Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-05-02
HISTORY OF THE CAT
Household Pet is of Most Ancient
Domestication.

SO long as the chlldS 1aE'Tlle Fct
! Is \ kitten, and maiden ladies prefer
! the cat 80 the dog as a companion, the
origin and family history Of Fclis do
mestica will be of interest. In The
| Contemporary Review for January
Aylmer Cecil Strong writes about
''Tfe Coming of the Cat" The COM
ing of the dog would he n more diff
cult subject, for it is probable that as
! far back as the time when nan could
bring up and discipline a VOLTS cub
there were dogs. The Egyptians
made much of cats, protected and
wcrshiped them. But Herodotus says
that Egyptian families went into
mourning when a dog died. However,
Mr.. Strong says nothing about that.
| His subject is tie cat. He is inclined
! to think that If the Egyptians had do
mesticated the mongoose, that animal
would now be sitting on the hearth
or summing itself on the garden wall.
He insists that the cat in ancient Eg-
ypt was really sacred, not nominally
So Diodorus is cited as an authority
for the statement that cats dying in
military campaign were brought
home for burial, although the soldiers
might be on short rations, enduring
frightful privations.
After the Romans conquered Egypt
they, with their usual sagacity, toler-
ated cat love or worship. Diodorus
tells the story of mob tearing Ro-
man soldier ito pieces because he
had accidentally slain a cat. An Of
flee of Keeper of Cats was hereditary"
In Cairo homeless cats were fed by
order of the Kadi. According to Lane,
translator of the Arabian Nights, the
Sultan Ex-Zahir Beybars founded a
home for cats in q warden near his
mosque. 1t must be admitted that in
| Constantinople the consideration for
/ cats was not so tender.
There can be no doubt that the
Egyptians were a persistent and pa
tient people, for we should probably
have no domestic cat today If they
had not adopted Felis caffra, the wild
cat of the desert, and trained the pro-
Eeny for generations. This appears
to be settled. although there are
scientists who point out that the color
of the fur on the under surface of the
wild cats foot is yellow to the heel
bone while that of the domestic cat Is
generally black. There are said to be
other differences Of coloration, but
who can believe that the domestic cat
was always a tame, orderly and dis
Greet animal, clean in it's habits, wise
of aspect, and given to philosophical
meditation? 1t is significant that the
domestic cat mates with the wild cat
in all countries, SO that pedigree be-
comes battling problem.
In the township of Ludlow, VT, a
woman used to exhibit two wildcat
cubs, which she had brought up on
the bottle. Her boy had discovered
them in a hollow log in a mountain
pasture before their eyes were open.
They slept in her lap and submitted
to fondling until they were as big as
an Airdale dog, but eventually they
died of civilization. Evidently the do
mesticated cat was evolved only after
great many generations of intclli-
gent and unremitting care. Mr.. Strong
finds that the domestic cat did not
became a familiar figure" in Europe
until the first century of the Christian
era It was imported from Egypt
When the Romans finally evacuated
Britain about A. D. 436 the family
cat was performing it's toilet on the
door step. But it was 500 years later
before the cat got into the statute
book. In 936 Hywal Dda, prince oI
South Wales, had law enacted for
. the protection Of cats. 1t seems thai
the Romans did not hold the animal
| in high esteem, for while fragments
, Of horses. dogs and goats" have beer
found in the ruins of Pompcii ant
Hcrculancum, remains of the cat were
absent.
l III. ~ NtuIlIlS researches dlt Ho
), mentioned by the writer. The Berlir
investigator came to the conclusion
that the domestic cat is of dual de,
:. scent one stock coming from South
D eastern Asia and the other from
D Northeastern Africa. The Persian o
AngOra cat is nothing like the Egyp
$ tian variety, and then there is tn,
: tawny cat of Siam, which Mr.. Stront
: mentions. In course of time ther,
t may be a distinct type of domestic
T. cat in America crossed with the Can
+, ada lynx. In Paraguay they have ;
very small cat, three pounds in weigh
at maturity which never caterwauls
n 1t is supposed To he descended from
; the jaguarondi a cat that does no