as the 
correspondent of Gilbert White, termed the animal the 
~ British tiger,” a name well earned by its ferocity, 
and perhaps by its size relative to the domestic cat. 
The amount of spitting and swearing which will prob- 
ably greet a prolonged attention to a caged cat at the 
Zoo, will amply bear out the justice of Pennant’s name. 
Not an atom of white hair is ever to be found about the 
true wild cat ; but other positive differences, owing to 
the repeated crossings already referred to, are prac- 
tically wanting. 
It may be asked, however, how it is that if cats have 
been common in this country in the past though rare 
now, our domestic variety is not an offshoot from 
IO! 
