The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-03-18
ANCESTRY OF THE CAT.

terest. 1t has grown rare OF late
years in England, but has not yet by
any means been exterminated and so
it still remains the only beast of prey
left on English soil that is dangerous
to man. No doubt its ultimate fate
will be that Of the wolf and the wild
boar, and even now it is chiefly known
only to game keepers and poachers.
A little time ago the race was CON-
mon enough in the woods throughout
Scotland, and is still to be found in
Wales and Ireland. The Irish varie.
ty is larger than the British, but the
race seems to be spread all over north
ern Europe, and it is also found in
northern Asia and Nepal.
Some years ago in was the cause of
a great controversy. The question
was as. to the origin of the ordinary
cat. Is it form of the wild cat, al
tered by domestication till its fittest
qualities survived, or is the ordinary
cat distinct creature? Now, though
the domestic cat is probably the CON-
m onest quadruped in Europe, there
certainly was time when it was rare
and valuable. Shylock, indeed, speaks
of "the harmless, necessary cat," not
at all as if it were such treasure as
the monkey which his daughter ex-
changed for the turquoise ring: hut
we must 90 to an earlier da'r than
Queen Elizabeth time. Pennant, the
natul alist, talking of Howell, who ruled
over Southern Wales for thirty years
and died in 94S. says that that excel
lent prince did not think it beneath
him to ascertain the value of animals
and fix the price at which they should
be bought and sold in his dominions.
So he decreed that killing before it
could see was to cost penny, but az
ter it got its sight and till it caught
its first mouse twopence.
Every cat that was sold was to be
warranted perfect in sense OF hearing
and seeing, its claws whole and good
mouser II it was deficient in any of
these points the seller was to forfeit
to the buyer one.third of its value.
Prince Howel's law went further than
this, and had clause protecting the
owner of the cat-interestlng both as
giving additional proof of its value
and as showing the simple ingenuity
of those times. If any one stole or
killed the cat that guarded the princes
granary he was to forfeit milch-ewe,
its fleece and lamb, or as much wheat
as would be ascertained in the follow
ing way: The cat presumably dead)
was to be held suspended by the
tail, its head touching the ground. and
the wheat was then to be poured upon
it till the tip of the tail was covered.
1t is clear from this that the domes-
tic Cat was at that time very valuable
creature, snd one may even see the Or
igin Of the legend of Dick Wilmington
travelling about with his singular, pet.
1t is clear, too, that this was not the
| Wild cat. That animal was plentiful
enough in Prince Howcl's dominions,
and all over England was regarded as
vermin, to be killed as pest, and GER
tainly not to be protected as a house
hold treasure. There is a charter of
Richard IFS time, given by the king
to the abbot of Peterborough, author
izing the abbot to hunt the hare, tue
fox and the wild cat, and there is a
canon OF Archbishop Corboye, dated
1927, forbidding any nun or abbess to
use more costly fur than the fleece of
lamb or the skin of cat. 1t would
seem, therefore, that the domestic cat
and the wild cat coexisted in England
at a time when :he former was valu-
able animal.
Was it however, descendant of the
wild ca,? The dog has been traced
up to the jackal by removes numerous
indeed, but no one Of which is very re-
mote from the previous ones in the
series, while between the wild cat and
the tame cat the essential differences
do not seem very great Moreover,
the. house cat shows this popularity
that there is scarcely any domestic
animal that so soon relapses into a
wild state Londoners know the Lon
don cat, and will find it hard to credit
the statement. But game keepers and
gardeners could tell a different story.
A cat who has caught and eaten
young rabbit soon becomes a confirmed
poacher. The nocturnal instincts OF
the creature revive. 1t will spend
the night prowling and hunting. 1t
will disdain mouse and rat and 60 for
ground game or pheasant.