Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/367

CAT. 313 CAT. opening of the drj' sonsun in flip tropics; and they R'nuiin under the yuiilanee of the niollier until lU'iuly full-jirown. Tluiugh many species are widely distrihuted. none are migratory, and few wander far, the tijjer and h'opard bein;; tlie most inclined, perhajis, to wide ranginjr. The dispositiim of most eats 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 distin- guishes our house-cats, and makes them loath to change their location and customs. A certain inllexibility seems to characterize their minds, and the secrecy, noiseless stealth, patience, and ruthlessness which belong to tlicir metliods of life in the forest have affected their tempera- ments. The needful savagery of their nature is ingrained and as a rule unyielding to gentler intlnences in changed conditions. Hence they are. as a class, untamable, the very few excep- tions having become the stock of the domesti- cated races. Most species can be made friendly to man only when kittens, asserting their feral na- tures and becoming untrustworthy as soon as growth brings sense of jjower and predaceoiis in- stincts. Trainers have subjugated certain spe- cies, but they are kept in subjection by fear alone and make their performance nnwillingly and without j)ride 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 direc- tions of intelligence, as, for example, the under- standing of mechanical appliances. A cat's ex- pression of its emotions is mainly by 'lash- ing" 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 posi- tion of the ears is very significant, as in most other animals; and the arching of the back, erec- tion 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 pre.^ence of an enemy, are char- acteristic of all the smaller forms, though little indulged by the greater kinds. The relation of the cats to mankind generally is one of enmity — they are neighbors dangerous to him or his domestic animals which must be got rid of wher- ever civilization is to prevail. Hence they have mostly disappeared from thickly settled regions. The lion and tiger were inhal)itarits 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 Kurope, except in wilder parts. The puma has been exterminated in the United States east of the Plains, and IjTixes are uncommon, while the jaguar has quite disappeared north of Central Mexico. In certain long-settled parts, however, jungles and moun- tain 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. I'osfiil f'ntn. — The Felidie seem to have been de- rived from somewhat primitive Miocene carni- vores, the sabre-toothed ligiMS (q.v.) constituting the highly interesting tamily Ximravida-, which were themselves evolved from sonic earlier Kocene creodonts, perhaps PaloDonictis and Patriofelis (ipv.). The true felines appear first in the Lower -Miocene of France, where they are represented by I'roalunis, and in the .Middle Miocene by Pseu- doadurus. The genus Kelis ajjpears first in the Middle and Upper Miocene of Kurope and Xortli America, and later in the Pliocene and Pleisto- cene 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 nuich larger size and to have inhabited more northerly countries than their modern descend- ants. The cave lion (Felis speUcu), whose re- mains are foinid 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 sjiecies 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, Xew Zealand, southeast jMalaj-sia, the PohTiesian Islands, and Madagascar, the greater niunber being inhabitants of southern Asia. There are from 40 to 50 species (according to various views of specifie rank in certain eases), divided by conservative zoologists into only three genera — Felis, w'ith 3.5 to 40 species; Lyncus, the short-tailed cats, C species; and Cyncelurus, 1 or perhaps 2 species. Jfost of these will be found described elsewhere under their names, as Leop- ard, Lion, Lynx, Ounce, Tiger, etc., or under Wildcat. BiCLioGBAPiiY. Strauss-Durckheim, Anatomic descriptive ct comparative du chat (Paris, 1S4.5; anatomical monograph, folio, illustrated) ; D. G. Elliott, ilono(iraph of the Felidai (London, 1S78-83) ; Mivart, The Cat (New York, 1892; anatomical and descriptive; illustrations of bones, muscles, etc., and of nearly all the spe- cies) ; Wilder and Gage, Anatomical Technolof/i/, as Applied to the Domestic Cat (Xew York, 1882) ; Richard and Jennings, Anatomy of the Cat (Xew York. IllOl). 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. Ilarting, F.L.S.: "Several wild s])ecies of Egyptian and Indian origin having been ages ago reclaimed, the inter- breeding of their offspring and crossing with other wild species in the count ri<'S 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 an- cient human remains and they are depicted on