Institute, says in his remarkable work, entitled "Mind in the Lower
Animals": "The lower animals are subject to the same kinds of bodily
diseases as affect men. They are subject to the same kinds of mental
disorders, productible by the same causes as in man." He asserts that
Cats readily comprehend and thoroughly understand man's words and
the conversation of men. The following attributes he ascribes to the
Cat, namely, "a moral sense in so far as it involves, a, honesty; b,
sense of duty or trust; c, sense of guilt and shame; d, concealment
of crime.
"They are self-sacrificing, even to death, understanding man's
language, verbal and other, including the reading of human character
and words, the interpretation of facial expressions, use of money
and knowledge of its power and the principle of barter, buying and
selling, self-control, appetite, co-operation with man, both in
useful service and in crime, sensitiveness to insult or affront,
neglect, injustice, punishment and reproof, discovery of murderers
and murders, lost or stolen property, idea of time, tune, number,
order, succession of events. On the whole the place next to man, as
respects both intellect and morals, is usually assigned to the dog,
a rank which is, undoubtedly, due to his intimate association with
and careful training by man for countless generations, for there
can be no question as to the hereditary transmission and consequent
accumulation of the truths, good or bad, of education by or in
imitation of man.
"Man ascribes to the Cat spitefulness, selfishness, cold cruelty,
stealthiness, treachery and attachment to place and not to person.
The poor Cat has, probably, been as much maligned and misunderstood
as it has been petted. We are told that its apparent affection is
only 'a cupboard love,' and that this is popularly supposed to be
sufficient to account for its propensity to pilfer eatables and
drinkables. It is said to be attached to place, not to person, to
stick to a given house, even when a master or a mistress who has
heaped kindness upon it has had occasion to change quarters. Absurd
stories are told as to its sucking children's breath. To speak of
a scandal-propagating, sour old maid as 'spiteful as a Cat' is so
common, and we hear the Cat so frequently accused of stealthiness
or treachery--of the enjoyment of the tortures of its victims and
of calculating cruelty, and yet Wood tells us, 'instead of being a
greedy, selfish animal, it is really a very unselfish and generous
one, capable of great sacrifices.' Jesse mentions one that fed a jay
twice a day with mice. Another Cat always brought and laid at her
master's feet the mice she had caught, before she would eat them; she
made use of them as food only when they were given back to her by her
master. The attachment of the Cat is frequently as great to person as
to place, such attachment, however, depending usually on how far she
is understood, sympathized with and kindly treated.
"Cases have been given of Cats following their masters from house
to house and place to place, accompanying them on visits to other
people's residences as unconcerned as a dog. They may be trained to
guard and defend like a dog."
This author speaks of the affection of the feline for the canine and
gives many proofs instancing the feeding and nourishing of a sick dog
by a Cat, and of Cats and dogs living together, in the same kennel,
of which there have been innumerable instances. Other authors who
independently verify these assertions by the relations of personal
observations are Mockridge, Lubbock, Belt, Hogue, Pierre Huber,
François Huber, Latreille, Nemour, Dr. Franklin, Paisley, Boyer,
Spaulding, Houzeau, Nichols, Menauly, Leroy, Burnett, Jebb, Fleming,
Ferrier, Gillies, Gudden, Czermak, Flourens, Smellie, Marville, J. G.
Wood and many others.
Strong proofs in refutation of the ridiculous assertion that the Cat
is a lover of place and not of person have been multiplied until
their name is legion. Strongest of all these proofs are the verified
narratives of most reliable people and recited in books of authors
who are above question as to veracity. There is, in fact, no need of
deceit in this demonstration of the truth in this regard, for where
the intellect is but ordinary, the evidence of the eye is conclusive
to those who may have witnessed the action of the maligned animal,
and the character of the truthful author, whose honesty of purpose
and freedom from deceit have never been impugned, will be taken for
all it is worth by all searchers after the truth.
