CATS. HISTORY - CHARACTERISTICS - RACES (1939, ALFRED MEULLE)

CATS. HISTORY - CHARACTERISTICS - RACES
(1939, ALFRED MEULLE, veterinary doctor)

Lyon
Bosc brothers M. & L. Riou
Printers-editors
42, Quai Gailleton, 42

1939

In memory of my father.
In memory of my brother.

TO MY MOTHER
A small testimony to our tender affection and gratitude for all the sacrifices she has made for us.

TO MY GRANDPARENTS
TO MY SISTER-IN-LAW
TO MY NEPHEW

To whom we ensure our deep affection.

TO MY PARENTS
TO MY FRIENDS

TO MR. DE DOCTEUR VORON
Professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Lyon
Who gqave me the very great honour of accepting the presidency of the jury of this thesis.

TO PROFESSOR MR. JEAN-BLAIN
Of the National Veterinary School of Lyon
I send my sincere thanks for all the never-ending interest he showed me during my stay at the School.

TO PROFESSOR R. TAGAND
Of the National Veterinary School of Lyon
Who did me the honour of being part of the jury of my thesis.

CONTENTS

Foreword-7

Part I. - The cat in Antiquity - 11
In Egypt - 12
In Asia - 16
In Greece and Rome - 18
In Germanic countries - 20
The cat in the Middle Ages - 21
An unhappy period - 21
The esteemed cat - 25

Part II. - Characteristics - 33
The senses - 33
Physiognomy - 36
Agility, flexibility - 39
Cleanliness - 39
Domesticity - 41
Love of the family. Courage - 46
The carnivorous cat - 48
Intelligence - 51

Part III. - Races. Standards - 55
Races - 55
Standards - 70

Conclusions - 89
Bibliography - 91

FOREWORD

This modest work, which must crown my studies as a veterinary doctor, was born under the inspiration of our distinguished master, Professor Mr. Jean Blain. First of all, I wanted to limit my work to a study of cat breeds and standards. But the research done in this sense informed me of the cat in history, where I found it on almost every page: deified in antiquity, sometimes persecuted in the Middle Ages, he became a companion of man. It also allowed me a more in-depth study of its character, because if all cat breeds have the same origin, we must say that the diverse climates it occupies, and especially its lifestyle, have produced endless varieties and forms.

Considered from this angle, the study of the cat was certainly very captivating and how could I not want to make a small contribution in my turn!

In Part I, I endeavoured to bring together everything related to cats, from its origins to the present day. Literature especially served me, and the arts provided me with some details. I have adopted a chronological order and have adhered to it as far as possible. I will therefore study the cat successively in antiquity, in the Middle Ages, and then today. In Part II, I sought to portray its character by compiling illustrative anecdotes. Finally, I will end with a quick presentation of the different breeds and their standards.

Our history of the cat is undoubtedly incomplete, but finding its past is very difficult. I have brought my attention and enthusiasm into the developing this work. The study of the animals' traits is no less arduous, so I will consider myself fully rewarded if the reader finds some interest in this work and if it allows them to better know this curious animal and consequently to love it. Part III completes this work and allows us to know the different breeds, however.

It is an honour for me to now thank Professor Voron, of the Faculty of Medicine of Lyon who was kind enough to accept the presidency of the jury of my thesis.

May my master, Professor Mr. Jean-Blain, of the National Veterinary School of Lyon, who knew how to welcome my in his laboratory with so much kindness, finds here the expression of my sincere thanks, all my gratitude and my respectful feelings. I will keep a pleasant memory of the long and good hours spent in his company.

I must also thank Mr. Professor R. Tagand, of the National Veterinary School of Lyon, who played such a large part in my scientific training and who did not spare me his informed advice during my student life.

PART I. THE CAT IN ANTIQUITY.

We know nothing about the cat's life in the greatest antiquity, but its existence at that time is proven by several discoveries. First of all, Professor Rutimeyer allegedly updated in the cantons of Bern and Lausanne in Switzerland, the remains of former lake establishments seeming to go back to the stone age. The contained cat bones among those of many other domestic animals. Identical finds were made by Professor Steenstrup, Denmark, in the "Skjokemmodings", heaps of bones and shells, which the primitive people accumulated around their tents or huts. These remains date from the end of the palaeolithic period. Nothing was reported at Solutre [a palaeolithic site].

If we want to believe Moncrif, the cat's association with man goes back to Noah's ark: "The first days that the animals were locked up, surprised by the movements of the boat and their new quarters, they all remained in their own household ... The monkey was the first to grow bored of this sedentary life, he was going to make advances to a young lioness. It was from their love that a he-cat and a she-cat were born." Truly an easy explanation.

THE CAT IN EGYPT.

According to Mr. Pictet the cat would have come from Ethiopia and was introduced inyto Egypt during its conquest by Oursitasen I, from the 12th dynasty, around 2,200 BC.

The cult of animals was brought with hieroglyphs by ancient philosophers called gymnosophites, because we then feared all animals. There was already talk of a great celestial cat who had struck the mythical serpent, Apopi, with its claws. The cat was therefore immediately deified. He was the emblem of the sun and Osiris, and the she-cat that of the moon and Isis. In the Delta in Bubastis a temple was even found where this goddess was worshipped in the image of a cat and called Aclurus. Some went so far as to claim that the moon gave birth to the cat.

The goddess of love was represented by a cat's head on a woman's body. This is no surprise us, since in Memphis the beauty of women was judged according to her relationship with the cat type.

Diana would have taken the form of this animal when the gods, according to the poets, transformed into animals to escape the persecution of the gods by the giants. Ovid wrote:

Huc quoque tenigenam venisse Typhea narrat
Et se mentites superos œlasse figuris.
Duxque gregis, dixit, fit Jupiter; unde recurvis,
Nunc quoque formatus Libys est cum cornibus Ammon,
Delius in corvo, proles Semeleia capro,
Fele soror Phoebi, nivea Saturnia vacca,
Pisce Venus latuit, Cyllenius ibidis alis.

She told how earth-born Typhon came there too,
And the gods concealed themselves in disguised forms.
Jupiter, she said, became a ram, leader of the flock,
And even now Libya's Ammon is shown with curving horns.
Delius became a crow, and Semele's son, a goat,
Phoebus's sister a cat, Saturnia a snow-white cow,
Venus hid as a fish, and Cyllenius as the winged ibis.

[The gods' names and their equivalents: Ammon = Jupiter/Jove, Delius = Apollo/Phoebus, Saturnia = Juno/Hera, Semele's son = Bacchus/Dionysus, Phoebus's sister = Diana/Artemis, Cyllenius = Mercury/Hermes]

The cat was idolized to the point of founding oracles based on nothing more than meows, and Herodotus added that if a fire happened, the animals were agitated by a divine tremor and that the owners were only concerned with saving them.

Around 430 BC, if a cat died in an Egyptian house, all the inhabitants shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning. At that time, if anyone ever committed its murder, even unintentionally, they were punished by death. Ptolemy, who sought the friendship of the Romans, could not prevent the people from putting to death a Roman citizen who had killed one. The Egyptians were so afraid of doing them harm that, when he wanted to seize the city of Pelusium and its Egyptian garrison, the Persian king, Cambyses, around 525 BC, marched a large number of cats in front of his troops and made his officers and soldiers carry one as a shield. The city surrendered without a fight for fear of hitting the cats.

The animals which were recognized as Animal Gods in Egypt were tamed, kept and fed near the courts and even inside sacred buildings. "The sanctuaries of these temples are shaded by curtains woven with gold," wrote Titus-Flavius Clement. If you walk towards the back of the building and look for the statue, a priest comes forward with a serious air, singing a hymn in the Egyptian language and lifts the curtain a little as if to show you the God, What do you then see? A cat, a crocodile, a native snake or some other dangerous animal... The God of the Egyptians appears to you, it is a beast sprawled on a velvet carpet.

