This animal, which is chiefly known in a domestic state, was originally
wild, and is still found in that condition in the forests of Europe and
Asia. It was not a native of the American continent, but was brought
hither by the European settlers. The quadruped found in our woods, and
sometimes called by the name of _wild-cat_, is a lynx. In a domestic
state, the savage habits of the cat are exchanged for a soft, gentle,
and confiding character, which renders her a favorite around every
fireside. Nor is puss to be admired only for these winning qualities,
and her utility as a mouser. She possesses considerable genius, and the
memoirs of her race are scarcely less remarkable than those of her
natural rival, the dog.
_Miscellaneous Anecdotes._--The following story is furnished by a
correspondent of the Penny Magazine: "I was once on a visit to a friend
in the country, who had a favorite cat and dog, who lived together on
the best possible terms, eating from the same plate and sleeping on the
same rug. Puss had a young family, and Pincher was in the habit of
making a daily visit to the kittens, whose nursery was at the top of
the house. One morning, there was a tremendous storm of thunder and
lightning. Pincher was in the drawing-room, and puss was attending to
her family in the garret. Pincher seemed annoyed by the vivid flashes
of lightning; and, just as he had crept nearer to my feet, some one
entered the room followed by puss, who walked in with a disturbed air,
and mewing with all her might. She came to Pincher, rubbed her face
against his cheek, touched him gently with her paw, walked to the door,
stopped, looked back, and mewed,--all of which said, as plainly as
words could have done, 'Come with me, Pincher;' but the dog was too
much alarmed himself to give any consolation to her, and took no notice
of the invitation.
"The cat then returned, and renewed her application, with increased
energy; but the dog was immovable, though it was evident that he
understood her meaning, for he turned away his head with a
half-conscious look, and crept closer to me; and puss soon left the
room. Not long after this, the mewing became so piteous, that I could
no longer resist going to see what was the matter. I met the cat at the
top of the stairs, close by the door of my chamber. She ran to me,
rubbed herself against me, and then went into the room, and crept under
the wardrobe. I then heard two voices, and discovered that she had
brought down one of her kittens, and lodged it there for safety; but
her fears and cares being so divided between the kitten above and this
little one below, I suppose she wanted Pincher to watch by this one,
while she went for the other; for, having confided it to my protection,
she hastened up stairs. Not, however, wishing to have charge of the
young family, I followed her up, taking the kitten with me, placed it
beside her, and moved the little bed farther from the window, through
which the lightning flashed so vividly as to alarm poor puss for the
safety of her progeny. I then remained in the garret till the storm had
passed away.
"On the following morning, much to my surprise, I found puss waiting
for me at the door of my apartment. She accompanied me down to
breakfast, sat by me, and caressed me in every possible way. She had
always been in the habit of going down to breakfast with the lady of
the house; but on this morning she had resisted all her coaxing to
leave my door, and would not move a step till I had made my appearance.
She had never done this before, and never did it again. She had shown
her gratitude to me for the care of her little ones, and her duty was
done."
The editor of the "Edinburgh Evening Courant" gives us the following
extraordinary story: "A country gentleman of our acquaintance, who is
neither a friend to thieves nor poachers, has at this moment, in his
household, a favorite cat, whose honesty, he is sorry to say, there is
but too much reason to call in question. The animal, however, is far
from being selfish in her principles; for her acceptable gleanings she
regularly shares among the children of the family in which her lot is
cast. It is the habit of this grimalkin to leave the kitchen or parlor,
as often as hunger and an opportunity may occur, and wend her way to a
certain pastrycook's shop, where, the better to conceal her purpose,
she endeavors slyly to ingratiate herself into favor with the mistress
of the house. As soon as the shopkeeper's attention becomes engrossed
in business, or otherwise, puss contrives to pilfer a small pie or tart
from the shelves on which they are placed, speedily afterwards making
the best of her way home with her booty.
"She then carefully delivers her prize to some of the little ones in
the nursery. A division of the stolen property quickly takes place; and
here it is singularly amusing to observe the _sleekit_ animal, not the
least conspicuous among the numerous group, thankfully munching her
share of the illegal traffic. We may add, that the pastrycook is by no
means disposed to institute a legal process against poor Mrs. Puss, as
the children of the gentleman to whom we allude are honest enough to
acknowledge their fourfooted playmate's failings to papa, who willingly
compensates any damage the shopkeeper may sustain from the petty
depredations of the would-be philanthropic cat."
In the month of July, 1801, a woman was murdered in Paris. A
magistrate, accompanied by a physician, went to the place where the
murder had been committed, to examine the body. It was lying upon the
floor, and a greyhound, who was standing by the corpse, licked it from
time to time, and howled mournfully. When the gentlemen entered the
apartment, he ran to them without barking, and then returned, with a
melancholy mien, to the body of his murdered mistress. Upon a chest in
a corner of the room a cat sat motionless, with eyes, expressive of
furious indignation, steadfastly fixed upon the body. Many persons now
entered the apartment; but neither the appearance of such a crowd of
strangers, nor the confusion that prevailed in the place, could make
her change her position.
