The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-10-05

sent the Familiar spirit" They were supposed to suck the breath of children, and parents to this day carefully keep cats away from cradles. A black cat approaching the bedside of a sick per son was an unfailing sign of approach- ing death. Lady Wilde has an Irish story of the visit of great cat which invaded the house of a fisherman in Connemara and consumed the best fish The house suddenly became quite dark and the door was burst open as If by the blast of tempest. when in walked a huge black cat, who went straight up to the fire. then turned round and growled Why. surely this Is the devil. said young girl. who was by. sorting fish. I'll teach you how to call me names said the cat. and jumping at her, he scratched her arm till the blood | came. There now said he, 'you'll be more civil another time when q gentle man comes to see you" A man with q club could not drive him away. and he consumed the fish, but after being driven out of the house by the black cats fury. the master returned with q bottle of holy water and sprinkled him. 4No bpolSl Wdo tlio uoiiS thah u uehot black smoke filled the place, through which nothing was seen but the red eyes of the cat. burning like coals of fire. Then the smoke gradually cleared away, and she saw the body of the creature burning slowly till 1t became shrivelled and black like cinder, and finally disappeared" These demon cats are frequently met with in the folklore of Europe. I presume they be- long to the old-world felidae.
 Cats are supposed to be very tena- cious of life, and wonderful stories are extant of their reappearance when ly disposed of. They are said to have nine lives, but "care" is stated to be effective-"Care will kill a cat" says the proverb.
 There is peculiar breed which is said to be frequent in kitchens, but its natural history is as yet uncertain. One striking peculiarity is that it breaks everything and eats everything. for when the mistress of the household finds things missing she is solemnly in- formed that "the cat did it."
  cats as legitimate article of food any more than they do in England. But, according to Mir. Samivel Weller, they are a delicacy largely depended on in the mutton-pie shops of London, and, according to the information he impart- ed to MT. Pickwick, not only can nut temples be made out of cats, but veal pies also-according to the season. Perhaps, however, this abstinence from cat-flesh is only prejudice. MT. Darwin Is the authority for the following state ment: Tt turned out to be puma (what we were eating); the meat is very white and remarkably like veal in taste. Dr. Shaw was laughed at for stating that the flesh of the lion is in great esteem, having no small affinity with veal both in color taste and flavor Such cer- tainly is the taste with the puma. The Guachos differ in their opinion whether the jaguar is good eating, but are unan- imous in saying that the cat is excel lent"
 A good deal of pleasure may be got out of observations on the habits of cats Did you ever watch them stalk HE IAelI prey NOlASC CllC SL oSC, oS III metry and silence of their motions. Take particular notice how, when they
 begin to stalk, their tail lies out 'traight behind, but that as the animal approaches it begins to curl, and as the spring is made it performs rapid move ments.
 The tastes of cats differ. One is a good mouser, another hunts rats, third will only catch game birds, and another will only pay attention to hares and rabbits. If once a cat takes to game there is no hope for it. It be- comes an outcast like the English poacher so graphically described by Charles Kingsley.
 Much has been written about the in- teIligence of cats. I firmly believe in it because in my household was one of which our cook appreciatively said, "If it could speak it would be Christian, and it has got more sense than many Christians" Jesse tells how ''the kitch- en door of a gentleman's house opens by common latch, with an iron han dle for the hand, exactly four feet from the ground. A cat has been in the con stant habit of springing from the ground to this handle, by which she hangs by one fore foot, while with the other she raises the latch, her body and hind legs dangling in the air. The latch being lifted, the cat descends and pushes open the door. This feat she has performed so often as to be- come troublesome to the servants" "A nearly similar instance" says the same careful naturalist, occurred in the case of favorite cat which belonged to Mr. Sergeantson. When she was shut up in the counting-house, and wanted to be let out, she was in the habit of pull ing at the bell rope, which always brought some one to her relief" - There has been for long time a diff ference of opinion as to the principle l which guides the cat in its affections, some holding that places and not per- l sons are the objects loved and others | holding. the contrary. I confess that the evidence seems pretty evenly divi- ded, but myself lean to the belief that the cat, made a pet of, has very strong affection for persons. All my own experience points that way. The cat belonging to my own household was moved three different times, and was simply carried in the arms, and yet he never deserted us. Jesse tells story l A A A