Prof. Wood, the celebrated naturalist, relates a wonderful story of a
Cat, as follows:
"A Cat recently exhibited a mysterious intuitive power, which equaled
if not surpassed any story of its kind and narrated. She was the
property of a newly married couple, who resided toward the north of
Scotland, where the country narrows considerably, by reason of the
deeply cut inlets of the surrounding sea. Their cottage was at no
great distance from the ocean, and there they remained for several
months. After a while the householders changed their locality and
took up their residence in a house near the opposite coast. As the
intervening country was so hilly and rugged that there would have
been much difficulty in transporting the household goods, the aid of
a ship was called in, and, after giving their Cat to a neighbor as a
present, the man and his wife proceeded by sea to their new home.
"After they had been settled for some weeks, they were surprised by
the sudden appearance of their Cat, which presented itself at their
door, dirty, ragged and half starved. As might be expected, she was
joyfully received, and soon recovered her good looks.
"It is hardly possible to conceive whence the animal could have
obtained her information. Even if the usual means of land transport
had been taken, it would have been most wonderful that the Cat should
have been able to trace the line of journey. But when, as in the
present instance, the human travelers went by water and the feline
traveler went by land, there seems to be no clue to the guiding power
which directed the animal in its course and brought it safely to the
desired goal."
XV.
ILLUSTRATIVE STORIES.
Another story, told by Dr. Wood, is proof of the falsity of the
constantly repeated assertion by many naturalists that the Cat is a
lover of locality and not of persons, and although it seems almost a
matter of superfluity to relate it, I will narrate it in order to fix
the truth beyond contradiction, in the minds of doubters of the real
fact.
"Many years ago we changed our residence from one part of Oxford to
another, and, having been told that Cats have no affection except
for localities, my parents thought that they would not distress
their Cat by taking her into a house which she would not like, and,
accordingly, left 'Nutty' at home. But, after we had been settled
down some eight or ten days, Nutty made her appearance among us and
displayed by every means in her power her delight at rejoining her
old friends. She was terribly emaciated, and had evidently endured
great hardships, but in a few days her rich tortoise-shell fur had
sleeked itself down and she had recovered her wonted beauty."
I take the following from "Gleanings in Natural History," by Edward
Jesse, F.L.S., London, 1838. It demonstrates the love of the feline
for persons and the society of human beings and her innate desire to
protect both her master and his property, characteristics which have
heretofore been attributed alone to the dog and denied existence
in the feline animal. Of the latter trait there are thousands of
instances which have come under the observation of many people, and
have been recited in the numerous volumes which I have consulted in
preparing this paper. The story of this old writer is as follows:
"Cats are generally persecuted animals, and are supposed to show but
little attachment to those who are kind to them. I have known a Cat,
however, to evince great uneasiness during the absence of her owner,
and it is stated that when the Duke of Norfolk was committed to the
Tower, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a favorite Cat made her way
into his prison room by getting down the chimney.
"Cats have been known, also, to do their best to protect the property
of their masters as well as dogs. A man who was sentenced to
transportation for robbery informed me, after his conviction, that
he and two others broke into the house of a gentleman near Hampton
Court. While they were in the act of plundering it a large black Cat
flew at one of the robbers and fixed her claws on each side of his
face. He added that he never saw any man so much frightened in his
life.
"Mr. White, in his 'Natural History of Selborne,' states that of all
quadrupeds Cats are the least disposed toward water, and will not,
when they can avoid it, deign to wet a foot, much less to plunge
into that element. The following fact, however, communicated to me
by a friend who lived several years in Jamaica, will prove that, in
cases of necessity, they take to water, and is also another instance
of the attachment of animals to the places where they are bred.
Being in want of a Cat, one was given him which was not full grown.
