The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-26
Golden Aae for rabbies.

cats. The slayer of a cat was punished severely, but when the feiines died from natural causes they were carefully enl- balmed and laid away to become mum mics Herodotus writes of great num- bers of pilgrims. on one occasion TO- ooo going annually to the city of Bn- bastis to attend the festivals of the cats
 Even today in Cairo there remains vestige. of this ancient veneration, for money is appropriated to feed all the hungry cats of the city, while the pill grins to Mecca do not fail to provide for the cats they encounter on their journey.
 The Greeks and Romans were also fond of cate When the rate migrated from Asia and invaded the granaries of Europe relief from the plague was found in the cats which were imported. Then too, the Norsemen had their cats, and so well did they think of them that they incorporated them Into their myth ology Two cats draw the chariot of the Goddess Fridja.
 Then came a change ard in the Mid de Ages the cat was looked upon as a thing of evil. The day of witchcraft pre- vailIng, every sorcerer or sorceress made it a point to be accompanied fy cat. preferably a black one. which resulted in many of the little animals being killed because they were 10 feared.
 In the Flemish town Of Spres there was a "Wednesday of Cats. in the sec ond week of Lent. and which was orisi- mated in 962 by Baldwin III. Count of Flanders On this day each year it was customary to fling cats from the top of a lofty tower, and many of the animals were killed It Is said that this annnal custom continued until 1868.
 Their Origin.
 The question as to the origin of the domesticated cat has frequently been raised. There Is but little doubt but that the first race of cats were wild. but they were undoubtedly well domesticated be- fore the Middle Ages, and certainly be- fore they were imported into Europe. At what period, however, none can tell, so 1t is generally assumed that the Egyp- tians, whose works have been lost in the ages, are responsible for giving the cat to the present time.
 There are yet extant many races of wild cats from the Nubian of northern Africa to the bobcat of western America, put the link between these animals and the domesticated variety Is difficulty to To. cate if 1t does at all exist.
 Nor is the cat considered as a pet alone. It has q commercial value. for the skins have been found to make excellent gloves for women while the hair or fur also has value. While dealing in catskins is not extensive in this co ,ntry, 1t is trade that has grown to considerable propor- tions in Southern Europe, where cats are bred for the purpose.
 Cats are, primarily, divided into two classes, the long-haired and the short haired. To the latter class belong most of the cats that one sees and they are known as just common cats. In the lon9-haired class are the Persians and Angoras, the aristocrats of the family, which are highly prized because of their magnificence, their plumed tails being one of their greatest marks of beauty. The raising of this breed of cats is extensively practiced in this country and there are dozens of catteries where the animals are as carefully attended as though they were children. They have individual quarters. are kroomed each morning fed with the choieese niorseis ana their every, action is watched.