The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-06
ANCESTRY OF THE CAT.
How Tails Count In Tracing the AMI
mails GencaloGy.
From the Literary Digest.


From the Literary Digest.
The genealogy of the domestic cat is
traced by r. Lydekker in an article in
Knowledge aug. p so far as the present
state of zoology allows. Says Mr.. Lydek-
ker:
"Altho it is a common notion that our
ordinary "tabby' is the direct descendant
of the European wildcat CFelis catus)
now SO nearly exterminated in Britain, the
best modern authorities are of opinion
that the real ancestor is a wild species
inhabiting Northeastern Africa, and com
monty known as the Kafir cat (Felis
Caffra); reputed variety of the same
species being stated to inhabit parts of
Southern Europe. The facility with which
several of the smaller species of wild
cats will breed together and likewise the
circumstance that the domestiCated cats
of Asia apparently have an origin distinct
from that of the European breeds, rem
ders the subject one of more difficulty
than might at first seem 10 be the case.
Moreover, the elaborate Investigations
lately undertaken by DIR. E. Hamilton in
to natural history of the European wild
cat tend to show that at least considera-
BILE proportion of the existing representa-
tives of that species have been largely
crossed with the domestic race. And it
is consequently somewhat difficult to de-
termine what are the distinctive features
of the puPe-bred wildcat.
Perhaps the most important point in
which domestic cats differ from the pure
bred wildcat, and thereby resemble the
Kafir cat, is in the coloration of the hind
foot. DR.. A. Nehring of Berlin who
brought the fact to notice, states that
in the Egyptian animal the pads on the
under surface Of the toes are black, this
color extending upward on the foot as
far as the heelbone, the under surface of
this part of the limb being in some cases
wholly black, but in others marked with
black stripes on lighter ground. on the
other hand, the pure-bred wildcat has
only a small black spot on the pads, while
the color of the fur on the under surface
of the foot as far up as the heel-bOne is
some shade of yellow or yellowish-gray.
Since all European domesticated cats
except of course, those watch are wholly
black OF white-agree with the former
type of coloraton, there seems full iustif-
cation for regarding them as the descend
ants of the African -Kafr cat. Moreover,
the tail Of the latter is distinctly longer
and less bushy than that of the wildcat.
and thus more like that of the domestic
breeds. Additional evidence in favor of
the southern origin of our domestic breeds
has lately been furnished by DR.. G. Mar
torelli Of Milan, who has described two
European wildcats, the one from Sardinia
and the other from the Tuscan Maremma.
These are stated to be very different from
the ordinary wildcat and to approximate
to the katir cat. of which they are re-
garded as forming a race or variety, I'M
der the name of the Mediterranean cat
IF. Mediterranean. As these cats present
considerable resemblances to domestic
nln h. L.
accepting the view that SO far as Europe
is concerned, the latter were originally
derived from the Kafr cat.
After mentioning the further opinion of
Martoreli that the European wildcat is
itself descended from the Kafr cat.
which, IN his view is also the ancestor of
the Indian jungle cat and of various spe-
cies of lynx Mr. Lydel1ker goes on to
say:
1T may be mentioned that the animal
termed ailuros by the ancient Greeks.
and kept by them in a domestic state. was
not really a cat, although the word is so
rendered in our translations of the clas
sizes On the contrary, it appears from the
researches of the late Prof Rolleston of
Oxford to have been a species of marten
(mustela). That cats were tanned by the
ancient Egyptians is proved by the num-
Der of their mummfied remains entombeJ
in various parts Cf the country, notably
at BuDdSIS. lHdeeQ, so plentiful are
mummifed cats that few years ago they
formed a brisk article of trade, being en-
ployed for manure. From a careful ex-
animation of their remains, it has been
inferred by Prof. Virchow that the animal
to which they belonged was indstin-
guishable from the wild Kahr cat and
was not only truly domesticated. In one
of the ancient frescoes of the country.
there is, however, depicted a cat present
ing a striking likeness TO the ordinary
'tabby, and it is therefore quite possible
that a distinct domestcated race may also
have existed in ancient Egypt. There is,
indeed, a possibility that if the so-caled
Mediterranean cat be really a wild variety
of the Kafir cat, a domesticated race may
have originated in Southeastern Europe,
rather than in Northeastern Africa. In
suggesting that the original domestica-
ton took place in the latter area. Dr.
Hamilton cites the occurrence Of represen-
tatives of undoubted Egyptian cats in
Etrurian tohnbs dating from a period be-
tween $50 and 200 B. c.
BE this as IL may--and the problem is
one hardly capable of decisive solution
DR.. Nehring is of opinion that wildcats
were originally brought under subjugation
by stationary agricultural tribes, to whom
1t must have been of the utmost import
ance that their boards Of grain should be