The Portland daily press., 1898-01-12

powerful, and it has been known to ki
young calves and even to carry off child-l
rem from the huts OF the natives.
" A survivor Of prehistoric times is the
cheetah, the only cat whose claws are not
retraotiIe, and which in its disposition
and it's attachment to man resembles the
dog. Its prey is the antelope, and 1t IS
used by its oWner to hunt that animal
To be serviceable, however, for hunting
it must be captured young and taught
how to bring down or throw the antelope.
On hunting expeditions it is taken into
the field blind folded in cart, which is
driven as close as possible to the game;
Then the cheetah's eyes are uncovered
and it gallops quietly along after the
antelope until the quarry becomes fr1gnt-
ened Then the oheetah darts forward
with a velocity that is perfectly 1ncon-
ceiyable and seiZes the antelope py the
throat and drags it down to the ground.
and allows the keeper to XIII Une game:
Sumatra produces the beaut11ui ciouQeu
tiger cat, tree-lovipg animal, harmless
to man and remarkable for its greatly
elongated canine teeth. It becomes tame
and very playful in captivity, in this re-
spect being very unlike the Asiatic or
African chaus, which is not larger than
the domestic cat, but is very powerful and
never tamable. Another African cat is
the caracal, a species Of lynx, with very
long tufts to its ears. 1t is also found.in
Southern Asia, Persia, and Central India.
The Persians and Arabs use it to hunt
antelope and birds like the peafowl and
crane. taking it hunting in a cart after
the fashion of the oheetah. Africa gives
us still another species, called the caffer
cat, ansancestor of the domestic puss, and
greatly resembling in It's markings the
domestic tiger cat
Mr. Elliot reviewed at length the
characteristics Of the tiger and lion,
praised them as majestic types of the cat
species, but declared that the lion, as in
the case of all wild animals, is gradually
disappearing from the earth.
''lhe day is not far Distant he said,
"when the last survivor of the king of
and pass from the scene. In Africa,
where only lately it roamed over the
whole continent, its domains are yearly
becoming more restricted and it is driven
moreTand more into the interior. A small
number only now remain in India and
Persia.
Mr.. Elliot next enumerated the entire
family of domestic cats, from the tailless
cat of the Isle of Man, to those with
trunoated tails from the Malay archipela-
go and the Chinese cat with dropping
ears. In one part of South America he
said dwell specie of cats which have lost
their natural sleep-destroying howl. He
hoped these would multiply. The colors
of the domestic cat vary from pure black
and white, mixture Of these, striped
black on a gray ground, tortoiseshell, all
eray. mouse, sandy and brown. Black
cats, he said, generally have yellow eyes,
and white ones sometimes have blue eyes,
and in the latter case the cat is usually
deaf. The domestic cat Is a mixture of
strains derived from the coffee cat. the
chsus, and the European wildcat Its
actions are those of the tiger in minia-
ture.
Existing records show that the cat was
tanned and domesticated for more than
800 years before the Christian era, and
was worshipped in Egypt as deity, the
cat-headed goddess of Bubastas being one
of the idols of the Nile country. When q
cat died in family in ancient Egypt
every inmate shaved off his or her eye
brows, and if dwelling caught fire the
cat was always the first to be rescued,
taking precedence over human beings in
the estimate of life value. Once a
Roman soldier, who had accidentally
killed cat, was put to death in Egypt to
appease popular wrath. even though the
King vainiy announced that the killing
was accidental, and tried to save the
soldier. The cat was domesticated in
Western Europe 900 years before the
Crusades. The Egyptians emhalmed cats
and buried them in tombs. Mr. Elliot
concluded by announcing that, sharing
the sure fate of all wild animals, cats,
excepting the domestic species. we're sdes-
tined to pass entirely out of existence.