It was put into a canvas bag, and a man on horseback brought him a
distance of five miles from the place where it was bred. It had never
been removed before. In doing so, he had to cross two rivers, one
named the Mino, which is about eighty feet wide and two and a half
feet deep, and running strong. The other, called Thomas's River, was
wider and more rapid, but less deep. Over these rivers there were no
bridges. The Cat, when it arrived, was shut up for some days, and
when supposed to be reconciled to her new dwelling she was allowed to
go about the house. The next day, however, she was missing, and was
found, shortly afterward, at her old abode.
"We had one cunning old black Cat," says a correspondent of Dr. Wood,
"whose wisdom was acquired by sad experience. In early youth he must
have been very careless, for at that time he was always getting
in the way of the men and the wine cases, and frequent were the
disasters he suffered from coming into collision with moving bodies.
His ribs had been often fractured, and when nature repaired them he
must have handed them over to the care of her 'prentice hand, for the
work was done in a rough and knotty manner.
"This battered and suffering pussy was, at last, assisted by a
younger hero, who, profiting by the teaching of his senior, managed
to avoid the scrapes which had tortured the one who was self-educated.
"These two Cats, 'Senior' and 'Junior,' appeared to swear--Cats
will swear--eternal friendship at first sight. An interchange of
good offices between them was at once established. 'Senior' taught
'Junior' to avoid men's feet, and wine-cases in motion, and pointed
out the favorite hunting ground, while 'Junior' offered to his
mentor the aid of his activity and physical prowess. 'Senior' had a
cultivated epicurean taste for mice, which he was too old to catch,
and he therefore entered into a solemn league and covenant with
'Junior' to the following effect: It was agreed between these two
low contracting powers that 'Junior' should devote his energies to
catching mice for the benefit of 'Senior,' who, in consideration of
such feudal service, was daily to relinquish his claim to a certain
allowance of cats' meat, in favor of 'Junior.'
"This curious compact was actually and seriously carried out. It
was an amusing and touching spectacle to behold young pussy gravely
laying at the feet of his elder the contents of his gamebag. On
the other hand, 'Senior,' true to his bargain, licked his jaws and
watched 'Junior' steadily consuming a double share of cats' meat."
Mr. Bidil writes from the Government Museum of Madras to "Nature,"
relating this instance of reasoning in a Cat:
"In 1867 I was absent from Madras for two months, and left in my
quarters three Cats, one of which was an English tabby, a very
gentle and affectionate creature. During my absence the quarters
were occupied by two young gentlemen, who delighted in teasing and
frightening the Cats. About a week before my return the English Cat
had kittens, which she carefully concealed behind bookshelves in the
library. On the morning of my return I saw the Cat and petted her,
as usual, and then left the house for about an hour. On returning
to dress, I found that the kittens were located in a corner of my
dressing-room, where previous broods had been deposited and nursed.
On questioning the servant how they came there, he at once replied,
'Sir, the old Cat, taking one by one in her mouth, brought them
here.' In other words, the mother had carried them, one by one, in
her mouth, from the library to the dressing-room, where they lay
quite exposed. I do not think I have heard of a more remarkable
instance of reasoning and affectionate confidence in an animal, and I
need hardly say that the latter manifestation gave me great pleasure.
The train of reasoning seems to be as follows: 'Now my master has
returned, there is no risk of the kittens being injured by the two
young savages in the house, so I will take them out for my protector
to see and admire, and keep them in the corner in which all my former
pets have been nursed in safety.'
"The attachment of the dog and the Cat is sometimes curiously
manifested," says Prof. Wood, and he continues: "In a large
metropolitan household there had been a change of servants, and the
new cook begged, as a favor, to be permitted the company of her dog.
Permission was granted, and the dog took up his quarters in the
kitchen, to the infinite disgust of the Cat, who thought her dignity
insulted by the introduction of a stranger into her special domain.
In process of time, however, she got over her dislike and the two
animals became fast friends. At last the cook left and took with her
the dog.
"After an absence of some length, she determined on paying a visit to
her former companions, her dog accompanying her as usual. Pussy was
in the room when the dog entered, and flew forward to greet him. She
then ran out of the room and shortly returned, bearing in her mouth
her own dinner. This she laid before her old friend, and actually
stood behind him as he ate the food with which she so hospitably
entertained him.
