The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-03-23
Speaking about Cats.
Some Fragments from Essays, One of
Which may Get a Prize.
IN. Y. Times. |


Mr.. G. b. Bunnell, who has a cat show at
his museum, corner of Broadway and Ninth
street, offered, before the opening of the show,
prize for the best essay on cats. The result
Is that Mr.. Bunnell's office is. now flooded
with poetic, comic, serious, and historic effu-
sions from all parts of the country. A female
essayist treats of the subject at great length.
She says that the old Egyptians worshiped
cats. When the family cat died natural
death the members of the household shaved
their eyebrows in sorrow. The body was en-
balmed and buried in a spot consecrated to
cats. They were never killed by the Egyp-
tians, and a Roman, who accidentally caused
the death of cat was set upon by an infariat-
ed mob and sacrificed to their fury "he Ro-
mans name and former address are withheld
out of respect to his family. The sad event
cast a gloom over the entire community.
There are some curious superstitions con-
nected with the cat according to this yearner
for Mr.. Bannell's prize. When the cat washes
itself it is sign of good weather; when it licks
itself against the grain or sits with its tail to
the fire, the weather will be bad. If there is
to be wedding in the house the bride may
consider herself very fortunate if the cat
sneezes the day before. In Bavaria a cat of
red, white and black is called fire cat, and in
some villages such cats are thrown in the
flames of a burning house instead of water to
quench the flames. 1t is also supposed that
their presence in house will prevent fever.
When America was discovered no cats were
found here, not even wild ones. The Ameri-
can cats are descendants of those brought over
from Europe by the first settlers.
A "New York journalist" who is also anxi-
GUS for the prize, sends an essay OF exactly
1000 words. The origin of house cats, he says,
cases. Arab legends trace the cat back to No
abs ark, where, the story runs, it was sneezed
from lions nostrils. Its known history dates
back 3,55S years, or 1,6SS years before the
Christian era. 1t is native of Egypt, and
was there held sacred to Isis In Greek an
nails the first recorded cat belonged to Theocri-
tus. The white-breasted marten preceded it as
a mouse-killer. In Rome and ancient Briton
cats were rare. Pliny mentions them, and the
Caesars painted them on their banners. In the
middle ages they were held as an emblem of
sorcery and witchcraft. st. Dominic describes
the cat as an uncanny animal, whose form the
devil often assumed. 1t is related that an ar
chitect invoked Satan's aid to build bridge.
Satan consented on condition that the first who
crossed it should forfeit his soul. The archi-
face In Germany black cats are kept from
children as evil omens, and their appearance
in sickness denotes death. The cats from the
Isle OF Malta, Russia, Japan, Turkey, Sicily
and Mexico all possess the features of the an
cient Egyptian breed.
A Schenectady eSSayiSt says that reference
is made to the cat in Sanskrit writings 1000
years DID, and still more ancient records of it
are to be found in the monumental figures and
cat mummies of Egypt. The gloved cat of
Nubia, (F'elis manicutdta), which also ap-
pears as a mummy, approaches most nearly
in size and u tapering form of the tail to the
domestic cat. The difficulty of recognizing
this ancestor in any single wild species has led
many naturalists to the conclusion that
the common cat (FelS homestead is the prod
uct of many crosses or species commingled. In
country districts specimens of the domestic cat
that run wild are by no means uncommon, and
having once tasted wild food it is afterward in
different to rats and mice, but there are few
animals more destructive to poultry and game.
The old Latin proverb, "Coteis dnlat pisces sed
don't like to go into the water) is hardly cor
rect, as cats have been frequently known to
overcome their aversion to water in order to
crafty their taste for fish.
A poor student in the Connecticut Literary
institution at Suffield, Conn, who is working
his way through college, sends a short essay
and an urgent letter asking the committee to
PLEASE let me know at once concerning the
prize" The essay is as follows: "The cat is
domestic animal She is the smallest of the
family of the great cat tribe. This tribe COM
prises the lion, tiger, panther. and other fierce
animals, but the household cat is a domestic
creature"
A young lady, gifted in the matter of adjec-
tives, is very indignant that the law does not
recognize property in cats. She writes:
"Now, if a man steals from me my blind
manned sprained foundered- got the-heaves-
kicking -knock-kneed tailed -balking-horse
or if he steals my old brindle-hooking- -scraggy-
sellfor- nothing and-dear -at-that- and-always-
kicks-over-the-milk-p -pail-cow, or my howling-
barking yelling -yelping- NANCY -tailless-hydro-
phobic dog, or my screeching-screaming-
swearing -the-neigh plain-of-
it-and-one-o e-old-lady-sai said-she-would-
chief-of-p -police-and-that-it t-was-a-shameful-and-
unneighborly parrot the law will punish him.
The briefest and most comprehensive of all
the essays is from man who says he has not
had good nights sleep in year, as follows:
Dam all cats anyway