It was a custom among the Egyptians when their children were illness to make devotions to some God to restore their health. They accomplished this by shaving their heads and after having weighed the shorn hair against an equal weight of gold and silver, they gave the value to the messenger guards who distributed bread dipped in milk to the cats, after having called them by clicking their tongues, or presented them with Nile fish cut into slices. They cats were maintained by the most distinguished men of the State, who provided them with exquisite nourishment by constantly giving them boiled and roasted goose flesh, and birds caught in nets. They burned perfumes for them, covered them with rich rugs and all kinds of ornaments. When the two sexes had to come together, they had their needs met with particular care and females of each species of animal, chosen from among the most beautiful, were nurtured and maintained in luxury and at great expense.

When they died, the cats were taken to Bubastis. Laws regulated the form and duration of public mourning, funerals, embalming and the transfer of bodies to particular places intended to receive the remains of each species. There, special workers embalmed them and placed their bodies wrapped in bandages in special necropolises. Cat mummies have been found filling enormous galleries. Many of these underground passages contained such considerable masses, for example at Sakkarah, that for several years they were exploited to make fertilizer.

Myriads of foetuses were also tied into bundles, swaddled in strips and placed next to each other. Small newborns sometimes filled the abdominal cavity of large cats, admirably carved from a piece of wood, or rested in tiny sarcophagi with arched lids, very roughly worked and which seem to have been constructed by the hands of children.

But in truth, the Egyptians had reasons other than religious sentiment for keeping cats in captivity. They were used to hunt small birds in the marshes and to search for, and retrieve, birds that had fallen into the reeds, knocked down or stunned by the shock of the hunters' boomerangs. They were also credited with the talent for hunting snakes, and the veneration shown to them was, for certain writers, merely recognition of the services they rendered by destroying the rodents which invaded Egypt after each Nile flood.

Despite the admiration shown to them, I found only one representation of the cat in Egyptian art apart from the sculptures of cats in tombs; it is a bas-relief now in the Grosch museum which represents a cat sitting in front of a goose.

THE CAT IN ASIA

People were already talking about the cat in Sanskrit, it is called "margara", which literally means the cleaner, the animal that cleans itself. "He accompanies Diane the huntress or the good fairy the moon and sometimes a hideous witch. Sometimes they are the heroes' helpers and sometimes their persecutors. As a white cat, the image of the moon, he protects innocent animals; as a black cat, he symbolizes the dark night and persecutes them."

Confucius and Mencius tell us of a "Deer House" built in marble by Empress Tanki (1200 BC), then of an animal park that Emperor Wen-Wang had established in the province of Ho-Nan, a 375 hectare park, where many animals were gathered. Then the emperor Chi-Hang-Tsi brought together innumerable quadrupeds in a park 30 leagues long. Likewise Wou-Ti (40 years BC) had a park 50 leagues around, strewn with palaces, kiosks, caves, rare plants and decorations of all kinds. In the city of Ciandre, the Great Khan had "an extremely grand palace of marble and stone. . . most marvellously beautiful and golden", with a menagerie including many animals of small species.

As early as the 4th century, the Indians reduced the numerous wild animals in the bamboo forests and the banks of the Ganges to slavery. All these animals were placed in the enclosure of the royal palace called "Paradeisos". The Persian kings had large hunting reserves and the Macedonians killed "about 4,000 big cats and other noble game" in a single day.

Nineveh, the unfortunate rival of Babylon, had also possessed many domestic and wild animals and in the book of Jonah, which places its story eight centuries before our era, the prophet daring to reproach God for his leniency towards the guilty city, the Eternal answered him: "How would I not spare Nineveh, this great city, where there are more than 120,000 human creatures, who cannot tell their right from their left and besides that a multitude of beasts. . .

It would therefore seem very surprising if these people did not know cats at that time and yet Linck believes that they were not imported into Asia until the Middle Ages, at the start of the Crusades. However, and this fact seems to prove the cat's presence among man from these distant times, it was the favourite animal of the Prophet Mohammad. Believers also trace the origin of the cat's ability to always land on its feet to him. "His cat Muezza, lying one day on the sleeve of his coat, seemed to be meditating deeply there. In a hurry to go to prayer, but not wanting to bring the animal out of its trance, its master cut the sleeve of its garment so as not to disturb it. The animal was grateful to him and when the prophet returned, she thanked him for this marked attention by bowing to him. Mahomet then assured his cat a place in his paradise and, passing his hand along her back three times, gave her and all her race the virtue of always falling on her feet."

Long before Mohammed, Pliny wrote that the Turks adored a golden cat and that they considered it a pure animal, pampering it in their house, while they proscribed the dog, an impure animal. This custom has also been preserved among Muslims.

THE CAT IN GREECE AND ROME

Cats only appeared in Greece from the 5th century, that is to say at the time when Egypt definitively opened to Hellenic trade, but they were always very rare there, even after the beginning of the Christian era. Herodotus speaks of it, but only according to observations he made in Egypt. So far, we have found, we believe, only three representations of these animals in the work of Greek artists. Two are vase paintings dating from around 350 AD showing young girls playing with cats. The third is a bas-relief from the Capitoline Museum; it is a young woman training a cat to jump to the sound of the zither to catch birds hanging from a tree. The sweet and poetic fable of Orpheus was thus applied in reality.

Quite early, even long before the Roman conquest, first Sicily and southern Italy, then Rome, came under the influence of Greece and, in particular, of their Mythology.

Several paintings or mosaics depict cats. In the Vatican Museum, in the animal room, there are several beautiful bronze and marble figures of cats. An ancient mosaic at the Museum of Studies in Naples shows us a cat about to devour a quail. In the tombs of Caerc and Tarquinius, we clearly see cats playing during meals under tables and beds with roosters and partridges. But it is easy to see that these works of art are of Alexandrian origin and style.

It was only with the triumph of Christianity that these animals spread across Europe following the Christian monks who came from Egypt. We do not know how cats were consecrated to Saint Martha and for this reason respected; it was said "He who kills a cat will be unhappy seven years in a row."

THE CAT IN GERMANIC COUNTRIES

In these countries the cat was highly regarded. For the ancient Germanic peoples, it was the symbol of adultery and, at the same time, of independence. The goddess Freya was drawn by two cats. Among the Alans, the Suevi and the Vandals, it represented Liberty because, they believed, it could neither be subdued nor tamed. For the Scandinavians, as well as the Egyptians, it was the God of Love. Among all these peoples, the cat appears in the coats of arms: silver bearing a sable cat.

THE CAT IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Unfortunate Period

Arriving at this time, the opinion on the cat followed two different trends. On the one hand it would be unrecognized and martyred, on the other, its qualities would be appreciated and it would live happily.

In Germany, cats and mice were dedicated to the funeral of St. Gertrude. If a cat ever passed onto a sick person's bed, it was believed that the patient would die. If it was on the coffin, it was thought that the dead person was in the power of the devil. The meowing of a cat while the rosary was being recited for a navigator, announced a journey full of troubles.

In Hungary, it was assumed that witches rode black cats and that they all transformed into witches between the ages of seven and twelve. To free them from the power of these witches, it was necessary to make an incision in the shape of a cross.

In Montferrat, all the cats that roamed the roofs in spring were considered in the same way and shot at. For identical beliefs, black cats were kept out of children's cribs.

Saint Dominic, in his sermons, represented the demon in the form of a cat and Guyot Desherbiers, maternal grandfather of Alfred de Musset, wrote:

Doubtless he is a sorcerer,
And the Cat is one of his familiars [. . .]
We know that the devout ladies
The misbelievers saw souls -
Inasmuch as a soul can actually be seen -
Pass through the infernal manor
In the guise of a Black Cat . . .

Also, after such beliefs, we are not that surprised to learn of the tortures to which they were subjected at that time in France.

