Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-19
PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT.
FACTS AND FANClES CONNECTED
WITH OUR FELINE FRIENDS.

when the Cat First Became q Household
Pet-Its High Place In Ancieut Egypt.
Kitty as Retriever-Her Place IN Nursery
Rhymes-Curious superstitions.
Common house cats seem to have first taken
up their abode in human habitations 50 long
ago as to be almost beyond the celebration of
naturalists. Its first known domestication
was in Egypt, about the beginning Of the
new empire, 1900 years ago; beyond that
period We have no knowledge. Tabby occu-
pied at that ancient day the same comforta-
BILE relations to the household as at present
The Egyptians brought the cat 10 more use
full state OF domestication than any other
people, and the utilitarians were more numer-
Gus throughout the past than at present.
Pussy in Egypt occupied diversity Of posi-
tons, ranging from the novel height of a
deity TO the more humble occupation of re-
triever for the poor Nile hunters. Egyptolo-
giSts have given US a rare collection OF cat
mummies, much resembling some curious
bottles in shape, together with odd wooden
cat collins with painted faces; they have de-
ciphered inscriptions on monuments and
tombs, and brought TO light many interesting
paintings appertaining to and supposed to be
of the Pharaohs. Thus we find them wor-
SHIPPED in the Temple OF Heliopolis, sacred to
the sun, because the size OF the pupils OF the
cats eye is regulated by that orb, becoming
a vertical line at midday.
COMPANIONS OF KINGS.
Cats were the companions OF kings, for on
the tomb OF King Hanna is a statue repre-
senting him with his favorite cat, Bouhaki,
at his feet. But the most interesting records
of the past that relate to our four-footed
friends are those which inform us that kitty
went into the water and retrieved wild game
for its master, or pointed it on land as a set
ter or pointer dog of today would do. In the
ancient city of Bubastis stood temple sacred
TO cats, in fact, the city itself was devoted to
this animal The cats made their headduar-
tiers in the temple however. Here they were
carefully fed and attended, and So great was
the veneration in which they were held by
the Egyptians, that to kill one was punish
able by death. When the cats died, their
bodies were embalmed and carried with
great pomp and ceremony outside the town
TO repose in the sepulchers.
In the eastern lands the domestic cat re-
ceived as great attention as elsewhere, for in
l26O A. D., E. Daher Beybars, at his death,
established cats orchard called Gheyh-eI-
less and needy cats This orchard has
changed hands often since then and has
fallen into great dilapidation, but to this
day, at an hour between noon and sunset,
the Xadi has distributed here a quantity of
butchers refuse in sad disproportion to the
large number of cats that fight over it. 1t
Is said to be very interesting sight to behold
hundreds of cats Of all kinds and ages hasten
Ing TO the orchard, jumping from house to
house across the narrow streets sliding down
walls or gliding in the court from all direc-
tons. Similar customs exist in Italy and
Switzerland. At Florence there is a place
situated near the Church of St Lorenzo,
which serves as a refuge for cats Here
homeless cats are led and kindly treated, and
any one desiring cat NAV have his choice
from the collection. At Geneva cats abound
in great numbers. They are respected by
the people, who al a certain hour each day
feed them from their doorsteps.
In Greece and Rome cats were III used
They were despised and not admitted into the
domestic circle.
RHYMES AND sUPERsTITIoNS
In traditions and nursery rhymes pussy
holds al exalted position From the French,
German, Norwegian and English sources a
large collection of curious tales have come
down, such as Puss in Boots, Master Peter
and His Cat, Wilmington and His Cat. -
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You
Beenn and many more Such stories are
the first impressed on the infant mind. and
they cling to the memory, and TO their influ-
ence may he attributed that fondneSs for cats
50 often manifested by older people Besides
being prominent IN the nursery, kitty has be-
come involved in many superstItious, some of
which have proved both fortunate and most
unfortunate. 1t Is very common supersti-
ton that cats are fond OF sucking the breath
of infants, while the child sleeps There is
certainly no greater fallacy than this
To Tables great misfortune, ignorant
people IN the middle ages, rs well Us at pres
ent, associated her with the devil, partly be-
cause of her nocturnal habits and partly be-
cause of her large fixed eyes that glow so
strangely in the dark. For this reason it was
an aged custom in France on the festival of
St John 10 burn in some public place twenty
four cats, a they We're regarded as emblems
OF the devil You have often heard it said
that cat has nine lives; this old saying is q
great bugbear to our domestic pets, for it
gives the small boy an excuse to knock one or
two Of them out Of her. The tradition or
iginated in Grays fable. The Old Woman
and Her Cats, wherein the cat upbraids the
witch Us follows:
It's infamy 10 serve a hag,
Cats are though int imJs, her broom a nag;
And boys against our lives combine
Because It's said you cats have nine
OF course every one knows il is bad luck TO
kill Il cat, while should a stray cat come to
your home it brings good luck, and more es-
pecially should 1t chance 10 be black But
you must care for the cat, for should YOU
drive it of sickness and death are sure to fol-
low.
In Russia the cat Is not associated with
evil, as In other lands, but it is held in high
esteem, while the dog is said TO be the imp Of
the devil
The Russians account for that universal
hatred which exists between dogs and cats as
follows: When the dog was created he had
neither fur nor hair. He lost patience, and
instead Of waiting TO be covered with the
necessary article he ran after the first passer
10y who called him. Now, the passer by was
the devil, and he made the animal his ennis
sary, and, indeed, sometimes assumes its APP
pearance. The fur which was destined to the
dog was given to the cat. This probably ex-
plains the antipathy which exists between
the two animals; the one believes that the
other has stolen his property Louis Post
Dispatch.