In the mean time, some persons were apprehended on suspicion of being
the murderers, and it was resolved to lead them into the apartment.
Before the cat got sight of them, when she only heard their footsteps
approaching, her eyes flashed with increased fury, her hair stood
erect, and so soon as she saw them enter the apartment, she sprang
towards them with expressions of the most violent rage, but did not
venture to attack them, being probably afraid of the numbers that
followed. Having turned several times towards them with a peculiar
ferocity of aspect, she crept into a corner, with a mien indicative of
the deepest melancholy. This behavior of the cat astonished every one
present. The effect which it produced upon the murderers was such as
almost amounted to an acknowledgment of their guilt. Nor did this
remain long doubtful, for a train of accessory circumstances was soon
discovered, which proved it to a complete conviction.
A cat, which had a numerous litter of kittens, one summer day in
spring, encouraged her little ones to frolic in the vernal beams of the
noon, about the stable door, where she dwelt. While she was joining
them in a thousand tricks and gambols, a large hawk, who was sailing
above the barn-yard, in a moment darted upon one of the kittens, and
would have as quickly borne it off, but for the courageous mother, who,
seeing the danger of her offspring, sprang on the common enemy, who, to
defend itself, let fall the prize. The battle presently became severe
to both parties. The hawk, by the power of his wings, the sharpness of
his talons, and the strength of his beak, had for a while the
advantage, cruelly lacerating the poor cat, and actually deprived her
of one eye in the conflict; but puss, no way daunted at the accident,
strove, with all her cunning and agility, for her kittens, till she had
broken the wing of her adversary. In this state, she got him more
within the power of her claws, and, availing herself of this advantage,
by an instantaneous exertion she laid the hawk motionless beneath her
feet; and, as if exulting in the victory, tore the head off the
vanquished tyrant. This accomplished, disregarding the loss of her eye,
she ran to the bleeding kitten, licked the wounds made by the hawk's
talons in its tender sides, and purred whilst she caressed her
liberated offspring.
In the summer of 1792, a gentleman who lived in the neighborhood of
Portsmouth, England, had a cat, which kittened four or five days after
a hen had brought out a brood of chickens. As he did not wish to keep
more than one cat at a time, the kittens were all drowned, and the same
day the cat and one chicken were missing. Diligent search was
immediately made in every place that could be thought of, both in and
out of the house, to no purpose; it was then concluded that some
mischance had befallen both. Four days afterwards, however, the
servant, having occasion to go into an unfrequented part of the cellar,
discovered, to his great astonishment, the cat lying in one corner,
with the chicken hugged close to her body, and one paw laid over it, as
if to preserve it from injury. The cat and adopted chicken were brought
into a closet in the kitchen, where they continued some days, the cat
treating the chicken in every respect as a kitten. Whenever the chicken
left the cat to eat, she appeared very uneasy; but, on its return, she
received it with the affection of a mother, pressed it to her body,
purred, and seemed perfectly happy. If the chicken was carried to the
hen, it immediately returned to the cat. The chicken was by some
accident killed, and the cat would not eat for several days afterwards,
being inconsolable for its loss.
"I had," says M. Wenzel, "a cat and dog which became so attached to
each other, that they would never willingly be asunder. Whenever the
dog got any choice morsel of food, he was sure to divide it with his
whiskered friend. They always ate sociably out of one plate, slept in
the same bed, and daily walked out together. Wishing to put this
apparently sincere friendship to the proof, I, one day, took the cat by
herself into my room, while I had the dog guarded in another apartment.
I entertained the cat in a most sumptuous manner, being desirous to see
what sort of a meal she would make without her friend, who had hitherto
been her constant table companion. The cat enjoyed the treat with great
glee, and seemed to have entirely forgotten the dog. I had had a
partridge for dinner, half of which I intended to keep for supper. My
wife covered it with a plate, and put it into a cupboard, the door of
which she did not lock. The cat left the room, and I walked out upon
business. My wife, meanwhile, sat at work in an adjoining apartment.
"When I returned home, she related to me the following circumstances:
The cat, having hastily left the dining-room, went to the dog, and
mewed uncommonly loud, and in different tones of voice, which the dog,
from time to time, answered with a short bark. They then went both to
the door of the room where the cat had dined, and waited till it was
opened. One of my children opened the door, and immediately the two
friends entered the apartment. The mewing of the cat excited my wife's
attention. She rose from her seat, and stepped softly up to the door,
which stood ajar, to observe what was going on. The cat led the dog to
the cupboard which contained the partridge, pushed off the plate which
covered it, and, taking out my intended supper, laid it before her
canine friend, who devoured it greedily. Probably the cat, by her
mewing, had given the dog to understand what an excellent meal she had
made, and how sorry she was that he had not participated in it; but, at
the same time, had given him to understand that something was left for
him in the cupboard, and persuaded him to follow her thither. Since
that time I have paid particular attention to these animals, and am
perfectly convinced that they communicate to each other whatever seems
interesting to either."