The people had the idea of the famous cages of living cats. According to Father Lebeuf, on June 23 of each year, all of Paris was celebrating: from the timber docks of Tile Louviers Isle, they transported to Greve square, a tree ten toises tall, ten tracks of large logs, two hundred bundles of sticks, five hundred faggots and twenty-five bundles of straw. The tree was set upright. One or two dozen Cats intended to be burned alive were hung there, enclosed, sometimes in a bag, sometimes in a barrel or in a hogshead.
[1 toise = 1.95 metres]

From 1571 to 1573, the cats, offered as holocausts, were provided by a Mr. Lucas Pommereux, city commissioner. He added a fox, "in order," say the accounts of the Provost, "to give pleasure to His Majesty." That was Charles IX. The city officials and high-ranking people summoned were crowned with roses or carnations and carried a large bouquet at their belts. The provost and the aldermen held a yellow wax torch, the king or his representative, responsible for lighting the fire, received one of white wax furnished with two red velvet handles. Finally, the tree was on fire and the crackling of the wood was joined by the groans and cries of pain of the unfortunate animals being burned alive. This ceremony was abolished around 1750 following the intervention of Marechale d'Armentieres.

A fire was also lit around a pole and the cats, held in a basket, were only released when the flames were already lighting up around them. Their only refuge was the mast to the top of which they climbed and from which they fell, suffocated, to the great joy of the spectators.

In Flanders, cat fetes were not very happy for these animals either. Here is what this solemnity comprised. Ropes stretched from one house to another crossed the parade ground at a given height. Earthen pots were attached to it, each containing a cat covered with favours [ribbons] of all colours whose ends were hanging down. Cats and ribbons were enclosed in the pots so as not to leave the foreign spectator without suspicion. The middle of the square remained empty. The jousters mounted in light carriages, harnessed to fairly lively horses, passed quickly under the ropes and had to break the earthen pot with a blow. This done, the unfortunate cats remained clinging to the rope and the had to try to remove the favours one by one despite the claws. When all the cats were stripped of their ribbons, the ropes were cut and they all fell onto the pavement of the square where they were delivered to the children. As for the jousters, those who had won the greatest number of favours received the first prizes and the biggest bonuses. They then went to have their scratches treated in the neighbourhood clubs.

THE ESTEEMED CAT

Even before the Middle Ages, poets and writers sang about the little feline that they loved. Dante had one and he often carried out little experiments on it when he was with his friend Cecco. For example, he maintained that "art prevailed over nature". The cat had to provide proof. Now he had been trained by his master to hold a lit candle between his paws to light him during his evening meal. Cecco then opened a box from which two mice escaped, the cat dropped the candle to rush after the double game. Cecco had won. It is to this experience that the Italians trace the origin of the proverb: "Chi gatta nasce sorice pigllia: he who is born a cat runs after mice. »

Petrarch retired to Arca, near Padua after the death of Laure de Noves and became friends with one of these friendly animals, whose skeleton is kept in the Padua Museum. Joachim du Bellay made an epitaph of two hundred verses to celebrate the praises of his friend Bellaud. Montaigne admitted that his cat's eyes provide as much recreation for him as a subject of study.

Baudelaire devoted numerous verses to the feline race.

Come here, my beautiful cat, onto my loving breast:
With your claws in soft paws restrained,
Let me plunge into your eyes, become lost
In metal shine mixed with agate.

Tasso, in a pretty sonnet, when he did not even have a candle to write with, prayed in his misery to his cat to lend him the light of her eyes during the night. Colbert could only seriously get down to work after having placed two or three cats on his table for pleasant company. And when, after frolicking for a moment with the minister, they began to purr with pleasure, he felt at ease to work. The same was true of the English philosopher Locke.

Fontenelle would seat one of his favourite cats in an armchair and deliver speeches to it as practice. With Father Galliani, love is even more intense since he wrote to Madame d'Epinay: "One of my cats got lost through the fault of my people, I flew into a rage, I dismissed everyone. Fortunately, he was found this morning, otherwise I would have hanged myself."

We cannot forget Richelieu, who installed seventeen cats at the court itself and one of them, Perruque, so called because he was born in the wig of the poet Racan, was his master's confidant. He slept with him and spent hours watching him work.

The mitred tyrant of France,
Richelieu, who with an iron hand
Held the balance in Europe,
Found a heart of flesh
When with his miaowing brood.
In these rare and short moments
When politics tormented him
And he needed a break,
A basket of lovely kittens
Diverted His Eminence;
[Guyot Desherbiers.]

The poet Dellile also loved them because he wrote:

As they do in man the various humours,
Change the wishes and manners of creatures;
More than one cat knows how to love and to please;
I myself have had such a character;
For a long time he shared the lot of his poet,
I celebrated his life and I mourned his death

Bernardin de St-Pierre, J.-J. Rousseau, Chateaubriand, V. Hugo, Prosper Merimee, Theophile Gautier, Guy de Maupassant, Sainte Beuve, Flaubert, Alexandre Dumas, Pierre Loti, Maurice Genevoix, Colette, Jean Dorsenne and many others could complete this already long list.

Madame de la Sabliere replaced all her dogs with cats. Madame de Lesdiguieres had the following quatrain engraved on the white marble mausoleum, which she had erected for her cat:

Here is a pretty cat
Her mistress, who loved nothing,
Loved her to the point of madness.
Why do you say that? - You can see it clearly.

Madame Deshoulieres said when her husband was absent: "Grisette is enough for me."

Poincare, speaking of his cat, wrote: "To all those people who are timid and hesitant, uncertain and slow to decide, he could give useful lessons."

Clemenceau himself had his mascot: Prudence.

Painters were also interested in cats and we need only cite a few paintings here:

Cat fight in a kitchen, by Paul de Vos, at the Madrid museum.
Tabby cat watching for a mouse, by G. Dov, at the Dresden Museum.
Cat flying after game, by Hamilton.
Concert of cats and monkeys, by Terniers.

The. Lambert made compositions as original as they were numerous, so he was called "the painter of cats".

We must be careful not to forget Barlow, who made a very pretty print called The Eagle and the Cat, and Fremiet's pretty marble group of Cat nursing her young.

Also after all these quotes, how can we not think that the cat is a friend of man! Moreover, a few facts will further prove it to us.

A dozen years ago, in London, a restaurant for animals was created, where rooms equipped with tables were covered with bowls containing the various meals reserved for cats. The residents were recognized by a medal which they wore around their necks.

And if we are to believe a magazine article, we can add: "A concierge in livery, severe and dignified, watches over the entrance. Baskets of flowers brighten up the courtyard. Doormen, in laced dolmans, [embroidered Hussar jackets] meet chambermaids wearing the pretty uniform of the house - a dark blue dress, white apron with bib and embroidery. Every day, around sixty, sometimes even a hundred, abandoned cats, old or sick, are admitted to this new type of hospice. The door never closes in the face of a vagabond. Most enter by car, because every day a van travels through all the neighbourhoods of London trying to capture all the strays and bring them to the asylum. Each new client is first examined by a veterinarian. If it is injured, it is immediately taken to the infirmary, bandaged and put on treatment. Once his convalescence is complete, he lives in rooms located on the first floor. In summer, fans keep it pleasantly cool; in winter, an advanced heating system ensures a constant temperature. Planks, fixed to the wall, and lined with straw, serve as beds. The rule is that the residents must not leave the asylum, but they are in no way deprived of air and sun; a courtyard on the roof, surrounded by fences, serves as a garden for their walks and their frolics."

Now, in each large city, the "Society for the Protection of Animals" is creating catteries to receive all the unfortunates described by Paul Nagour.

With his dishevelled fur and hollow belly,
The homeless old cat wanders on unsteady legs,
Bruised, from fools and wicked humans he has fled,
A flash of vengeance in his green eyes swelling.
He is dirty, he is ugly; - in his barbarous pride
The cruel shopkeeper insults him and drives him away,
When, dying of hunger, weary of war, he arrives
To crouch on his doorstep, pitiful and resigned.
Servile dogs are sent to chase the damned,
When, anxious, he drinks black water from the streams . . .