"This anecdote was related to me by the owner of the cat, and there
can be no reason to doubt it.
"In a chateau in Normandy lived a favorite Cat, which was plentifully
supplied with food, and had grown fat and sleek on her luxurious
fare. Indeed, so bounteously was her plate supplied that she was
unable to consume the entire amount of provisions laid before her.
This superabundance of food seemed to weigh upon her mind, and one
day, before her dinner time, she set off across the fields and paid
a visit to a little cottage near the roadside, where there lived a
lean Cat. The two animals returned to the chateau in company, and
after the feline hostess had eaten as much dinner as she desired she
relinquished the remainder in favor of her friend.
"The kind-hearted proprietor of the chateau, seeing this curious act
of hospitality, increased the daily allowance of meat and afforded
an ample meal for both Cats. The improved diet soon exerted its
beneficial effect on the lean stranger, who speedily became as near
comfortably sleek as her hostess.
"In this improved state of matters she could not eat as much as when
she was half starved and ravenous with hunger, and so, after the two
cats had dined, there was still an overplus. In order to avoid waste,
and urged by the generosity of her feelings, the hospitable Cat set
forth on another journey, and fetched another lean Cat from a village
at a league's distance.
"The owner of the chateau, being desirous to see how the matter would
end, continued to increase the daily allowance, and had, at last, as
pensioners of his bounty, nearly twenty Cats, which had been brought
from various houses in the surrounding country. Yet, however ravenous
were these daily visitors, none of them touched a morsel until
their hostess had finished her own dinner. My informant heard this
narrative from the owner of the chateau.
"In the conduct of this hospitably minded Cat there seems to be none
of the commercial spirit which actuated the two Mincing Lane Cats,
but an open-pawed liberality, as beseems an aristocratic birth and
breeding. The creature had evidently a sense of economy as well as a
spirit of generosity, and blending the two qualities together, became
the general almoner of the neighboring felines. There must have been
also great powers of conversation between these various animals, for
it is evident that they were able to communicate ideas to each other
and to induce their companions to act upon the imparted information."
XVI.
SUPERIORITY OF THE CAT OVER OTHER QUADRUMINA.
The recent experiments of Prof. Ferrier, according to his own
interpretation of the phenomena, tend to show that human and animal
language are identical--that the barking of a dog and the mewing of
the Cat are equivalents of speech in man, and that the faculty of
language in man and other animals has virtually the same seat in the
brain. He describes opening the mouth, putting out the tongue and
barking, in the dog, mewing, spitting or hissing, in the Cat, as
signs corresponding to speech. But it needed not the experiments of
the physiologist or the pathologist, or the scalpel of the anatomist,
to tell us that the dog's bark, the cat's mew and the horse's neigh,
as well as the corresponding vocal expressions in other animals,
are the analogies of speech or speaking in man. Language in animals
is both natural and acquired. In both cases it may be the result of
self tuition or man's instruction and training. In both cases its
variety is to be remarked upon, and, just as in man, this variety,
which involves expressiveness, or the sign thereof, is frequently, if
not always, in proportion to the degree of cultivation or education
of the speaker. The interpretation of animal language, in its varied
forms, is of the utmost importance in relation to the discrimination
of notes. It is known, but with accompanying difficulties which arise
mainly from the following causes or source: first, the significance
of animal language has been little studied by man; second, the
wishes or thoughts are expressed in an infinite variety of ways,
not only in different tribes, genera or species, but, in different
individuals of the same species and different members of the same
family and different offspring of the same parent, in different ages
of the same individual, in the same individual at different times and
under different circumstances. The mode of expressing the passions is
different in different animals. Many of the utterances of animals are
such distinct imitations of the human voice and other sounds as to
deceive even man himself.
