opening of the dry season in the tropics; and they remain under the guidance of the mother until nearly full-grown. Though many species are widely distributed, none are migratory, and few wander far, the tiger and leopard being the most inclined, perhaps, to wide ranging. The disposition of most cats is to remain near a settled lair, and through a limited area near by a disposition recognizable in the attachment to the house and to a favorite corner that distinguishes our house-cats, and makes them loath to change their location and customs. A certain inflexibility seems to characterize their minds, and the secrecy, noiseless stealth, patience, and ruthlessness which belong to their methods of life in the forest have affected their temperaments. The needful savagery of their nature is ingrained and as a rule unyielding to gentler influences in changed conditions. Hence they are, as a class, untamable, the very few exceptions having become the stock of the domesticated races. Most species can be made friendly to man only when kittens, asserting their feral natures and becoming untrustworthy as soon as growth brings sense of power and predaceous instincts. Trainers have subjugated certain species, but they are kept in subjection by fear alone and make their performance unwillingly and without pride or joy in it. A few have been trained to hunt, but none to retrieve, and in general they approach sympathy with man and the attitude of companion and helper far less than dogs, which exceed them in certain directions of intelligence, as, for example, the understanding of mechanical appliances. A cat's expression of its emotions is mainly by 'lashing' of the tail or a trembling of its tip, when excited; by spitting, yowls, and screams when very angry, or sexually excited; by plaintive mewings when in trouble or desiring notice; and by a vibrating murmur deep in its throat (purring) when satisfied or contented. The position of the ears is very significant, as in most other animals; and the arching of the back, erection of the hair, and elevation of the tail, so familiar in our house-cats, which thus try to make themselves look as large and terrible as possible in the presence of an enemy, are characteristic of all the smaller forms, though little indulged by the greater kinds. The relation of the cats to mankind generally is one of enmitythey are neighbors dangerous to him or his domestic animals which must be got rid of wherever civilization is to prevail. Hence they have mostly disappeared from thickly settled regions. The lion and tiger were inhabitants of Europe within historic times, but neither is now to be found near the Mediterranean on either side; and even the wildcat is rare in Europe, except in wilder parts. The puma has been exterminated in the United States east of the Plains, and lynxes are uncommon, while the jaguar has quite disappeared north of Central Mexico. In certain long-settled parts, however, jungles and mountain ranges furnish harbors for these beasts, which sally out to destroy human life, as in India and Africa, or to prey upon flocks and herds as in America.

Fossil Cats.-The Felidæ seem to have been derived from somewhat primitive Miocene carnivores, the sabre-toothed tigers (q.v.) constituting the highly interesting family Nimravide, which were themselves evolved from some earlier Eocene

creodonts, perhaps Palæonictis and Patriofelis (q.v.).

The true felines appear first in the Lower Miocene of France, where they are represented by Proælurus, and in the Middle Miocene by Pseudoælurus. The genus Felis appears first in the Middle and Upper Miocene of Europe and North America, and later in the Pliocene and Pleistocene of both these continents and also of Asia. As with several other races of animals, the Pliocene and Pleistocene members appear to have been of much larger size and to have inhabited more northerly countries than their modern descendants. The cave lion (Felis spelæa), whose remains are found in the cave deposits of Europe and England, was larger than the modern lion of Asia and Africa, of which species it seems to have been but a variety. Equally large species are known from the American Pleistocene deposits. Fossil remains of many of the existing species of felines are found in the Pleistocene deposits of Europe and southern Asia.

Cats inhabit all parts of the world except Australia, New Zealand, southeast Malaysia, the Polynesian Islands, and Madagascar, the greater number being inhabitants of southern Asia. There are from 40 to 50 species (according to various views of specific rank in certain cases), divided by conservative zoologists into only three genera-Felis, with 35 to 40 species; Lyncus, the short-tailed cats, 6 species; and Cynælurus, 1 or perhaps 2 species. Most of these will be found described elsewhere under their names, as LEOP ARD, LION, LYNX, OUNCE, TIGER, etc., or under WILDCAT.

of

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Strauss-Durckheim, Anatomie descriptive et comparative du chat (Paris, 1845; anatomical monograph, folio, illustrated); D. G. Elliott, Monograph of the Felida (London, 1878-83); Mivart, The Cat (New York, 1892; anatomical and descriptive; illustrations bones, muscles, etc., and of nearly all the species); Wilder and Gage, Anatomical Technology, as Applied to the Domestic Cat (New York, 1882); Richard and Jennings, Anatomy of the Cat (New York, 1901). See, also, bibliography at the end of this article.

The Domestic Cat.-A cat, or cats, formed a part of the domestic circle in various parts of the world before the beginning of human record, and the question of the origin of the varied domestic races known within historic times may only be guessed at. Naturalists have attempted by a study of semi-fossil remains, mummies from ancient Egyptian tombs, a comparison of modern examples with wild forms of similar size, and a study of the reversionary tendencies exhibited by house-cats that return to a feral life, to determine the origin of the race, but have learned nothing definite. The best opinion seems to be that stated by J. E. Harting, F.L.S.: "Several ild species of Egyptian and Indian origin having been ages ago reclaimed, the interbreeding of their offspring and crossing with other wild species in the countries to which they have been at various times exported has resulted in the gradual production of the many varieties, so different in shape and color, with which we are now familiar."

