Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-02
CATS AND DOGS.
Curious Points About the Origin Of llankind'
FavOrite Pets.

/
Favorite Pets.
| DOGS DESCENDED vARrousLY FROM COYOTES,
THE ANCIENT EGYPrIANs-How THEY SPREAD
OVER TIE woRLp-soNs QUEER CATS.
ssCATs AND DOGS HAVE A VARIED
~ ancestry" said naturalist to a SrAn
| writer. "People commonly imagine that in
| speaking Of dogs they are referring to . single
species which has many varitics. But in
| reality the name is merely conventional one,
under which are grouped in popular parlancc
| all OF the domesticated canide. The North
| American.coyote is in fact much nearer to the
greyhound. zoologcally speaking, than the
pug is 1t is simply wild dog. So is tho wolf
likewise. From just such wild types mans
faithful four-toosed friends arc descended.
THE DOGS OF THE RED MEN
"When Columbus discovered America Ia
found that the Indians possessed dogs. They
were direct descendants OF the wild COYOTES of
the plains. You can find beautifully mounted
group OF coyotes in glass case at the National
Museum-a male, female and young one THOR
resemblance to certain domesticated dogs is
very striking. On the other hand, the Eskimo
dog is derived from the wolf. Doubtless the
first dogs which were trained to servo MANKIND
were tho jackala of Asia. which are to this day
very intelligent ard docile when tanned. There
was kind Of dog kept by the ancient Egyp-
tisns which was evidently obtained by breeding
from a slenderly built species that 10 wild In
Africa at tho present time.
PROGENY OF THE JAcKAL.
wherever the candle have been found by
man the most docile OF them have been trans
formed into domesticatcd dogs. Young ones
were reared and bred from, the best tempered
and most intelligent specimens being preserved
from generation to generation, until finally the
beas Is became gontc and affectionate servants.
Spreading over Europe from Asia the human
race brought with it the tanned progeny of the
jsckal, and from this original source are pre-
sumably derived most Of the European breeds
that are best known today. By artificial selcc-
ton mankind has actually boon ablo to create
races Of useful brutos.
ABOUT CATS
with cats the case is in some respects the
same. Tho first people known to have domes-
| ticated them were the ancient Egyptians. on
whose monuments representations Of these ami
mails are found rs early rs 1000 BIC. 1t is on q
tomb erected about 1900 B. c. that puss first ap-
pears unmistakably as q domesticated creature,
being shown seated beneath q chair. In ancient
Egypt the cat was an object Of religious wor-
ship and was even an inmate Of the temples.
There WAS actually a cat goddess named Bu-
basts. who was always depicted IS having a
cats head, Behind the temple dedicated to her
OF BENZ Hassan great pits have been found con-
tanning multitudes Of cat mummies. The cat
was also regarded as an emblem of the sun, its
eyes being supposed to vary in color with the
progress OF that luminary through the heavens.
Likewise its eyes we're believed to undergo q
change each lunar month, for which reason the
beast was also sacred to the moon.
DIFFERENTLY VIEWED IN DIFFERENT PLACES. =
"Herodotus says that when a cat died . nat
ural death i'll an Egyptian house the occu-
pants of the dwelling went into mourning and
shaved off their eyebrows. When q fire oc-
Cured they were more anxious to save the cats
than to e1tinguish the conhagration. Never.
theiess in some parts of the same country cats
were regarded as unclean animals, for Q crea-
ture which was considered sacred in one town
WAS often viewed with horror as impure in a
neighboring city. That was the case with the
crocodile in Egypt, which in some parts was
ruthlessly hunted and destroyed, while in
others it was made pet of, laden with gold or
naments and waited upon by priests.
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CATS.
1.-THE ancient Egyptian cat WAS the progeny
Of species that is wild in that country today,
being known as the felis maniculata. This lat
ter may be regarded as the ancestor OF nearly
all existing pussies of domesticated varieties.
Its descendants were brought from Egypt to
Greece and Rome, whence they spread over
Europe. When the Romans invaded Britain
they found plenty Of wild cats in the woods,
but the people owned no tame ones. The felis
maniculata is of yellowish color, darker on
the back and whitish on the belly. with obscure
stripes on the body and a tail ringed toward
the end. Doubtless some domestcated cats
are derived from different origins is pre-
sumably the case with the Angora or Persian
an Asiatic wild cat.
THE VALUE OF CATS.
"Cats are 90 common nowadays that people
do not realize their value, although they would
soon do SO il they had to get along without
them for awhile and suffer from the plague Of
vermin which would arrive through unre-
stricted multiplying OF the pests which the
pussies destroy and drive away. So late as the
middle ages cats were comparatively scarce in
Europe and were SO highly p,ized that any
person who killed one was obliged to pay q
fine. This penalty sometimes was required to
be paid in the shape Of q pile Of wheat big
| enough to cover the slain animal when it was
held vertically by the tip of its tail, the nose
| touching the ground.
TAILLEss VARIETIES.
Conditions other than those Of mere breed
ing seem to have much influence on the de-
velopment OF physical character in cats In one
authen ticated case tabby which had lost her
tail by having that appendage run over, gave
kittens out Of seven. The ManX cat is not the
only tailless variety. In the Crimea is found
another kind of cat which has no tail. The
domesticated Malay cat has tail that il only
about one-half the usual length and very often
it is tied by nature in sort of knot which can
not be Strengthened out 1t is said that in China
there is q cat that has dropping ears, though
am not able to vouch for the truth as to that
point The Mombas cat Of the west coast Of
Africa is covered with stiff, bristly hair. A
Paraguay cat is only one-quarter as big as the
ordinary cat of this part Of the world 1t has
long body and short shiny hair. In South
America there is race Of cats which do not
know how to mianow.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
Seats are often accused of being cruel ami
mails. because Of the habit thoy have of teasing
and torturing the prey they catch before kill
ing it. AS a cat plays with mouse is q phrase
that has passed into q proverb. ST. George
Mivart has published his theory to this effect
that, inasmuch as pussy always secures her
game by bouncing, this playing with the vic
tim after she has caught it, letting it 20 little
way and bouncing upon it again, is done for
tho sake OF practice in what 10 necessarily o
difficult exercise requiring much experiences
The instinctiye fear which cats have Of dogs is
illustrated very amusingly by stroking q dog
and thon caressing q blind and newborn kitten
with the same hand that has touched the dog
At once the kitten will spit and fluff itself up In
the most absurd way, distinguishing tho smell
OF the beast which experience for Thousands of
generations has taught it most to broad"