Evening star., 1926-03-28
This and That
By Charles Z. T.ccstcelI.

The house cat appeals to the senses
Of touch, sight and hearing. also TO
that higher sense known as the i'll
tellect.
The cat has an esthetic appea-
scarcely second TO that OF any other
animal. II also makes genuine ap'
peal to mans sense Of humor.
Much to it's credit. Fells domestic
has no odor. therefore does not touch
our olfactory senses. This. the clean
est of all animals, is not smelly.
like the dog.
The cats fur is dry and clean. and
therefore feels pleasing beneath the
hand. Much is made OF our small
friends desire to be petted, but 1t Is
a question whether he enJoyF II as
much as the one who is doing the
petting.
The average cat gets a genuine
satisfaction out of rubbing his jaws or
the edge of some object, and will purI'
with every evidence of pleasure when
you rub him beneath the chin.
II must not be forgotten. however,
that the human being who applies this
species of massage derives certain
satisfaction from the process, through
the delicate sense Of touch OF the
fingers.
The appeal to our sense of sight
is one of the most forceful that the
ordinary house cat makes.
We have become, through the cen
turies, so used to these small animals
in our homes that ordinarily we tend
to forget what beautiful creatures
they are.
Many persons will visit the National
Geological Park and go into ecstasles
of admiration over some species OF
wild, untamed cat from South Amer
tea, when all the time they possess q
much more beautiful creature at
home in the shape Of old Tom.
In beauty of coat, thousands OF do
mestic cats far excel many OF the
wild fellows. The house cat. through
his generations of being mans friend,
has taken on a. sleek look that most
wild cats lack.
In color, the cat runs the ganaut
tawny orange fellows. like little lions,
to the glossy black alley cats and
the gray-and-black tiger cats.
In addition to the appeal of their
coat, their bright and harmonious
eyes and their glistening white
whiskers, the physical composition OF
the cat is one to strike admiration
from the honest beholder.
The cats architecture, II one may
call it that, is simple In outline, yet
filed with various beauties; and GER
tainly, in the whole realm of motion.
there is nothing more expertly grace
full than o cat.
To watch a cat play with some small
object, such as a catnip mouse or
ball, Is to witness the so-called poetry
of motion. Almost any time one looks
at cat he will be rewarded by some
unconscious pose that is a revelation
to us conceited, self-conscious beings.
The attempts of artists to put cat
on paper while many drawings and
painting possess much meriO are gen
orally felt by cat fans" to be lacking.
in that the perfect grace Of the crea-
ture cannot be caught.
It's poses, when playing or stalking
prey, are absolutely inimitable, and
it's very sleeping. sometimes with
head on paws, is a most satisfactory
sight.
The appeal Of the cat to our SENSE
of hearing may rot be so evident 10
all. We can hear the man who was
walked in the small hours Of the night
by the cats on the back fence eX-
claiming. What! you call that an ap-
peal 70 my sense OF hearing?'
The cats meow, certainly, cNn get
on ones nerves, unless the hearer
calls into play his sense OF humor.
At it's worst, the quarrels Of cats are
much more pleasant to hear thar
those of human beings. Is 1t not SO:
The intellectual and esthetic ap
= l.. 4.
GUS aspects, will be taken up here
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