According to observation, music has power, not only to soothe the savage
or the troubled breast of civilized man, but its potency extends to the
brute world as well. Among those animals which appear to be charmed by
musical sounds, it would seem difficult to find any manifesting a keener
delight than the ordinary domestic cat.
The London Spectator some months ago referred to an instance where a cat
showed marked pleasure in a whistled tune. This recalled to memory the
circumstance of a certain cat, a beautiful creature with black and ecru
stripes, whose appreciation of the musician’s art awakened in him
inordinate emotion. Were he within hearing distance of the piano the
eliciting of a few chords was sufficient to beguile him into the parlor.
When permitted to walk across the keys he always appeared pleased with
his performance. But he was discriminating and exhibited decided
preferment for vocal renditions over instrumental. The “Miserere” from
“Il Trovatore” affected him more deeply than anything else, and might
appear to confirm the theory held by some that the possession of a soul
is not limited to the human creation.
Settling himself in front of the singer, he would listen with bated
breath and eyes widely dilated. Never would he move a muscle, unless
after a prolonged interval in the music, when he would softly approach
the vocalist to caress her face and neck with his paw or to smooth her
cheek with his own. His coaxings always had the sought for effect, when
he would once more seat himself with becoming decorum to imbibe the
harmony which seemed to ravish his being.
This is by no means an isolated instance of fondness for musical
discourse on the part of cats, though this particular case affords an
extravagant illustration of that æsthetic sensitiveness which
characterizes probably the whole feline tribe.
S. Virginia Levis.