The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-04-09
TOM AND T1BBf.
Some Interesting Information ABOUT
Cats.

They lay on the soft cushions OF grand
mas armchair before the fire. SOUND
asleep these two-Master Tom and MIS-
tress Tabby. What a beautiful domestic
nicture they presented. How glossy and
innocent and idyllic they looked. ron
with his graceful limbs stretched apart
in the most delightful independence, and
Tabby a bunch OF snowy white. softer
than any velvet.
BEFORE YOU begin 10 wonder too much l
will tell YOU that Master Tom ana MIS-
tress Tabby are my favorite cats. rom Is
a beautiful pure tortOise-shell, with the
glossiest hide imaginable, marked with
white. black and orange colors. d
is a fine, large Angora. with very Ions
silky hair Of a silvery white color. Tor
toise Shell Tom and silver TabDy
grandma calls them; Beauties every-
body else: while we usually designate
them as Master Tom and Mistress Tabby'
Tom and Tabby are very gentle, very
sweet and very delicate. No one seeing
them in their cosy nap upon grandma's
cushion or when they make their toilet
with the graceful sedsteness Of a Beau
Brummei or a Madame de Pompadour
would ever imagine that these pampered,
docile pets possessed any crafty instincts
or murderous proclivities. We do not
wish TO hurt Toms or Tabby's feelings,
but as they can't possibly read what
is said about them, we will glance briefly
at their antecedents and connections
The easy. graceful moving animal, so
light and noiseless In its tread and with
so seductive grace, 10 whom TIE name
cat is applied, belongs TO a bad family.
You would hardly think It, but the soft,
gentle, purriDg puss Of our iiresides Is
the representative Of the most preda-
ceous race among quadrupeds. She Is
cousin-german 70 the hon, the tiger, the
panther, the taguar and all Of those
fierce. ~fesh-eating snimals Of the jungle.
They ale all carnivorous. the only diff
ference being that while these larger
felidae feed on deer, horses, bufaloes
and sometimes on man himself. Tabby
and Tom are satisfied If they can get a
plump bird or a fat mouse.
Did you ever watch Tom or Tabby
when they are after their prey: Neither
of them then denies their descent from
the terrible wildcat Of the woods. Look
at Tom now as he sees hat bird. How
his back arches till every hair seems to
stand on end; how his tail beats the air;
how his sharp talons come forth from
their dowly sheaths, till he looks as herce
as the royal Bengal tiger that you saw
in the museum. In spite of his apparent
gentleness and coyness Tom IS a real
beast Of prey. lie kills, and loves 70 XIII
AS the lion does: he Is, after all, only a
domesticated tiger.
Perhaps Tom and Tabby would he
better pleased TO learn the honorad place
they hold in history. They are the only
members of the cat family that have been
generally used in the economy Of home.
The leopard and the cheetah. distant
cousins. nave been trained oftentlmes 10
assist in hunting, and the whole genus
annears 10 be susceptible 10 -humanizing
influences. but Tom and Tabby are the
only felidae that have succumbed wholly
ia the restraints Of domestic life. Whether
Adam and Eve made pets OF them IN
Eden we know not: but. like the domestic
dog they have been the companions OF
man from the earliest period or history.
Singular enough, the Bible does not speak
Of them. but we may be sure there was
q pair Of them in the ark, and that they
observed n sacred truce with the mice In
that earliest OF recorded voyages.
Cats were favorites in old Egypt where
they must have been OF immense service
I'm protecting the huge %granaries from
the inroads OF the small but dangerous
m~arauders. Accordingly pussy was re-
vered I'm common with the ibis and the
ichneumon for her utility as a mouse
killer. She was often embalmed' ana
the preserved remains or many an an
Gent tabby have been found In the cata-
combs. on the monuments she IS PIC
tured beside kingly warriors ana prlestly
h%ierophants as an honored guest. she
sits ~gravely between the feet Of King
Rameses and purrs complacenuy III the
arms of Queen Amenhet.
l., tho rrioefIv city of BuhdSteS the cat
was held sacred. and to Kill one was re-
garded as a capital crime. That was
Tom and Tabby's golden age. Temples
and hospitals were erected Tor them,
and they had their priests ard their
physicians. They were roasted
petted and pampered during life and gor-
geously mummihed and entombed after
death. When a cat died the whole
~neiehborhood went INTO mourning. and
the afflicted family Shove their grief
by shaving their eyebrows.
Tom and Tabby have never had so
good a time since those golde days
under the Egyptian Pharaohs. The old
Greeks tolerated them. but ala not honor
and the old Romans ill-used them.
From deities they became drudges, and
the once sacred life was considered Valu-
able only in preserving the p~antries from
mice. Darker grew the days for pussy,
nm during the Middle Ages it became
fashionable to prosecute her. Neither
Tom nor Tabby that we know or. ever
did ANYTHING to warrant the prosecutions
made against them. but some Of the crazy
old monks began TO picture the Evil One
I'm the shape OF a cat.
~Straightway the idea grew 10 be OPT
lar. n for many a long century our
feline was connected with ideas
superstition and sorcery. She was the
attendant upon witches. who were
believed sometimes to even take her
when on their mysterious expedi.
tions. Black cats. In particular. were
regarded with aversion. and the whole
was tdmented and prosecuted by