Domesticated cats seem to have been common in Egypt before the time of the earliest records, for their mummies are coeval with the most ancient human remains and they are depicted on

the oldest monuments. The same may, perhaps, be said of India, where they are mentioned in Sanskrit manuscripts at least 2000 years before Christ; and from India they were taken to China, where, however, they seem not to have been generally known until about A.D. 500. It was in Egypt, however, that the animal, which is considered to have been there, at least, the local gloved or Caffre cat (Felis caffra) domesticated, reached its highest importance, both as a mouser in that 'granary of the world,' and as an object of affection and veneration. It was naturally connected with the cat-headed moon-goddess Pasht, both by its habits and by the fanciful resemblance of the gradual expansion of its pupil, as darkness came on, to the growth of the moon; was protected by priestly decrees and superstitions of great popular force, and was entombed in elaborate mummy-cases. It is believed that the domestic cats of Europe, whence America received its stock, were derived from Egypt at a comparatively late day. It does not appear that they were known as domestic animals among the Assyrians or early Hebrews, and the mousers in the homes of the early classic Greeks were probably martens (Martes foina). Cats were possessed by the central Europeans of the Bronze Age, and probably came to have more or less admixture with the European wildcats, but the basis of the stock from which our present varieties have descended is, no doubt, the Egyptian domesticated race. The Indian and Chinese may have originated quite separately from Asiatic species.

Domestic cats are now divided by the character and color of the coat, comparative length of tail, etc., into certain varieties recognized by fanciers, according to rules formulated by the societies which hold annual competitive exhibitions in New York, London, and other cities. The principal divisions are two-long-haired, or Asiatic, and short-haired, or European cats. The longhaired varieties are two, the Angora and Persian.

The Angora cat came originally from Angora, and has a small head and rather large tufted ears; the long silky hair should hang in tufts and clusters, shortening toward the end of the tail. The colors are varied, but black and darkslate colored ones with orange eyes, or blues and whites with light eyes, are most valued.

The Persian is also long-haired, but is larger in body and the fur is coarser, and increases toward the end of the long tail; the color may be almost any, but deep black with orange eyes is preferred; blue is the next best color.

The short-haired cats are mainly distinguished by their colors, as tortoise-shell, tabby, white, blue (or Maltese), etc. The hair may differ somewhat in length and texture, but in this respect the diversities are too slight and inconstant to count much. Tortoise-shell cats are rather small, long-bodied, and graceful; in color, black, red, and yellow, rich and deep, and disposed in sharply defined patches upon short, close, silky hair. Eyes, bright amber to orangeyellow. The presence of white sets the animal aside into a variety known as Tortoise-shell and White, where the white should be in a distinct blaze on the face and on the breast and legs. All these cats are good mousers, but less affectionate than some others.

Tabby is the name given to banded or brindled

cats, in allusion to the wavy pattern of their coats, like the old-fashioned watered' fabrics from the East once known in commerce as ‘atabi' and more lately as 'taffety.' Four varieties ar recognized by fanciers-brown, spotted, blue (or silver), and red tabbies. Good examples of these types must conform to their standard; anything else is simply an unclassed tabby-cat.' "The brown tabby," says Huidekoper, "has a ground color of a rich reddish dark brown, with no white, and even, regular bars and bands of solid shining black over every part of the body; these bands must be perfectly distinct, and there must be no spots." The Spotted Tabby may be of any base color, and is uniformly and equally spotted all over with black spots set in lines. The eyes of both these varieties should be orange. The Blue or Silver Tabby is a rather small, very slender, graceful, close-haired cat, bright blue or else silvery in color, setting off the jet-black narrow bands with great sharpness; cushion of the feet black; long tail, ringed; eyes orange for the blue, yellow for the silver race. The Red Tabby varies from reddish brown to red in base color, having well-defined bands of darker red, and no white whatever; eyes, orange or yellow. This cat is an important factor in breeding tortoise-shells; in fact, 99 per cent. of male tortoiseshell kittens are red tabbies, the females only, as a rule, being proper tortoise-shells. They are good-natured domestic cats, great mousers and hunters for birds; they are also expert fishers. White and short-haired cats form a special class, characterized by eyes of turquoise or clear skyblue; or, if yellow, there must be no greenish tinge. These are quiet, affectionate cats, very often deaf. Self-Colored cats include those which are of some one solid color, and their eyes should be orange-yellow for the blue (or Maltese, as it is known in America), orange for the black, yellow for the gray, and gold for the red cat. The more uniform the color the better. Black cats and Black-and-White cats are classed separately, and in the latter case the white should be only on the face, muzzle, breast, and paws; the eyes vary from orange-yellow to 'sea-green.' The royal cat of Siam reverses this somewhat, being dun, or fawn-color, with black face, ears, tail, and feet. The Manx cat differs from others not only in being tailless (as a rule), but also, like the Siamese variety, has the hindquarters decidedly elevated. A white Manx cat is almost unknown, and black ones are exceedingly rare.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Champfleury, Les Chats (Paris, 1870; anecdotal, illustrated); Hehn, Kulturpflan zen und Hausthiere (Berlin, 1894); G. Rolleston, "On Domestic Cats," in Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, Vol. II. (London, 1868); H. Weir, Our Cats Varieties, Habits, and Management (New York, 1889); J. Jennings, Domestic and Fancy Cats (London, 1893); G. Stables, Cats: Handbook to Their Classification and Diseases [and] Training (London, 1897); R. H. Huidekoper, The Cat (New York, 1895; standards of form, treatment, etc.); Helen W. Winslow, Concerning Cats (Boston, 1900; discursive); Agnes Repplier, The Fireside Sphinx (New York, 1901; historical and literary).

CAT (in old ships the cat-fall led through the cat-head, a projecting beam on the bow, frequently ornamented with a cat's head). In nautical par Inace, the cat, or cat-purchase, is a device used in getting the anchor up in the securing position