New-York tribune., 1874-11-06
GRIMALKIN TO THE FORE.

GRIWALhIN ~ 1HE FOhC.
A Baby Show is indubitably the culmina-
tion of exhibitive force, interest. and subllm-
ity AS Man is to the beasts that perish, so Is
display of fat babies to a display of fat
cattle. The finest sirlOin, the most exquisitely
red and white leg of mutton, the largest ana
finest veal, has in it a SAVIOR OF the sensual
and is deficient in sentiment. 1t is OF the
earth, earthly. 1t awakens appetite, but IL
takes no permanent hold upon the affections (;
while just in proportion to its excellence Is
the rapidity with which it passes into obliv-
ion. There is q joint immOrtaized In bos-
wells Life of johnson, but only because the
Doctor declared it to have been badly bred,
badly killed. badly kept, and badly cooked
Then the feeling with which we regard the
Baby Show is the sign and evidence of our
civilization. However beautiful the condition
of the dear creatures, we do not think OF
them roasted as South Sea Islander might.
We associate them with the cherubs Of Mu-
rillo and with the prose- poems of Mrs. Bar
bauld, with Moses in the Bulrushes, and with
the Babes in the Wood. But enough OF Babies !!
Let us sing of the Cat: "he knew hlmselt
I" to sing!"
From purely animal point Of view this
quadruped possesses a family interest second
only to the "Pledges." In fact, to many q
woman whose quiver is not full Of such, to
the pre-Adamito maiden, one Tabby, fat, well
furred, of fine proportions, with a purr of
good quality, and long, thick, and sympa-
thetic tail, is of more value than many babies.
It cannot be helped. We must all love some
thing, and to poor lone creature who is try
ing to make home without husband and
without children, the cat recommends itself
by it's persistent dOmestcity. We are not
surprised therefore, to read in the English
newspapers of the Sixth Annual National
Crystal Palace Exhibition of Cats few weeks
ago. The details, which we find in The Fan
ciers' Gazette, are sufficiently amusing, and the
cats seem to have very well held their own
with the dogs, hens, and birds previously ex-
hibited. The nonpareil of the display, the
sole specimen of a ShOrt-haired Tortoise
shell and White Tom, was the cat TOtty."
No other such was near-this cat was all
alone. Ho is the finest creature Of
the kind in England. is Totty-med-
ais, premiums, all kinds of hOnors
have been heaped upon his great, elegant head.
At Birmingham, Ipswich, Glasgow, WOlver-
for critical Judgment, he has been Totty the
Triumphant. There were eleven Brown-tabby
Toms, but we are sorry to say that TippOO
Saib property of Miss MOore), though the
finest in other respects of his class was refused
the first premium on account of his bad moral
character, and especially his ferociOus prOpen-
sity to kill full-grown rabbits. Then there
were Blue Tabbes, Silver Tabbics, Spotted
Tabbics Red Tabbies, Brown-spotty Tabbies-
there was beautifully marked Short haired
cat-there was the Black cat "Sir James Tar
{" "tar.n son of thc late celebrated "Sambina,"
and grandson of Grimalkin." This cat of
noble lineage was for SALE Price, f3 3s.-a
mart of the proceeds to be handed over to the
Society for the Prevention, &c.
But still the Cat-catalogue stretches on. There
were Manx, or No-Taied cats, very proud OF
their abbreviated popularity. There was a
Tortoise shell, who was described as having
taken first prize at the Hampshire OrnithO-
logical ExhibltiOn-pos ossibly for good behavior
in restraining her appetite. There was Short
haired White with real blue eyes; there was a
Siamese (not twin) there was Pied named
Master Barabbas,n dreadfully suggestive
name! There were the Long-haired Pure
White SneS-pretty leilnc OnaS! IueIc "ele
the Long haired Black Shes - reminding us
of the Song of Solomon" black, but comely."
There was q prize for Short-haired Cat of
Unusual Color which was taken by Bob, who
weighed IA pounds. Only one Wild Cat
competed-a female Paradoxa from Mongolia,
and not strictly cat at all, and so savage
az to be confined in bird cage-which must
have been an aggravatiOn!
But we cannot reprint the whole Cat-cat-
alogue, though it is really a curiosity. 1t is
pleasant to notice that there was a special
class of Goats belonging to Working Men,"
for cat in cottage or back-cOurt when it
has a chance of prize, will probably be well
fed and otherwise well treated. We are not
surprised to find that considerable majority
of the exhibitors were women; and following
our investigation in way which we have
never been able to get rid of since we read
Buckle, we find that of the women who sent
cats a great proportion were Maidens and not
Madames. Hence it may be deduced, &c.
But let the reader carry out the deduction for
himself He has more leisure for such specu-
lations than we have.
NOVEMBER DAYS.