American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-05-18

here, called catnip (nepeta catdrta), that sc
attracts cats that it cannot be grown in
the open air unless protected by cage.
In the Apothecaries' Physic Gardens al
Chelsea, there used to be, and may be
now, plant of cat-mint, surrounded by
stout wires. l have seen sturdy old
Tom" deliberately set himself to the
task of solving the problem of admission
to the forbidden fruit. With poised tail
and trembling whiskers he walked round
and round the Enclosure, now peering be-
tween the wires, now pulling at them with
his claws, sometimes crouching stealthily,
sometimes stepping erect, with bent back
and flashing eyes, at one moment turning
away discouraged, at another drawn back
by irresistible desire, until the taunts and
gibes of unlocking students drove him
away
Cats can run neither fast nor far. They
lack bottom. Their teeth and talons COM
peusate for want of scent and fleetness
With their claws they seize and kill their
prey, and with their teeth tear it in pieces.
The prevailing color of domestic cats is
gray, white is next, piebald follows, and
tortois shell is last. This color-tortoise-
SHELLS monopolized by females. "a
tortoise Tom, says an English proverb,
sis worth his weight in gold"
All through the middle ages cats were
the victims of superstition. Satan APP
peared to st. Anthony in the form of
black cat; st. Gregory saw the fiend who
interrupted his midnight devotions flock
ing around him in the shape of kittens;
Luther, remembering that the devil
could not bear contempt" turned his
back in bed on the huge monster-shape
that annoyed him, apparently piebald
cat, and uttered an expression not to be
repeated; and the salem witches confessed
that their contract was made with the
arch-tiend in the semblance of cat.
Even to the present day certain cat-call
predicts misfortune to those who hear it
in the rural towns of New England; the
washing of the cats whisker's foretells
falling weather; unusual spOrtiveness in
the domestic favorite portends high
winds; and sluggish sleep, under chairs
and tables, on the bed or in the chimney
corner, of the household pet, is the pre-
cursor of fair weather.
Sailors are proverbially superstitious.
A cat, domesticated on the Inflated steam
er Pacific, of the Collins Line, became
one night, during voyage from New
York to Liverpool, extraordinarily lively.
She rushed repeatedly through the
saloon where the passengers were
seated, engaged in games or conversation,
dashed up and down the gangway, scam
pered along the hatchways, rushed ia and
OUT OI inc SCdCe rooms, ana eACllcu Tic
of every one on board. Her
conduct became the topic of the evenings
talk. There was no apparent reason for
her unusual eccentricities. Stories of
strange representations from the be-
havior of cats were told. FELTON,, the
President of Harvard, philosophical upon
the topic in his inimitable way. A
resident fellow of Oxford took up the
subject, and amused us with anecdotes of
domestic cats in Yorkshire. At last the
Captain of the good ship, whom no pas
senger can ever forget, said: gentleman
and ladies', there is nothing strange in
our cats behavior; We are to have a
storm" Before morning the prediction
was verified. For three days we en-
such hurricane as the annals
Of Atlantic navigation have not often
recorded. The good ship indeed rode it
out safely. But there were few on board
who ever forgot the drama that began
" IrrshInOSs cat, anu CuJIcu |
with the entrance of the Pacific into the |
smooth waters of the Mersey.-N s. |
D0dge, IN Golden Age.