Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-19
ANCESTRY OF THE CAT
WILD MEMBERS OF FELINE FAM
lily IN ENGLAND.
An Old Problem Concerning the Ami
mails That Were at One Time
Great Luxuries for the Rich.

From the London Golden Penny.
A peculiar interest attaches to the Brit
ish wild cat; in fact double interest 1t
has grown rare of late years in England,
but has not yet by any means been eX-
terminated and so it still remains the only
beast of prey left 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 ii is chiefly known only
to gamekeepers and poachers. little
time ago the race was common enough in
the woods throughout Scotland, and is still
to be found in Wales and Ireland. The Irish
variety is larger than the British, but the
race seems to be spread all over northern
Europe. end it is also found in northern
Asia and Nepal.
Some years ago it was the cause of
great controversy. The question was as to
the origin of the ordinary cat. Is it form
OF the wild cat, altered by domestication
till its fttest qualities survived or is the
ordinary cat distinct creature? Now,
though the domestic cat is probably the
commonest quadruped in Europe, there GER
tainly time when 1t was rare and
valuable. Shylock, indeed, speaks of 1.-The
harmless. necessary cat" not at all as if it
were such treasure as the monkey which
his daughter exchanged for the turquoise
ring; but We must go to an earlier date
than Queen Elizabeth's time. Pennant,
the naturalist, talking of Howell, who ruled
over southern Wales for thirty years and
died in 94S. says that that excellent 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 a kit
ling before it could see was to cost
penny, but after ii got its sight and till it
caught it's first mouse twopence
Warranty With Cats
Every cat that was sold was to be war
ranted perfect in sense of hearing and see
l,.11o a
It was deficient in any of these points the
seller was to forfeit to the buyer one-third
of its value. Prince Howels law went fur
Their than this, and had a clause protecting
the owner of the cat-interesting both as
giving additional proof of it's 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 a milch-ewe. its fleece and lamb;
or as much wheat would be ascertained
in the following way: The cat tpresuma-
bly, dead was to be held suspended by the
tail, it's head touching the ground, and the
wheat was then to be poured upon 1t I'LL
the tip of the tail was covered
1t is clear from this that the domestic cat
was at that time very valuable creature
and one may even see the origin or 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 Howefs domin-
ions and all over England was regarded as
vermin, to be killed as a pest, and certainly
not to be protected as a household treasure
There is charter of Richard lis time
given by the king to the abbot of Peter
borough, authorizing the abbot to hunt the
hare. the fox and the wild cat and there is
a canon of Archbishop Corboye, dated 1927
forbidding any nun or abbess to more
costly fur than the fleece of a lamb or the
skin of a cat. 1t would seem, therefore,
that the domestic cat and the wild cat CO.
existed in England at time when the
former was a valuable animal.
Descent From the Wild.
Was It, however. a descendant of the wild
cat? The dog has been traced up to the
jackal by removes numerous indeed, but no
one of which is very remote from the pre-
vious ones in the series, while between the
wild cat and the tame cat the essential diff
ferences do not seem very great. Moreover.
the house cat shows this pecularity-that
there is scarcely any domestic animal that
so soon relapses into wild state. London
ers know the London cat, and will find 1t
hard to credit the statement But game
keepers and gardeners could tell different
story. A cat who has caught and eaten a
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 go for ground game or
pheasant
Sir William Jardine found cat that had
kittened on the ridge of an uncut corn field
On approaching her she showed every dis
position to defend her progeny. and beside
her lay two young leverets. fresh caught
and killed. 1t seemed not difficult to be-
heNe that the wild cat might at some time
have advanced toward and crossed the
boundary which separated it from the tame
animal, seeing that the domestic cat so soon
became wild. Another theory was how
ever, started by Ruppel, who, during his
flrst travels in Nubia, west of the hills near
Ambukol, discovered cat third smaller
IMAM the Wild one, and in all respects SINH
lar to the house pet 1t had, however the
bushy instead of the tapering tail but had
the snort legs of the tabby. RuppeFs the
DRY was that this animal was a descendant
OF the eat worshiped by the Egyptians. and
that 10 this eastern superstition we owe
the harmless, necessary occupant of our