Evening star., 1948-04-07
This and That
Bv Charles z. Trncetpell


The cats eye, according to the big diction-
ary, is a gem exhibiting opalescent reflections
from within, like the eye OF cat specifically
q variety Of chrysoberyl
This definition will make cat owners laugh,
because to them the cats eye Is q very real
thing in the household.
It Is . fascinating thing
In Paris. before the war, there was a Jap
anese artist who painted all his women with
cat eyes.
The result was odd, to say the least He also
painted CATS with cat eyes, and the result was
better.
Fascination of the cat eye is really the .fas-
cination Of that great natural creation, the eye
Actually, there is not much difference be-
tween the cat eye and the dog eye except that
for downright affection, for instance, give us
dog eye any day
The cat eye lacks affection, being all eye,
with little of the mind showing through
The affection of the cat shows rather in the
whole face, and some persons find even this
hard to see.
1t is plain enough to cat friends.
The cat physiognomy is one Of the finest In
creation.
In mankind the eyes and ears are set on
level, practically whereas in the cat the eyes
and ears make square.
Beneath this square comes the nose and
mouth. This is exactly as in human beings.
But the cat set-up, two ears, two eyes and
better than that of humanity, with the two
ears and two eyes practically on line.
There is more plain common sense in the
ears being at the top OF the head This is
pure animal, some may object. Well, what Is
wrong with pure animal7
The ears Of animals are set high up for q
purpose, to catch every sound instantly.
A HaatfAp NJ q vutf
the difference between life and death. Artis-
tically, the effect is better
- -
The cats eye Is calm, objective with little
change either when the animal Is displaying
affection or anger.
The ability Of this animal to see in the dark
Is perhaps overrated.
All creatures see we'll in the dark, if they
are in good physical condition, and the supply
Of vitamin A is high.
It is said that cats cannot "see" colors, that
they live in a gray world. This is also believed
to be true OF dogs and perhaps other animals
A good Juicy piece of red meat for instance
Is simply good juicy slab of gray meat, to q
dog or cat.
Our own color perceptions make this difi-
cult to understand. but the animals have not
had the benefit Of our education, aided by
words.
just how much words aid knowledge is hard
70 uuoeTSIauo, 700.
Cat eyes, in the main, are two kinds, the
slant and the rounded
These are not peculiarities of certain type
cats, but may occur In two brothers, one with
round eyes. the other with oriental slanted eyes
We recall painting OF q Persian cat. in
which the artist had given the animal human
eyes.
Whether he did this through inability to
paint the eve "aS iS" or simply In satiric vein
Is unknown.
Painting the cat Ii one Of the most dificult
OF feats, and the place the average artist falls
down the hardest Is those same cat eyes
He or she who aspires to paint the cat should
begin with the eyes. by painting endless rows
Of them.
The gem might be kept in mind, to give the
"opalescent look but try to think what ths
animal ID thinking Of, II possible. for the best
reN1lt.
II you can make those eyes say anaoiss.- you
have tha real thing.