In Lyon, a society was created, "La Societe de Protection feline de Lyon", whose headquarters is at 2, Place Sathonay. There, the found cats are well cared for and the people who take care of them try to place them in good homes.

In wills we now find donations to cats. Thus Lord Chesterfield, a great English lord, left a pension to his cats and their families when he died. His example was followed by a host of generous donors. We can cite a rich American merchant who left them a house worth 200,000 francs; a servant was specially assigned to their service. A Bohemian ragpicker did the same, his nephews contested the will, but it was in good and due form and the judges could only confirm the donation.

The number of cat lovers is increasing day by day; this fact is certain. To realize this, you just need to read the list of existing "Cat Clubs" and consider the crowds who go to admire the cat exhibitions.

It is true that alongside the love for the feline race, there can be a point of pride in owning a cat that is either pretty or fashionable. But let's not be pessimistic! And above all, let's not forget the floating mass of common cats, products of chance, whose ugliness is often compensated by the gentleness, resignation, intelligence and affection that we also find among the deprived of our own species. Their qualities are known elsewhere, at least in this quatrain:

In my garden, without noise or glory
I piously place in the earth
My pretty black cat, Suzie,
Alas! I find it hard to believe it.

Our love for them must not become ridiculous either, we must not keep a bad, stupid thing. The naturalist Lenz sums up the question thus: "If you have a nasty and thieving cat, which does not take mice or rats, the best thing you can do is to drown it or give it the final blow in one way or another. But if you have a nice kitty who is your children's favourite toy, who doesn't cause the slightest mess at home and who is busy night and day hunting rats and mice, then you do very well to surround him with care like a benefactor."

PART TWO - CHARACTERISTICS

Opinions on the cat, as we have seen, has changed. What are the reasons? His characteristics were surely poorly known. Let's try to study them here. It's a difficult task! Didn't Champfleury write that in order to understand the cat, one must be of feminine or poetic essence. We believe that it is enough to love and observe them.

The Senses.

The most developed of these is certainly hearing; numerous facts tend to prove this to us. Its ears, which are constantly erect, wide open and equipped with long hairs which further increase their sensitivity, pick up the slightest noises.

Observe a cat which sometimes lies in a room where people are chatting and children are playing. He doesn't seem to hear anything and sleeps peacefully. Suddenly he stands up, rushes forward and in two leaps reaches the corner of the room. You watch him do it and you are surprised to see him bring back a mouse, because no one had heard the slightest noise.

Here is a similar story, related by the naturalist Lenz: "Some time ago, I lay down to read on a bench in the shade of the trees in the courtyard. One of my little cats came meowing and, as usual, wanted to climb on my legs and my head. This was an awkward position for a reader, so I gently placed my cat on a small cushion between my legs. I squeezed him gently and ten minutes later he seemed sound asleep. The head of the little animal, and therefore also its ears, were directed towards the south. Suddenly I saw him quickly jump back. Very surprised by this act, I followed him with my eyes. A little mouse was running from one bush to another, it was to the north of us and was crossing a level pavement on which it could not make much noise. The distance was approximately fourteen meters."

Its hearing not only knows how to discern the slightest noises, but also knows exactly where they come from, and this property is very important for mouse hunting.

"I have often observed," wrote another naturalist, "a cat lying in wait in the middle of a certain number of mouse holes. He could position himself in such a way as to have them all in his sight and control them, but he never does so. If he took up a position opposite a hole, the mouse would see him too easily and would not come out, or at least would quickly turn back. He therefore places himself in such a way that the mouse has his back to him when leaving. He is absolutely immobile; even his tail, usually so mobile, is completely at rest. If a mouse comes out in front of the cat, it is immediately seized. If it comes out behind him, it is just as quickly in his claws because not only has he heard it come out, but he also knows, as if he saw it, exactly where it is. So, he suddenly turns around and surely places his paw on her."

Buffon and many authors have claimed that the cat does not have a keen sense of smell. Without wanting to assert that this sense is as developed as in dogs, it is easy to prove that it exists, through a few small experiments. Place fish or meat on a table, bring your cat over and see if he doesn't immediately try to jump on it after sniffing the air for a moment. Hide in your hand one of these good morsels that the cat is fond of and approach it slowly without him seeing it. You can reach your own conclusion. Is it not its sense of smell that allows it to play good tricks on the cooks and if this sense did not exist, why would the cat sniff the food given to it before eating it?

The sense of taste is difficult to appreciate in an animal. However, we can affirm that this sense is developed in cats since we see them, usually so gluttonous, sometimes leaving well-prepared dishes without knowing the reasons.

In cats, touch is developed on all parts of the body, thanks to the hair with which they are covered. But two regions are particularly sensitive, these are the soles of the feet and the cheeks, the latter, thanks to the whiskers.

To complete this, the cat has excellent eyesight. These animals also have the advantage of having a dilatable pupil, so they perhaps see better at night than during the day because they are not obliged to accommodate. Their eyes shine then as though they had accumulated light during the day.

Physiognomy

The cat's eyes are very expressive. Who does not understand simply from a look that their cat either wants a caress or wants to leave a room? Besides, what is more eloquent than a look! Have you ever seen angry Siamese cats? Their bloodshot eyes alone are enough to tell you this. Who can stand the stares of a cat for a long time? What sense of mystery do they give you?

Baudelaire wrote in 1861, in the "Revue Fantaisiste": "One day a missionary, walking in the suburbs of Nanking realized that he had forgotten his watch and asked a little boy what time it was. The boy of the Celestial Empire hesitated at first, then, turning his back, he replied: ‘I will tell you.' A few moments later he appeared, holding in his arms a very large cat, and, looking at the pupil of the cat's eyes, he said without hesitation: ‘It is not quite midday yet.' Which was true. For me, when I take in my arms my extraordinary cat, which is at the same time the honour of its race, the pride of my heart, and the perfume of my mind, whether at night, In the full light, in the depths of her adorable eyes I always see the hour distinctly, always the same, an immense solemn hour, great as the space without division of minutes or seconds, a motionless hour which is not marked on the clocks and, however light as a sigh, quick as a glance. And if some intruder came to disturb me while my gaze rests on the delicious dial, if some dishonest and intolerant genius came to tell me ‘what are you looking at with such care?' What do you look for in the eyes of this stranger? Do you see the hour, mortal prodigal and lazy? I would answer without hesitation: Yes. I see the hour; He is eternity!"

But if the eyes form part of his physiognomy, the whole rest of the body perfects the desired character. Look at an angry cat, with its rounded spine, standing tall on its legs, its hair standing up, with this grimacing expression on its face, its eyes showing all their anger, and to clarify the picture even more, listen to its noisy breathing.

What a calm face on the other hand, when he is dreaming near you! What a lovely pose!

They take, reflectively, the noble attitudes
Of great sphinxes lying in the depth of solitude,
Who seem to sleep in endless dreams . . .

To make itself understood, the cat also knows how to use its voice. His meow is different, depending on whether he wants to call you, whether he is in pain or whether love haunts him. What harmonious tones!

...When he meows, you barely hear him
So tender and discreet is his tone,
But whether his voice appeases or scolds,
It is always rich and deep.
This is its charm and its secret.
This voice that ripples and filters,
In my darkest depths,
Fills me like numerous verses,
And makes me happy like a potion.
She puts to sleep the cruellest evils
And contains all the ecstasies.
To say the longest sentences,
She needs no words.

This voice, this physiognomy, therefore allows the cat to be understood not only by humans, but also by other animals. Did Montaigne not already write in his "Essays," speaking of beasts: "They flatter us, threaten us and require us, and we them. Moreover, we obviously discover that between them, there is full and complete communication and that they understand each other not only those of the same species, but also of different species."

Cum pecudes mutae, cum denique sœcla ferrarum
Dissimiles soleant voces variasque ciere,
Cum metus aut dolor est, et cumiam gaudia gliscunt.
[Lucretius]

[When dumb cattle, and yea, races of wild beasts
are wont to give forth diverse dissimilar sounds,
when they are in fear or pain, or again when their joys grow strong.]

