Smyrna times., 1872-08-14
Cats and Their Belongings.


In parts of Germany our domestic cat is not c;
found at ALL nor in all Faderland do cats ever t
become favorites. We know not why, but cats G
are rlgldly excluded from Turkish and Egyptian b
harems. In Asia Minor they become Arabs in v
their rowing habits, and are prosecuted like Ii
dogs in Constantinople Who Of the thousands T
of travellers across the Isthmus of Panama ever
came across a household cat? In BOothama- V
been, the East India Company's island at the
southern termination of the Red sea, where '
warehouses and dwellings are overrun by rats,
all attempts to introduce cats have been per-
sistenty resisted by native workmen. They {
say that a cats hair contracts and commun-
Gates the plague, that she sucks the breath of
young children, that she is more liable to rabies
than dogs, and that her wall is the precursor OF
bad luck. The same superstitions extend to
Bombay. No native nurse will permit cat to
enter the children apartments or purr about
the lounges or cradles. Tabby is instantly
sent about her business-that business being |
the pursuit of rats and mice-the moment she |
shows her nose out of the kitchen.
In Spain cats are treated barbarously. Their |
ears and tails are cut off it kittenhood. This |
custom is universal. There is not a pussy-cat
in all the dominiOns of the dethroned Isabella
that retains her silken cartilage OF hearing or
her expressive caudal appRndage. The ex-
cision, it is certain is not done out of cruelty,
q because cats are domestic favorites with old
/ Castiians-nor from any known superstitiOns,
n for the eccesastics encourage their presence IN
n churches and lady devotees take them in their
h mutfs to the confessional. Some benefit is
doubtless thought to come of it, but the traveller
:, knows not what. Spaniards clip the hair
Al also from mules and donkeys. If you press
a the reason why in either case, the answer is
h the same, COSa de ESpanG-it is the custom in
Spain.
n Button long ago wrote learnedly on the natu
" raj history of cats. Cuvicr followed him. They
re both ended where they began. Who were the
" cats first parents, or whence the cat came, Is
IN as great mystery to US as it was to Aristotle
I'd The old Greeks knew and loved cats as do
$ mestic favorites. Ancient Egyptians carved
to them on monoyths, incorporated them in
id hieroglyphics, and em5almed their bodies in
ny sarcophagi. Roman poets chanted their
praises. And the tin-seeking Ph@nicians
is introduced them into England. If they came
lot originally from the wild cat, the feat of tanning
he must date back of all traditional history. 1t i;
often q puzzle with naturasts to decide
he whether certain animals constitute different
in species of the same genus or are only varieties
mt Of the same species The cat has been the
nd Lete noir Of scientific schools. Angoran cat
od with their long and silky fur, Persian cats will
rly their shy manners, Chinese cats with thei
2@ peculiar NEW, and japanese cats-the lap-dog
Oh of almond eyed ladies, that consort with bu
ior never molest rats and mice-have alliance nea
re or remote, with our household favorlte. Bu
ess wild cats never. Beyond the structure of tn
a 5 foot there is no sign of kindship. Poor puss
H. is related to the panther as man to the aurang
of outang No nearer.
Av Abiding to the foot, where the nails adm
ep: of being drawn back into soft pad and thru>
ost out when needed, enabling the possessor t
yer pass the hardest and most uneven surface
for noiselessy towards its prey, and always keepin
I naIls Sbarn-haS OhSarVp1 that
our convex part of these nails is horny and tt
her concave part soft? 1t is the principal
eez. growth. The under continually peels ava
low The upper grows. Tom" more given
claw practice than rafting or mousng, was d
use prived of his nails. The scissors did the san
lich service tor him they dld Tor the chidren al
most with no greater PAIN Wo discoveries ensue
-1ve Toms nails grew rapidly-that was ours: h
teeth lecame substitutes for absent claws
on.. that was his; and the experiment was n
Root repeated.
aed1 'aH The smelling power of all the cat tribe is
Od ferior to that of dogs. The OdOr-perceptiOn
anu tL wanting. The power of scent, which is so
,naN .no markable in dogs, cats do not possess. I
~ 90 former scent their prey, the latter see it.
y "a NJ hound speeds along with nOstrils near t
~ JaJ earth. The ounce tiger and, leopard lie
NJ wait Hence comes Natures compensate
aa' anu The eye of the dog is round of the cat ho
'o0A zontal The slit-like form of the latter, WHIT
hoot the pupil contracts to a mere line in the 81
o",S shine and expands to almond shape In
Ca eau shade, shows the widest possible difference
oau' the oval pupil of the former which neither
tense light nor absolute darkness varies. L
5 tn9 common opinion that cats can see in the da
here nan See in absolntc darkness some Iittle lie
lst tLoro ,nnot be Rnt that tho nun;I of the fni
few 80 tnootoI % = H. - tbo loro of 9,
s not sI;no avnande nc tho dorLneSs ;ncreoeas
tess certain. 1t grows with decrease of hg
seen The faintest ray is absorbed by continua
perry increasing the capacity of the organ that ne,
rHla- it. Indeed, the pupil of cats eye is so p
give ceptive of variations in the intensity of ligh
mar contracts so regularly up to midday and
I'M pands so regularly alter meridian-that be
De- man on the Chinese rivers will tell you W
i. the time Of day is by looking into c;
Inc 1aca q eyes.
lS0o' 1 1t is a common notion that the whiskers
otoe the cat tribe smellers and the tale pas
ZiHo current that if the whiskers of cat be cut
gu no she will no longer continue good mou!
etaee The latter assertion is indeed partially CORE
ll'o q but it depends in no degree upon any loss
ought the power of SMELL The fact is that
lzers, whiskers of a cat are feeling not o smelh
ahure apparatus. Most animals possess some tao
L organ specially adapted to the sense of feeli
ght and upon which the nerves of common SCI
of so ton are mostly distributed. Thus, in hun
year beings it is the tips of the fingers which
corn, this pre-eminence, being exceeded as organ
other delicate tactile sensation only by the tong
nyard Everybody knows that when the sense of to
other is to be brought to bear in the highest poss
bad of degree, the tip of the tongue is the tacte
It any chosen. Now, cats nerves of tactile SCI
lse in ton are for the most part distributed ell
ormer side of the cheek, so that the base of G
t. Ii whisker is planted in the very midst of
D the nerves. Hence, If the whiskers be touched
'eray one extremity, it conveys the tactie impres