The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1894-09-28
COED CATS.
Felines That Live Constantly In
Freezing Temperature.
Through Their Perpetual Exposure TO the
Frsstd Atmosphere the Animals
have Acquired Heavy Coats
of Fur.

Have Acquired HEAVY C04ta
of Fur.
------
In the cold-storage warehouses Of
Pittsburgh, says the Pittsburgh Dis.
patch, when they were established,
there were no rats or mice. The tenn.
perature in the cold rooms was too low
to admit the existence Of these moo
turnal animals. The keepers Of these
places soon found, however, that the
rat was an animal of remarkable adap-
liability. The ordinary rat of the
United Statescame originally from Nor
way In that country, naturalists say,
the animal was much better prepared
to Withstand the climate than II is in
this country were 1t suddenly trans
ported to cold climate. II any ordi-
nary cellar rat were put in acage, con-
veyed by ship to Spitzbergen, and re-
leased on that icy island, 1t would
freeze to death in few hours. Yet
there are rats in Spitzbergen. These
rats are fat rascais, with long and very
thick hair, and have adapted them
selves to the temperature of the region.
1t is just such rats as those of the
northern region that have adapted
themselves to the cold-storage ware
houses. After some Of these houses
had been in operation for few months
the attendants found that rats were at
work in the rooms where the 'tempera-
ture was constantly kept below the
freezing point. In the warehouse of
the Pittsburgh Storage company, be-
fore its burning last fall, two rata
were killed by the employees, They
were found to be clothed in wonder
fully long and thick fur, even
their tapering, snakelike tails being
covered by q thick growth of hair.
Rats of this variety, whose coats have
adapted themselves to the conditions
under which they live, have domesti-
Gated themselves in all the storage
warehouses in Pittsburgh.
The prevalence Of rats in these places
led to the introduction Of cats. Now
it is we'll known that pussy is lover
of warmth and comfort. She delights
to lie close to the fire when the snow
is drifting around the house, and to
wash her face with her warm, sofi
paws. Cats, however, have great
adaptability to conditions. The wild
cat of Africa, now extinct and living
only in the form Of its domestic congo
ner, was nursed by the Egyptians as q
timepiece, and SO regulated her eye,
that by glance at them the inhabi
tant of Cairo was able to tell the time
OF day without the advent Of Seth War
ner.
When cats were introduced int
storage houses and turned loose in ths
cold rooms they pined and died becausl
Of the excessive cold. 1t appears, il
the course of investigation into thi
subject, that one cat was finally intro
duced into the rooms Of the Pennsyl
vania Storage company which was abl'
to Withstand the low temperature. Sh'
was cat of unusually thick fur an'
she thrived and grew fat in quarter
where the temperature was beloy
thirty degrees. By careful nursing
brood Of seven kittens was develope'
in this warehouse into sturdy, thick
furred cats that love an Icelandi
cline. They have been distribute
among the other cold-storage houses Q
Pittsburgh, and have created peculia
breed Of cats, adapted to the condition
under which they must exist to fin
their prey. II
These cats are short-tailed, chubb
pussies, with hair as thick and full {
under-fur as the wild cats Of the Can;
dian woods. One Of the remarkabl
things about them is the developmer
Of their s'feelers" These long, sti
hairs that protrude from cats nos
and eyebrows are, in the ordinary d,
nestle feline, about three inches lonl
In the cats cultivated in the cold war,
houses the ''feelers" grow to lengt
" VI uVG duu BLK iucuchs AHlS ID pEOUnDi
because the light is dim in these placs
and all movements must be the resu
of the feeling sense. In these two n
spects, the growth OF thick hair an
the development Of 'sfeelers," the d
mestic cat shows the operation Of Da
wins well-known law OF the survivi
of the fittest in the development ,
their conditions adapted to the env
ronment.
The storage people say that If one I
these furry cats is taken into the ope
air, particularly during this hot spel
it will die in few hours. It ,cann'
endure high temperature, and an \
PRODUCTION to stove would send 1t I'M
aft.
Finding New Rocks In the ssa.
It appears from the annual report
the photographer Of the British ma,
that txuo hundrad yocka and nthar da-