Agility. Flexibility

One of the first things that strikes you when you look at a cat is its easy gait, its flexibility, the grace it shows in all its movements: walking, jumping, etc. It is one of the most harmonious animals that one can meet, with its own character, you can say of felines. We already find this grace and perhaps even more so in the little ones. They are so restless that, still blind, they already leave their beds. They immediately begin to play with everything that rolls, runs, slides or flies. They make the most singular jumps and the most graceful movements.

This flexibility allows them to move without the slightest noise, they know how to flatten themselves, crawl like snakes, brush against you. We barely feel them! and a poet writes:

When my fingers caress at leisure
Your elastic head and back.
And let my hand be intoxicated with pleasure
To feel your electric body,
I see my wife in spirit.,.

Cleanliness.

The cat is very clean, this characteristic was often sung of, and we take these few verses from the popular songs of Jerome Bugeaud:

Jeannette's cat is a very pretty beast;
And when he wants to make himself handsome,
He licks his muzzle with his tongue;
And he does his washing with his spittle.

At least once a day it cleans itself, either by licking itself or by moistening a paw and passing it over various parts of itss body. Its coat, therefore, is always clean and shiny, some even find it has a pleasant smell.

...From its brown and blond fur,
Comes a perfume so sweet that one evening
I was embalmed with it
After caressing it once, just once.

Cleanliness here has nothing to do with water, in fact the general opinion is that cats do not like this element. There are, however, exceptions and Dr. Franklin relates the following anecdote: "One day I watched, in silence, the attempts of a cat, who was watching with grave attention two goldfish swimming in a bowl. First, it dipped a paw in the water, then shook it. It started again and stopped again, torn between the two feelings: hatred of water and appetite for fish. The love of the thing ended up winning out in the cat's heart, over the fear of the obstacle and the two goldfish, pulled from the water by an inevitable claw, went to fill the carnivore's stomach."

But the most singular story in this regard is that reproduced about a century ago by an English newspaper. She was a cat attached as a rat hunter in one of the strongholds of a large military port. Every day they saw her diving into the sea and bringing back live fish in her mouth, which she placed in the soldiers' guardhouse. It is believed that it was through hunting water rats that made her overcome her natural aversion to the liquid element. Moreover, we will be less surprised by these habits if we remember that the wild cat was as good a fisherman as it was a hunter.

Domesticity

This question of domesticity has been discussed at length and will continue to be so. But what is domesticity? For Cornevin, a domestic animal meets the following qualities: voluntary servitude, possession of special economic functions used by man, ability to transmit these properties or functions to its descendants. The problem arises as follows: Does the cat accept this servitude, is it a sociable animal?

Buffon wrote: "The cat is an unfaithful servant, which we only keep out of necessity... and although these animals, especially when they are young, have kindness, they have at the same time an innate malice, a false character, a perverse nature, which age increases further and which education only masks. From determined thieves, they become only when they are well brought up, supple and flattering like scoundrels; they have the same skill, the same subtlety, the same taste for doing evil, the same penchant for petty theft..."

But Mr. Boitant replies: "The cat has a timid character, it becomes wild through cowardice, mistrustful through weakness, cunning through necessity and a thief through need." I agree with his opinion, and it is also that of cat breeders. He is capable, as we will see later, of possessing the best qualities. It only depends on the way he is treated. "Aren't men the cause of his character," wrote Alix, "Would it happen that he showed himself to be more virtuous than man and returned good for evil?"

Can a cat become attached to its owner? We are sure it can. Many breeders taught me about the attachment of the Siamese in particular, who followed them like dogs. I myself have a common breed cat, who, as soon as he sees me after an absence of a few days, runs to meet me and shows me his joy in his own way.

Ms. Desherbiers points out that Mrs. Dupin, daughter of Farmer General Samuel Bernard, had a cat that she was particularly fond of, and which died two days after her, on its mistress's grave.

Obviously Buffon is not of the same opinion: "They only give the appearance of attachment," he wrote, "we see it in their oblique movements, in their equivocal meanings; they never look a loved one in the face, through either distrust or falsehood. They take detours to approach one, seeking caresses to which they are sensitive only for their own pleasure."

Rivanol expressed identical ideas: "The cat does not caress you, it caresses itself on you. He is a gourmet, rather than a gourmand."

But despite all the attachment he is capable of, he loves and seeks solitude. Most only come home at mealtimes, and that same night they are alone again.

They seek the silence and the horror of darkness
Erebus would take them for his funeral steeds
If they could only bend their pride to serfdom.

They only approach each other during the mating season. Then the female, who is more ardent than the male, invites him, seeks him, calls him and announces with loud cries the fury of her desires or rather the excess of her needs. When the male flees or disdains her, she pursues him, bites him and forces him, so to speak, to satisfy her.

Do cats live in the company of other animals, especially dogs? It is often said when talking about people who hardly love each other that "they live like cats and dogs". Is this proverb still true? We sometimes see dogs chasing cats, but usually they are hunting dogs or foxhounds excited by their owner. It would be much more accurate to say that these animals are indifferent to each other. There are also many examples where they live in perfect harmony.

I had a hunting friend with a good Pointer dog and a cat. Often at mealtime the latter was in the courtyard of the house. At the command: "Black, fetch", the dog would leave, reach the cat, gently take it by the scruff of the neck and bring it back to its master. The cat never tried to run away or struggle.

Paul Henchoz tells us an even more characteristic story: "There were a dog and cat, who were the best friends in the world. One day the first was attacked in the street by a comrade much stronger than him. He was about to succumb in the struggle, when his friend saw him and throwing himself into the fray, applied his teeth and claws so well that he freed his companion."

Finally, here is a rarer and almost incredible fact, reported by the same author. It's a cat acting as a dog's teacher. "This dog was a brazen thief and its owner could not overcome that fault. It was the cat that took it upon itself to correct the dog. In fact, every time the dog got too close to the kitchen table, the cat, who stood guard there, gave it a vigorous smack on the nose." But should we believe this was the intelligence of the cat or a possible enmity existing between the two?...

There is also the story of the friendship of the famous Godolphin Arabian horse and a black cat. This Castor and Pollux of the animal race lived in deep intimacy. On the death of this horse in 1753, the cat, sitting on the body of his unfortunate friend, was only separated from him when he was removed. After that, it was no longer seen in the places where it had lived with its companion and, soon after, was found dead in a nearby barn.

Love of family. Courage

The she-cats, after the mating period, resume their solitary life, especially at birthing time because they know that the males are enemies of their offspring. Also, if she can, she hides, sometimes in unknown or inaccessible places. She takes care of her little ones, protects them and raises them, she watches over them especially as long as their eyes are closed, and tries to amuse whenever she can.

She also knows how to defend them against her enemies, and Captain Marryat says that a spaniel dog, having produced five puppies, could not feed them all; he had the idea of entrusting two of them to a cat by taking away her two kittens. She didn't pay attention to this, and the little ones grew quickly. They were taken from her to give them away. She was inconsolable and for two days, she did nothing but run around the house looking for the two missing ones. She saw the puppies with the dog, thought they were hers and wanted to take them back. A full-blown battle ensued from which the cat escaped, taking one of the two little ones, then she returned, reattacked the dog and took the opportunity to take the second.

An English naturalist recounts that a peasant, having taken a leveret, barely a week old, wanted to raise it. One day, he noticed its disappearance. The farm cat had adopted it to console herself over the death of her own babies who had been taken from her. An identical instance has been reported, but instead of a leveret, it was a brood of rats, which is beyond my imagination.

I will end with a curious example cited by the naturalist Brehm. He tried to raise a brood of squirrels, but all but one had died. He entrusted the last to his cat who fed him along with her own young. She seemed to pay special attention to him, and he soon followed his mother through the house and garden. Obeying his natural instinct, he soon climbed a tree, while the cat watched him astonished at his skill and followed him with great difficulty.

In the story of Captain Marryat, the cat gives us a good example of courage. The cat knows how to attack or defend itself very well. It shows finesse, cunning, flexibility and is capable of strength and above all nerve, which makes him very dangerous. It also knows how to precisely measure the force it deploys and has terrible weapons on its side: its teeth and especially its sharp and slender claws which tear in the blink of an eye.

If it cannot stand up to his adversary, it flees and we can only congratulate it on this good method. This mode of action of the cat reminds us of the curious legend of the Beaugency cat. An architect could not manage to finish the bridge he was building at Beaugency, the last arch always falling as soon as it was finished. After three or four unsuccessful attempts, he called the devil to his aid, who was willing to take on the task, but on the condition that he would be the first soul to pass through this arch. The deal was concluded, but the architect, as soon as the final arch was built, decided to take a cat through it. This enraged the devil, who tried to destroy his work with his feet without succeeding. Furious, he wanted to seize the cat which, scratching his hands and face, ended up escaping and running in a single dash, took refuge a league away, in Sologne, a place which has since received the name of Chaffin [Chat-fin - cat's end].

The predatory cat

The cat is the eternal enemy of rats and mice. La Fontaine writes:

The nation of weasels no more than that of cats
Wishes no good to rats.

It is in this struggle that he deploys all the tricks of which he is capable and, above all, unfailing patience.

My son, said the mouse
That sweet little one is a cat,
Who, behind its hypocritical face
Bears an evil desire
Against all your relatives.

Sanskrit already speaks of this hypocrisy when it depicts the penitent cat taking the mice under its protection and then eating them. These ideas are found in the "Romance of the Fox".

Thibert presented him with his paw,
He played the saint, he played the pussycat!
But to a good cat, a good rat, Renard flattered him back.
He knew how to gild his words with honey.
If one is a saint, the other is a hermit.
If one is a she-cat, the other is a moth.

It especially seems, when hunting mice, when he is motionless like a statue it is to give confidence to his enemies. But can we call this hypocrisy, isn't it a normal phenomenon? What hunter, seeing game coming towards him, begins to shout and gesticulate?

The cat, and this is one of its main characteristics, likes to spy on and attack small animals. He doesn't chase, he waits, surprises. If the animal is caught, then the cat is very cruel. A repulsive game begins, the winner plays with his victim, lets it get up and take a few shaky steps, then falls on it again. It shows by tail movements, by joyful growls, the pleasure it gets from the vain efforts of the panting and bleeding beast which still tries to escape its sad fate. When the victim has expired, the cat eats it or seizes it to carry it off to a safe retreat.

The cat does not only attack mice and rats, but all small animals. It quite often takes small birds, either by surprise, or above all by fascinating them thanks to the magnetism of it eyes, as Baudelaire writes. However, we should not think that cats always eat small birds or even rats. Just remember the story of the she-cat raising a brood of rats. A pastor was given a cat and a pigeon, both young. They got used to living together and even slept side by side.

Here's an identical story, but it didn't end so well. An actor owned a woodpigeon and an Angora cat. The cat did not harm the bird. One day the pigeon went for a trip in the countryside and returned with a broken wing. The feline licked it as if to dress its wound, but intoxicated by the smell of blood, it did not take long to devour it.

A German naturalist managed to tame a wagtail that he usually kept in his room. Sometimes the bird let itself be lured by the attraction of large open spaces and escaped. In fact, it never went further than the courtyard of the house. There, the cat delicately grabbed it and brought it back to its master without causing the slightest harm to the bird.

Good results can be obtained through well-conducted training. A forest inspector raised small birds in cages placed on the windowsill. His cat often came to roam around, but a few flicks of its master's rod quickly made it understand that it had to leave them alone. But one of its young had the same desire and received the same punishment, but the mother cat, who had seen everything, came running to at piercing cries of her guilty infant and began to lick it gently to console it. Twice more the same thing happened. Then the mother, wanting to spare it further punishment, made herself the guardian of the birds and gave her little one a proper correction. It tried to take another route to deceive its mother, but she noticed it, and in one leap reached it and punished it so harshly that from that moment on, it was cured of further criminal attempts.

Intelligence.

Cats are not only capable of thinking, but they have excellent memories. The literature does not fail to provide many examples. Many facts are commonly observed. Everyone knows that it is very difficult to lose a cat in the woods, or that when moving they return without difficulty to their first home.

The naturalist Brehm reported that a young woman with a cat was suffering from a nervous illness and was forced to keep to her bed. The cat slipped into the room doing everything possible to amuse its mistress. It quickly learned to know the times when she had to take food or medicine, waking up the nurse if necessary by lightly biting her on the nose. Isn't that a great proof of intelligence?

At the Grande Chartreuse convent, an old cat had become so deaf that it could no longer hear the dinner bell ringing. It wondered how to be informed of the time, but had noticed that the bells moved when they rang. So every day it waited for the moment when they got going and then entered the refectory.

Don't they have to think when they want to make themselves understood, as in this fact reported by Romanes? A cat lived with a parrot. The cook had gone up to a room, leaving a terrine of dough near the fire which she wanted to leaven. Suddenly the cat approached her, appearing excited, meowing and trying to signal her to come down, then it grabbed her by the apron as if to pull her. Seeing the animal's emotion, the cook gave in and found the parrot screaming, calling, flapping its wings and making violent efforts to extricate itself from the dough in which it had buried itself.

Cats are very good at understanding how to open a door and with their skill, it is no longer just a game for them.

This intelligence is sometimes misused. The story is told of a cat who watched behind a bush for the moment when crumbs were being spread in the yard for the little birds. But what can we say about his ruse, when the hand-out having stopped, he began to spread it himself to attract the birds!

Champfleury gives us a remarkable example of the sagacity of one of these animals: "After lunch," he says, "I had the habit of throwing as far as possible into a neighbouring room a piece of bread crumbs which, as it rolled, excited my cat to run. This merry-go-round lasted several months, the cat considered this crumb of bread the most delicious dessert. One day he threw this bread, which the cat was looking at with covetousness, behind the top of a painting. The animal's surprise was extreme - it had followed the trajectory of the piece of bread which suddenly disappeared. The animal's worried look indicated that it was aware that a material object crossing space could not be annihilated. He thought for a moment, then he went into the next room, probably driven by the following reasoning: for the piece of bread to have disappeared, it must have gone through the wall. The disappointed cat returned, his logic faulty. Champfleury called him again and threw a second piece after the first. This time the cat went straight to the hiding place, pushed aside the bottom of the painting with his paw and thus grabbed both pieces of bread. The author rightly concludes: "Is this not sagacity coupled with observation and reasoning?"

We will end with this curious fact cited by Alix. "During the cold of 1880, coal and wood were doubly expensive, and I had to save money. With fireplaces, the heat only lasts as long as there is a fire. All day, I worked sitting in a large armchair, surrounded by fur. My cat Cadix remained lying at my feet. Many times he would walk up to the door and call me in a way that was very different from the meow that meant I should let him out. I was going to open it for him, he went out halfway, looked at me and started to meow. I closed the door, he came in. In the end, I went out with him; he went to the kitchen looking at me and calling my name. Once there, he walked towards the coal box and climbed on it without losing sight of me. When I took coal, Cadiz would go to the wood box and then run to meet me at the door of my room. Once inside, he would go to the fireplace and do jumps and arch his back. I lit the fire, assisted by the cat who was rubbing against me. Once the fire was set, Cadix forgot me and went to lie down fully in front of the fireplace... He therefore knew what the fire was made with, and he showed perfectly well the necessity of the heat obtained from it, by his continual calls and by his gaze that followed my steps."

BREEDS - STANDARDS

The cat is a mammal in the order of digitigrade carnivores, in the Felidae family. It is characterized by a short muzzle, a rounded skull, short and very strong jaws, five toes on the front feet with retractable claws, four on the rear and a generally very developed tail.

