Year: 1860

The victims in our gamekeeper's museum
had not been nailed up by chance in the first
vacant place, but arranged with certain
degree Of taste. row being apportioned to
each species of animal.


The keepers greatest enemies of course
occupied the most prominent position !; and
in the top row no less than fifty y-three cats
heads stared hideously down upon the visi-
tor There was a story attached to nearly
each head; this cat was killed in such
wood, this in such hedge-row, some in
traps, some shot, some knocked on the head
with stick but what was most remarkable
was the different expression Of countenance
observable in each individual head.


This one had died fighting bravely to the
last inch by inch it had yielded up its nine
lives. Caught possibly in trap in the
early part Of the evening by one of its legs.
it h; d fingered the nj ght through in agony,
the pain Of its entrappcd limb causing it to
make furious efforts to escape, and those
very efforts adding additional tormcnts to
the wound In the morning the keeper had
come with his gun and his dog putting his
foot on the spring of the trap, he had let
out the wounded and exhausted animal to
the mercy Of his terriers what little life
was left in it the dogs worried out 1t had
died martyr to its natural instinct.


Do you doubt this ? Look at the head,
now dried by the heat of two summers; the
wriukied forehead, the expanded eyelids,
the glaring eyeballs, the whiskers extended
to their full stretch. the spiteful lips exposing
the double row of tiger-like teeth cnvcnom-
ed by agony, teaches us all this. The hand
of death has not been powerful enough to
relax the muscles racked for SO many hours
with terror and pain.


Let us examine another head what a
difference in expression do we see in this
cat at the end Of the row; she has never
been worried or tormented stealthily Creep
ing on the tips of her beautifully padded
feet along some hedge-row, she has come
within the range Of the gun of the concealed
keeper, and in an instant been slot dc1d );
yes, shot dead; her calm look, her ears cock
ed we'll forward, the sagacious set of the
muscles Of her face remain to this moment
SO sudden was her death that other feelings
had not time to work upon her expression
and physiognomy. Her mummed head
C0iio 40 IIo o0oi VI du unCA pCCteu anu III
stantsneous DEATH


The cat has numerous muscles about her
face, and she is capable of assuming numer-
Gus expressions. Let the reader nurse a
cat on his lap, tickle her nose, ears, eyes,
whiskers, &C., he will see what mean
Above all, she cannot bear her whiskers to
be touched or pulled; at the end of each of
these stiff hairs is large bulb of nervous
substance, which converts them into the
most delicate feelers. They are of the
greatest use to her when hunting about in
the dark in lion these nerve bulbs at the
end Of the whisllers are as large as small
peas.


There is yet another head in the museum
from which we can read another history; it
is that of a poor little puss who had died
before she had attained the age of cathood
Her young life had probably been knocked
out of her tender body with stick for her
head still retains the playful look of the kit
ten and there is a sort of a "what- -have-I-
done look" about it, as though she had died
with submission, and in ignorance of the
keepers anathema against her species
I would remark that personally have no
antipathy to cats. [ rather like them. [
am now writing Of them only in their char
actcr of vcrmn.


1t Is unfortunate for cats in general, that
if one OF their race once takes to poaching.
their nature prompts them to continue these