The Red Cloud chief., 1896-05-29

liCvr their eyes,
so st"auge-loOking
and incomplete does it appear, for, to
begin with. the genuine Manx cat has
no tail. Then, 1t is much bigger AMI
stronger than the common domestic
pussy and has "A rOuudcr end pro
~portionatcly larger head. with fuller
and ticrccr eyes. Its hair, also. IL
Coarser and thicker, AMI not only are
its hind legs much larger than the
others but the hind quarters are formed
almost exactly like those of a hare. In
deed, at first glance. the creature seems
to be a typical hybrid. with the out
lines of the hare prcdominatlng, but
closer inspection Of the massive head,
strong teeth, long. sensitive whiskcrs
and terrible claws tells that 1, is very
much a cat. In its original home the
ManX cat displays pcCuliari'ics of char
acter which also distinguish 1t from its
common brethren. II is not only shy
but Is suspicious and t~reaChcious. while
making its habitation among men 1t
yet keeps alOof from them. rejecting
all friendly or familiar advances and
being apt to bite the hand that offers
a caress Although doncsticated. it
still remains a savage al heart and Is
at all times addicted to wildncss and
a rowing life. Existing for the most
part out Of doors. 1t acquires predatory
habits and Is in the main sel%f-support-
ing. II Is very swift in its move
ments and. like its congrner and next
Of kin. the wildcat. seems utterly desti-
tute OF fear. As the natural conse-
quence of its habits 1t Is the greatest OF
mousers. but 1t wages war as relent-
lessly upon rats. rabbits. hares. birds
and the smaller game as on the feeble
mouse a writer ON cats states apropos
of the subject. "In Pegu, Siam and
Burmah there Is a race of cats-the
Malay cat-with tail only of half the
ordinary length and often contorted in
a sort of knot, so that II cannot be
Strengthened. The true short-tailed, or
tailless. cat-thc Ma. has also the
hind legs relatively long. Mr.. J. J.
Weir tells me he has seen ono which
had the fselegs so short as to be use
less In walking. and the animal sat up
like a kangaroo. Tailless cats are not.
however. the only cat 10 be found In
the Isle of Man: some cats there have
tails ten inches long, a fact probably
due to the introduction of lOng-tailed
cats from England. Scotland or Ireland.
In cross breeding the progeny seems
generally to resemble the father as tn
the length of the tail. o ~tailless breed
OF cats also exist in the Crimea."
Scientists have been very much puz-
zled in their endeavors to account for
the absence OF tail in the Manx cat.
The consensus Of opinion sens to be
that the popularity originated in some
disease of the caudal vertebrae, result
ing from the excessive humidity of the
climate and the dampacss OF the soil
The effect of the disease IS supposed &c
have been that the tail rotted off, and
that in the course of time its absence
became hereditary. As 10 ;he hind leg.
of the ManX cat. II is problblc that they
became longer in obedience to the ma
tural requirements of the creature
life - its environment among tn,
hills. in Businesses of which 1t ancient
" made its honR and 10 which 1t iet
on the approach Of danger. Nature /
always kind to her children in adapt
, ing them to the conditions which com
pass them. 1t is thus that the har
!, has acquired such a length of hind le
, which enables her to run up hill whei
) chased By the hounds. and so TO dis
lance her pursuers. The history O
the evolution Of the Many cat, could
: be written, would form an interestin
0 chapter in the origin Of species. !
; might sound funny 10 say that tn
2 progenitors of the ManX eat lost thei
l tails through sitting down in the we
yet such really would seem to hay
been the case. or the actual origin
, the ManX cat nothing Is known or ca
a be known. 1t has existed on the islam
q as far back as history or traditio
, reaches, and It's presence there probabl
antedated the first settlement OF Ma
4 by the Celts. II Ia reasonable to SUI
= pose that its ancestor. the wildca
5 found its way to that portion OF III
: earth long before the human RAJ
= penetrated into Western Europe, and
a period when Mar Itself was not a
island, but formed part OF the mar
d land OF Europe with the rest OF n
g British IsSes, That there Is amp
z ground for this supposition is seen
u the fact that foxes, wolves, deer. I'll
great elk and other wild animals Ion
ago extinct In the island were on
:; plentiful there, and that these we
=, identical with the primitive fauna. DO,
y of Great Britain and Ireland.