I won't touch on the discussion of the origin of each breed by seeking to explain possible crossbreeding. However, I regret that among the breeds currently existing, there are still animals that do not come from pure lines and that these animals are awarded prizes in competitions. Regardless, everyone agrees that the domestic cat is the descendant of the wild cat. I will therefore begin with the study of this animal and continue with the numerous breeds of domestic cats, which we still seek to increase by making crosses and by trying to produce mutations, which has always been the dream of biologists. But this relies on the possibility of man modifying, more or less according to his will, the inherited traits of organisms, to be according to Kammerer's expression, "The master of the future and not the slave of the past". The results of genetics have made us more modest.

WILD CAT.

This differs from the domestic cat in that it usually has a longer intestine, is stronger, has black lips, stiffer ears, a larger tail and consistent colouring. There are three species:

The wild cat itself (felis catus feras), inhabiting Europe and western Asia. There are still some in the wooded regions of Jura, Haute-Saone, in the Alps, the Pyrenees, in Switzerland and in the Thuringian Forest. While hunting with our comrade Mr. Jean Cornetet, he had the good fortune to kill one and I was able to examine it at leisure.

It often inhabits caves or burrows and stays on the lookout, hiding along large branches, especially at night, to hunt rodents and birds. The description given by Professor Mr. Rode and Dr Didier corresponds to that of the type we saw, except that ours was a female weighing 10 kg., measuring 63 cm. long, tail over 25 cm. and approximately 33 cm. tall.

Here is the description: adult male, weighing 20 kg., 670mm. long plus 265 mm. tail. The background colour is a yellowish grey dotted with spots and black bands, affecting a regular arrangement: 4 black stripes starting from the eye and stopping at the level of the cervical space [between the shoulders], a spinal band starting a little further back than this cervical space and continuing to the base of the tail following the midline of the back. A fairly faint scapular band joins the spinal band at its base of the hind limb; a series of rather unindividualized lateral bands adorn the sides. On the tail there is an upper median stripe continuing the spinal stripe. Six concentric zones form black rings around the tail. The last two are very clear. The tip of the tail is black for a length of approximately seven centimetres.

The hair, especially on the jowls, is long and bushy. The lips and soles of the feet are a beautiful black, the ears straight and stiff, the tail bushy and conical. The coat is whitish grey on the underside of the body, the head relatively large.

The gloved cat (felis catus maniculatus). - This seems to be the white-eared caracal described by Buffon. It is also called the Lydian cat, from Nubia, it has also been found in northeast Africa, the Nile valley, Arabia, Asia Minor and Sardinia.

The upper part of its body is a reddish-tawny yellow, it becomes lighter on the sides and turns into pure white under the belly. A long black stripe extends across the back, and from it brown stripes line the trunk transversely. The head has 7 or 8 narrow, arched black stripes. The long tail is tawny yellow, the tip is black with black rings. It is taller than the previous one, its length varies between 70 and 80 cm.

The Manul cat (felis manul). - This lives on the central plateau of Asia, the steppes of Tartary and Mongolia. The coat is thick, pale grey, tending to red.

RACES DERIVED FROM THE PRECEDING.

Temminck's Felis minuta. - This lives in Sumatra, Java, in the Himalayas, on the Malacca mountain and in the Sunda Islands. It is reddish-grey above, white below and has 4 lines of brownish spots on the back, one transverse under the throat, two or three under the neck and round spots on the flanks.

Felis badia from Borneo. - Red, without markings.

Wavy cat (felis undata). - Found in Java. Its coat is dull grey, marked with small brown stripes and it has webbed feet.

Diard's cat (felis diardis). - This also lives in Java. It is 90 cm long, yellowish grey, with black spots on the neck, back and limbs. It has black rings with a grey centre on the shoulders, thighs and flanks, and on the tail it has dark grey rings.

Felis eyra. - Found in Brazil and Paraguay. It is light red, with white whiskers and lower jaws. It is 55cm long.

Felis tristis from China. - Slaty grey with dark spots arranged in large, loose rosettes. The tail has a ringed appearance.

Felis scripta. - Lighter, tawny grey with pink spots. The tail is less bushy and ringed. It is found in western China.

DOMESTIC CATS

Before moving on to the study of each of the domestic breeds, I want to give the classification established by Cornevin.

Common cat (felis catus domesticus). - Tabby, with a well-proportioned, supple and graceful body, medium head, long and fairly broad nose. It has small, erect ears, hairy on the outside, smooth on the inside. The eyes are blue, orange or green; the tail long and tapered; short hair; white skin; the coat of variable colour, most often tiger-marked with fawn, white, grey or black stripes and and spots; lips and soles of feet black. It is 40 to 50 cm. long, the height is 27 cm., and it has an average weight of 4 kg.

Antigua Creole cat - Small, with an elongated head.

Ceylon cat. - Small, with close-lying hair. It has a small head with a receding forehead, large and thin ears.

Paraguayan Cat. - Small, with short hair, shiny and very close-lying, especially on the tail.

Spanish Cat. - The hair is quite short and shiny, the coat spotted with irregular patches of white, black and orange on the upper and lateral parts, tawny under the belly. The lips and soles of the feet are flesh-coloured. It is smaller than the common cat.

Cypriot cat. - Light grey and black under the underside of the legs. Generally, the hair is short, the skin white, the ears small and erect.

Icelandic Cat. - This has a grey-blue coat.

Cape Red Cat. - The red colour may be limited to a simple dorsal stripe.

Carolina Archipelago Cat. - Has a reddish-yellow coat and very long legs.

Gambian cat or Negro cat. (felis catus negritia). - Found in Gambia, Guinea and on the west coast of Africa. The skin is black and wrinkled; it has short grey-blue hair. The legs are long, and the tail is tapered.

Chinese cat. - (felis catus sinensis or felis catus auriculosa). Found especially in China and Manchuria; it is large in size, with a rather strong head, with ears falling to the sides. Its fur is semi-long, silky, black or yellow, with spots on the flank. The tail is thick, of medium length, without knots or breaks. It is consumed by the Chinese who fatten it for this purpose.

Persians. - (Felis catus angoransis). - A robust cat, elegant in shape, with well-furnished, silky fur, presenting a frill. The head is massive, round and broad. The nose is short, flattened and broad. Cheeks have sideburns. The forehead is broad, the eyes large and round; the ears are small and separated by a wide gap. It has a ruff. The body is compact and supple; legs are short and massive; tail is relatively short and furnished with very long, silky fur. The lips and soles of the feet are flesh-coloured. It has a gentle, indolent character.

Blue Persian. - The head is broad and round, the nose short, the eyes large, round and orange, the ears small and bushy. The coat is blue without markings, shading or white undercoat.

White Persian. - The eyes are large, azure blue, yellow or orange. The coat is snow white. The hair is silkier than that of the Blue Persian.

Black Persian. - Graceful, lively and full of strength. It has large, dark orange, copper or amber eyes. The coat is jet black, without spots, or brown or red highlights, or bluish or brownish undercoat.

Chinchilla Persian. - The nose is brick red, the eyes are large, bright, emerald green, the legs are short and the tail is short. It must have the palest silver colour possible, with no streaks or tawny tints. The tips of the hairs are dark, the coat is long and thick.

Cream Persian. - It has a round and voluminous head, large, orange or copper eyes; small, well-set ears; a graceful, solid body; short legs; a cream shade without shadow or stain; a darker dorsal line.

Blue-cream Persian. - The coat is made up of a mixture of blue and cream, regularly intermingled.

Silver Persian. - The coat is shiny, light silver with very clear black stripes on the body. The dark stripes become thinner from head to tail and follow the spine. It has very numerous and well separated concentric rings on the chest; legs are ringed with black marks.

Smoke Persian. - Round orange or copper eyes. The coat is black, shaded with smoky grey, the undercoat is silver. The head is very dark, the collar slightly silvery. The belly is lighter and the legs are very dark.

Tortoiseshell Persian. - Large, round, orange or copper eyes. The coat is black, yellow and orange (as distinct as possible). There are no marks or white streaks. It has a yellow triangle on the nose.