I do not credit the Darwinian theory of evolution with being in the
line of common sense. In this doubt of its correctness I think I
am joined by the great majority of mankind. In some human beings
who think as I do upon this subject, the wish may be father to the
thought, for a matter of pride, because no man takes kindly to the
assertion that his progenitors were apes and baboons, or something
akin to these, and this may be classified as a very commendable
pride in the human being. Nor do I believe that the domestic Cat
is an evolution from the wild-cat, or the puma, or the jaguar, or
anything of their species. The resemblance has deceived more than
one of the best writers upon the subject, as it certainly tends to
do. Naturalists are at variance now, as they always have been, upon
the subject of the true origin of the Cat, for while some declare
that the domestic Cat evolves from the wild-cat, others claim, with
as much sincerity, that the wild-cat comes from the domestic feline.
One author, in proof of such an assertion, remarks that the wild-cat
is not indigenous to the soil of America, and must, therefore, have
evolved from a domestic animal, our household pet, as there was no
other way for the wild animal to get to this country--an argument
which would scarcely apply to other animals. I cannot see the force
of such an argument, nor do I bring myself to the belief that the
beautiful and loving household pet is descended from the ferocious
and comparatively enormous wild-cat or anything of its species,
any more than I can believe that the dog is an evolution from the
lion, the catamount from the tiger, the sprat from the whale, or
man from the ape. The natural tendency to domesticity in the Cat
is antagonistic to this theory of evolution, as are many other
individualities of the feline, and I shall, therefore, claim that our
Cat is not even a distant relative of the wild animal, but is so far
removed that the comparison is not only odious but incorrect.
Prof. E.P. Thompson, in his valuable treatise, entitled "Passions of
Animals," gives to the feline race the following characteristics:
"Perception, touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight, recollection,
memory, imagination, dreams, playfulness, homesickness, thought,
discrimination, attention, experience, sense of injustice,
computation of time, calculation of number, sensation, tone and
power of sensation, sympathy, joy, pain, anger, astonishment,
fear, sympathy of suffering, cruelty, desire, fellowship of joy,
compassion, appetite, impulse, instinct, self-preservation, tenacity
of life, temptation, hibernation, form and color, distribution,
habitation, cleanliness, change of habitation, locality, postures
and use of natural weapons, care of young, affection for offspring,
imitation, social impulse, communication, language, curiosity,
sagacity, temperament, foresight, cunning, artifice, dissimulation,
attachment, fidelity, gratitude, generosity, vanity, love of praise,
jealousy, predominancy, hatred, revenge, love, and training."
Concerning the almost universal belief that the dog is a more
intelligent animal than the Cat, while the classification of animals,
in the order of intellect, by many authors, gives the first place to
the dog, the second to the Cat and the third to the horse, I cannot
agree with them, because the facts are all against such an order of
classification. I protest against the preferment of the dog to the
feline for many reasons, not the least of which is the established
and apparent fact that the construction of the Cat is finer than
that of the dog. It goes without saying that the dog has been given
far more and better opportunities for learning and refinement than
the Cat. The dog is the constant companion of man. He goes with him
everywhere, to his place of business, to his farm, to his work of
every nature, upon his walks abroad, to the enjoyment of his sports,
to the tavern, even to the church, and, when the day's work and
pleasures are over, to his home, and frequently to his bed-chamber.
The dog is with the man, his constant companion, from the cradle to
the grave, and from his constant companionship come the knowledge
and intelligence of the canine, developed by constant observation of
man's habits, mode of expression, likes, dislikes, associations and
moods. It must be admitted by the most obtuse that the Cat has never
been given such privilege; consequently, to compare the Cat with the
dog, in the matter of intelligence, is an apparent injustice. Give to
the feline the same advantages which are bestowed upon the canine,
and the superiority of the Cat will be immediately appreciable. Prof.
George J. Romanes, in his valuable work, "Animal Intelligence,"
recently published, says in relation to the injustice done the
feline animal by naturalists in general: