The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-01-10
VEGETARIAN ANIMALS.
Cat and Dog Champions Of the No
Meat Diet.

Visitors to the vegetarian exhibition
at the Memorial Hall found nothing TO
try their faith so severely as the veg
etarian cat. 1t was not present in per-
son. for the sufficient reason that it has
been dead two years; but Its portrait
in oils shows 1t to have been a more
than usually come1y specimen Oh It's
kind. Miss Whitfield, its owner DUR
ing the fourteen years of it's earthly
career, asserts that the likeness does
no nnore than justice. Queen MAD was
a. tabby. long furred and finely mark
ed. Her infancy was spent under the
hest auspices. her mother being a Per-
sian and her birthplace clergyman
house in Shropshire. She came into
the care of Miss Whitfield at the age or
three weeks, and since then till her Ia
mented death remained under thae
lady's roof, not even proving lnconStah1
as some fesh-eating breeds do, when
the household removed from Shropshire
to Thornton Heath.
Queen Nab was a vegetarian, not by
education. but by instinct. From the
time when she deserted natures sus-
tenance she developed an extraordinary
3NANAN~'
favorites We're peas, beans and Brussels
Sprouts, but nothing came amlss. she
vrould go out into the garden and eat
strawberries off their beds. Beetroot
and dates she reveled in, though those
are not uncommon feline tastes. In
the case of potatoes she made a d1st1nc-
ton She would devour them with
avidlty, so long as they were not boiled.
With that exception, she had no partic-
ular views about cooking. For Dev-
eragss she preferred milk and cocoa.
Her singular diet did not affect her
health, for she lived to her mature age
in the best of condition and temper.
On coming to the ticklish point OF
Queen Mabs vegetarian principles, it is
necessary to make a qualification. Veg
etarians, as we know, consist of more
than one sect. Queen Nab may be
called a vegetarian in the second de-
gree. She was not averse to washing
down caulifiower with cream, and she
would eat meat at a pinch, but her pre-
elections were manifest from the first.
When she could get vegetables she
would not eat meat, and so the ami
NAL element was gradually dropped out
of her bill of fare. Most of her Pc
culidr tastes Were acquired during her
country life, when a large garden min
istered to her every desire; and after
coming to town her mistress made a
point of seeing that the daily cabbage
was not diminished.
Did Queen Nab catch mice? The
truth will out now and again, but
rarely, she lapsed to that extent. But
not IN malice "She would play with
them" said Miss Whitfield. One last
word, and it is a saddening one. Queen
Mab's daughter and only descendant
has succeeded to her place in the house
hold. She is a voracious meat eater.
AS type of a vegetarian dog may
be mentioned Lord Butte Bruno, mag
niffcen: specimen of a smooth st Ber-
nard. standing thirtyfour inches high
at the shoulder. with the famous Pin
lmmon blood on both sides. He Is by
Colonel Butte out of Lady Lii, and was
born on March %, 1892 His owner,
Herbert S. Rant, first showed him at
Cruft's in 1895, where he was highly
commended Since then Lord Butte
Bruno has lived the life Of ease and
luxury of a household pet, but this
bhssful state of existence viii suffer
a temporary eclipse during these clos
ing weeks of the year, as Mr.. Rant
has decided TO enter him for the show
of the West Kensington Canine Society,