Red Persian. - The eyes are large, round, copper or bronze. The coat is as shiny as possible, the hair long, thick and silky, without blotches or marbling.

Orange Persian. - The eyes are orange or hazel brown; the coat is uniformly orange.

Tabby Persian. - Brown striped (brown tabby). This is large and robust; the background colour is sable or bright fawn with shiny black stripes. It has copper eyes. The coat should not tend towards orange. The cheeks, legs and tail are striped; the chest and back have broad bands.

Birman cat. - Also known as the sacred cat, because it lives in temples. It has a strong, broad and round head, a rather short nose, slightly open lips, a domed skull, round, intense blue eyes; long, straight ears with white hair inside; a strong neck; a long, massive body; rather short and wide legs; a long, straight and very bushy tail. The hair is long or mid-length, very long and silky around the neck and also on the sides and belly, or wavy, woolly on the back of the thighs. The colour of the light parts is dark cream, becoming almost white, with golden highlights. The legs are paler, ending in boots.

Khmer cat. - Good sized, well proportioned. It gives an impression of harmonious strength. The head is strong and round; the nose rather large and short; lips pressed together; white and brown whiskers; small cheeks; broad skull; slightly slanting, bright blue eyes; ears quite long; the neck short, the body long; strong legs with brown soles; the tail long, straight and flexible; long, straight hair. There is a ruff at the neck. In the sun, it looks golden. The legs are brown.

Siamese cat. - Found in the Far East. Slender in shape, in a refined manner. The head is long, widened at eye level. The muzzle is tapered, the nose long, whiskers are long, lips rounded, forehead flat and receding, skull well developed, eyes are shaped like blue almonds. The ears are rather long, neck thin, body slender, feet small. The tail can be long and thin, half-long, short, broken or hooked. The coat is preferably light; the mask and the extremities should be distinct (otter-colour). The umbilical region and belly should stand out white. The hair is short, close-lying, shiny, soft and silky, that of the tail is glossy.

Isle of Man cat. - This has no tail and a hopping gait. It moves like a rabbit. The body is as short as possible, the hips very rounded, the rear end very developed. The hind legs are stronger and taller. It is variable in colour: black, white and even blue. The coat is very soft.

European cats (Felis catus vulgaris). - This is reminiscent of the wild cat and presents a very varied range of colours. They are spotted, speckled, striped, striped in all tawny colours where there is dominance of one colour. They are robust, vigorous and ardent beasts. Overall, it is supple and well proportioned. The face is short and quite broad. The cheeks are full; blue, orange or green eyes, large and round; ears small, rounded at the top, well erect, carried slightly forward and apart, almost bare inside. The chest is broad, the feet are round with black soles; long tail with short hairs. Short hair, fine and close-lying. The skin is white or piebald.

Tabby Europeans. - These are very elegant with the contrast of black against a single colour.

Brown. - These are the most robust. The eyes are orange or green. The coat has no white hairs. The stripes are black or dark brown.

Ginger Tabby or Sandy cat. - The eyes are hazel brown or golden yellow. The coat is orange or light red, with dark orange stripes, without white hair.

Silver Tabby. - The eyes are hazel brown or straw yellow. The coat is silver-grey without white spots. The stripes are black or blue.

White European. - This has a broad head, very full cheeks, a short nose, sapphire blue eyes, small ears, rounded at the top, wide at the base, a relatively short neck, round feet, a rather long tail, broad at the base, ending in a point. The coat is very pure white. Fur is short, silky and lustrous.

Black European. - The eyes are orange or copper. The coat is jet black without white hairs.

Red European. - This is rare. The eyes are light yellow. The coat is red without stripes or white hairs. The skin is white.

Tortoiseshell European. - A yellow or orange tint is very appreciated. The eyes are orange, copper or hazel. The coat has black, yellow and orange patches, especially on the legs, ears and tail. These colours need not be intermingled.

Abyssinian cat. - Also known as the rabbit cat or hare cat. Rather small, very elegant in conformation, slender in form. It has a thin, very elongated head, wide, pointed ears, bright, wide eyes, a rather level head, an elongated muzzle, a dark red nose bordered with black, eyes larger than those of the European, green-yellow or hazel. The legs and soles of the feet are black, the tail quite long and pointed. Fur is short, dense, silky to the touch, shiny in appearance. It is golden brown, speckled with black or dark brown. There are two or three bands of colour on each hair and a dark line down the spine. The inside of the legs and limbs are orange-brown. There is no white, the undercoat is as light as possible.

Chartreux cat. - Its head is reminiscent of that of the Siamese. The nose is silvery grey and never pink. The lips are very dark blue, the eyes gold or copper, the ears large, set straight. The skull is quite level and quite narrow, the straight jowls, nose quite long with a small break at the origin, long neck, the body and shoulders are long; round paws with a dark grey, almost black sole. The tail is long and tapered. The colour varies from silver grey to slate blue. Woolly textured hair and blue skin.

Naked cats. - Only a few cases are known. Bailly-Maitre cites one belonging to Mr. Shinick of Alburquerque in New Mexico. In 1930 two naked cats were exhibited at the Paris exhibition, they were described by Professor Letard. Another indiviual was observed by Fitzinger in Vienna. Lastly, a case is reported by Messrs. Collet and Jean-Blain.

There are three degrees of alopecia:
A completely naked cat: total alopecia;
A naked cat in summer, light fur on the back and tail in winter: complete seasonal alopecia;
A cat constantly covered by rudimentary fur: permanent incomplete alopecia.

The rarity of these animals is easily explained, because the naked characteristic is a recessive trait.

STANDARDS

I will not discuss the value of the standards and only provide them for completeness. However, I will note that they are not very precise and are therefore only of interest to real "connoisseurs". I have adopted the English standards here.

BLACK PERSIAN

Colour: ivory black to the roots, without freckles or white hair, without any marks. [Ivory black is black obtained from burnt bones]
Coat: long and flowing on the body and around the neck. Short, broad tail.
Body: thick and massive without being coarse, well-muscled, strong boning. Stands low on its limbs.
Head: round and wide, especially between the ears which must be small and well furred. Short nose. Full cheeks. Broad muzzle.
Eyes: large, round, wide open, copper or dark orange without green border.
N.B. - The young often have poor colour until 5 or 6 months, the coat greyish and reddish in certain places, sometimes with white hairs. They should not be condemned if the other characteristics are good because their hair often becomes completely black.

Scale of Points
Colour - 25
Coat - 20
Body - 20
Head - 20
Eyes -15
TOTAL - 100

WHITE PERSIAN

Colour: pure white without marks.
Coat: long on the body and around the neck. Short, broad tail. Silky, soft fur without woolly texture.
Body: thick and massive without being coarse, well-muscled, strong skeleton, low on limbs.
Head: round and wide, especially between the ears which must be small and well furred. Short nose. Full cheeks. Broad muzzle.
Eyes: large, round, wide open, dark blue.
N. B. Often there are yellow spots on the tail as a result of dust accumulation. You must pay attention to this and remove them before exhibitions.

Scale of Points
Colour - 25
Coat - 20
Body - 20
Head - 20
Eyes -15
TOTAL - 100

BLUE PERSIAN

Dress: all shades of blue are allowed, but they must be uniform without markings or white hairs. Long, thick and soft fur.
Head: broad and round, especially between the ears. Short face and nose. Ears small and hairy. Full cheeks.
Eyes: orange and copper. Large, round, without a trace of green.
Body: thick and low on limbs.
Tail: short and broad, not tapered.

Scale of Points
Coat - 20
Condition - 10
Head - 25
Eyes -15
Body - 15
Tail - 10
TOTAL - 100

RED TABBY

Colour: dark red, clear and well-defined markings continuing on the chest, legs and tail.
Coat: long, thick and silky, short tail, very well covered, without white spot.
Body: thick and solid. Short, stocky legs.
Head: large, round. Ears small, well placed and bushy. Short and broad nose. Round and full cheeks.
Eyes: large and round, dark copper coloir.