A cat belonging to an elderly lady in Bath, England, was so attached to
her mistress, that she would pass the night in her bedchamber, which
was four stories high. Outside of the window was the parapet wall, on
which the lady often strewed crumbs for the sparrows that came to
partake of them. The lady always sleeping with her window open, the cat
would pounce upon the birds, and kill them. One morning, giving a
"longing, lingering look" at the top of the wall, and seeing it free
from crumbs, she was at a loss for an expedient to decoy the feathered
tribe, when, reconnoitring, she discovered a small bunch of wheat
suspended in the room, which she sprang at, and succeeded in getting
down. She then carried it to the favorite resort of the sparrows, and
actually threshed the corn out, by beating it on the wall, then hiding
herself. After a while, the birds came, and she resumed her favorite
sport of killing the dupes of her sagacity.
A cat belonging to a gentleman of Sheffield, England, carried her
notions of beauty so far, that she would not condescend to nourish and
protect her own offspring, if they happened to be tinted with colors
different from what adorned her own figure, which was what is usually
denominated tortoise-shell. She happened, on one occasion only, to
produce one kitten, of a jet black. The cruel mother drew the
unfortunate little creature out of the bed in which it lay, and,
refusing to give it suck, it perished on the cold ground. Some time
after, she gave birth to three more, one of which had the misfortune
not to be clad in the same colors as the mother. It was therefore
ousted by the unnatural parent; and, although again and again replaced
in its bed, it was as frequently turned out again. The owner of the
cat, finding it useless to persist in what puss had determined should
not be, in humanity consigned the kitten to a watery grave,--the victim
of a parent's pride and cruelty.
"I once saw," says De la Croix, "a lecturer upon experimental
philosophy place a cat under the glass receiver of an air-pump, for the
purpose of demonstrating that very certain fact, that life cannot be
supported without air and respiration. The lecturer had already made
several strokes with the piston, in order to exhaust the receiver of
its air, when the animal, who began to feel herself very uncomfortable
in the rarefied atmosphere, was fortunate enough to discover the source
from which her uneasiness proceeded. She placed her paw upon the hole
through which the air escaped, and thus prevented any more from passing
out of the receiver. All the exertions of the philosopher were now
unavailing: in vain he drew the piston; the cat's paw effectually
prevented its operation. Hoping to effect his purpose, he let air again
into the receiver, which as soon as the cat perceived, she withdrew her
paw from the aperture; but whenever he attempted to exhaust the
receiver, she applied her paw as before. All the spectators clapped
their hands in admiration of the wonderful sagacity of the animal, and
the lecturer found himself under the necessity of liberating her, and
substituting in her place another, that possessed less penetration, and
enabled him to exhibit the cruel experiment."
A lady at Potsdam, in Prussia, tells an anecdote of one of her
children, who, when about six years old, got a splinter of wood into
her foot, early one morning, and, sitting down on the floor of the
chamber, cried most vehemently. Her elder sister, asleep in the same
apartment, was in the act of getting up to inquire the cause of her
sister's tears, when she observed the cat, who was a favorite playmate
of the children, and of a gentle and peaceable disposition, leave her
seat under the stove, go up to the crying girl, and, with one of her
paws, give her so smart a blow upon the cheek as to draw blood; and
with the utmost gravity resume her seat under the stove, and relapse
into slumber. As she was otherwise so harmless, the conclusion was,
that she intended this as a chastisement for being disturbed, in hopes
that she might enjoy her morning nap without interruption.
A lady residing in Glasgow had a handsome cat sent her from Edinburgh.
It was conveyed to her in a close basket, and in a carriage. She was
carefully watched for two months; but having produced a pair of young
ones, at that time she was left to her own discretion, which she very
soon employed in disappearing with both her kittens. The lady at
Glasgow wrote to her friend in Edinburgh, deploring her loss, and the
cat was supposed to have strayed away.
About a fortnight, however, after her disappearance from Glasgow, her
well-known mew was heard at the street door of her old mistress in
Edinburgh, and there she was with both her kittens! they in the best
condition--but she very thin. It is clear that she could only carry one
kitten at a time. The distance from Edinburgh to Glasgow being forty
miles, she must have travelled one hundred and twenty miles at least!
Her prudence must likewise have suggested the necessity of journeying
in the night, with many other precautions for the safety of her young.