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CAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 489 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CAT ,1 properly the name of the well-known domesticated feline See also:

animal usually termed by naturalists Fells domestica, but in a wider sense employed to denote all the more typical members of the See also:family Felidae. According to the New See also:English See also:Dictionary, although the origin of the word " cat " is unknown, yet the name is found in various See also:languages as far back as they can be traced. In old Western Germanic it occurs, for instance, so See also:early as from A.D. 400 to 450; in old High See also:German it is chazza or catero, and in See also:Middle German hallow. Both in Gaelic and in old See also:French it is cat, although sometimes taking the See also:form of See also:chafer in the latter; the Gaelic designation of the See also:European See also:wild cat being cat fiadhaich. In Welsh and Cornish the name is See also:call. If See also:Martial's cattae refer to this animal, the earliest Latin use of the name See also:dates from the 1st See also:century of our era. In the See also:work of See also:Palladius on See also:agriculture, dating from about the See also:year A.D. 350, reference is made to an animal called catus or callus, as being useful in 1 The word " cat " is applied to various See also:objects, in all cases an application of the name of the animal. In See also:medieval si6gecraft the " cat " (Med. See also:Lat. chattus or gattus, chatta or gatta, in Fr. chat or chatchasteil) was a movable pent-See also:house used to protect besiegers when approaching a See also:wall or gateway, for the purpose of sapping, See also:mining or See also:direct attack, or to See also:cover a See also:ram or other battering-See also:engine. The word is also sometimes applied to a heavy See also:timber fitted with See also:iron spikes or projections to be thrown down upon besiegers, and to the large work known as a " See also:cavalier." " Cat " or " cat-See also:head," in nautical usage, is the projecting See also:beam on the bows of a See also:ship used to clear the See also:anchor from the sides of the See also:vessel when weighed.

The stock of the anchor rests on the cat-head when hung outside the ship. The name is also used of a type of a vessel, now obsolete, and formerly used in the See also:

coal and timber See also:trade on the See also:north-See also:east See also:coast of See also:England; it had a deep See also:waist and narrow See also:stem; it is still applied to a small rig of sailing boats, with a single See also:mast stepped far forward, with a fore and aft See also:sail. Among other objects also known by the name of " cat " is the small piece of See also:wood pointed at either end used in the See also:game of tip-cat, and the See also:instrument of See also:punishment, generally known as the " cat o' nine tails." This consists of a handle of wood or rope, about 18 in. See also:long, with nine knotted cords or thongs. The multiplication of thongs for purposes of flogging is found in the old See also:Roman flagellum, a See also:scourge, which had sometimes three thongs with See also:bone or_ See also:bronze knots fastened to them. The " cat " was the See also:regular instrument with which floggings were per-formed in the See also:British See also:army and See also:navy. Since the abolition of flogging in the services, the use of the cat is now restricted to certain classes of offenders in military prisons (Army See also:Act 1881, § 133). In the English criminal See also:law, where See also:corporal punishment is ordered by the See also:court for certain criminal offences, the " cat " is used only where the prisoner is over sixteen years of See also:age. It may not be used except when actually ordered in the See also:sentence, and must be of a See also:pattern approved by a secretary of See also:state. Further floggings are inflicted with the " cat " upon convicted prisoners for breaches of discipline in See also:prison. They must be ordered by the visitors of the prison and confirmed by the See also:home secretary. See also:granaries for catching mice. This usage, coupled with the existence of a distinct See also:term in Gaelic for the wild See also:species, leaves little doubt that the word " cat " properly denotes only the domesticated species.

This is confirmed by the employment in See also:

Byzantine See also:Greek of the term Karros or KaTTQ, to designate domesticated See also:cats brought from See also:Egypt. It should be added that the adXovpos of the Greeks, frequently translated by the older writers as " cat," really refers to the See also:marten-cat, which appears to have been partially domesticated by the ancients and employed for mousing. As regards the origin of the domesticated cats of western See also:Europe, it is well known that the See also:ancient Egyptians were in the See also:habit of domesticating (at least in some degree) the See also:Egyptian See also:race of the See also:African wild cat (Felis ocreata maniculata), and also of See also:embalming its remains, of which vast See also:numbers have been found in tombs at Beni See also:Hasan and elsewhere in Egypt. These Egyptian cats are generally believed by naturalists to have had a large See also:share in the parentage of the European breeds, which have, however, in many cases been crossed to a greater or less extent with the European wild cat (F. catus). One of the features by which the Egyptian differs from the European wild cat is the longer and less bushy tail; and it has been very generally considered that the same feature is characteristic of European domesticated cats. According, however, to Dr E. See also:Hamilton, " the measurement of a number of tails of the [European] wild cat and of the domestic cat gives a range between 11 in. and 141 in., the longer length being quite as often found in the wild cats as in the domestic. The bushy See also:appearance depends entirely- on the length of the See also:fur, and accords with the thick fur of the See also:rest of the See also:body of the wild cat, while in the domestic race the fur both on the body and tail is thinner and softer." Possibly those domesticated cats with unusually See also:short and bushy tails may have a larger share of European wild-cat See also:blood; while, conversely, such wild cats as show long tails may have a See also:cross of domesticated blood. More importance was attached by Dr A. Nehring of See also:Berlin (SB. Ges. Naturfor., Berlin, 1887) to the See also:colour of the soles of the See also:hind-feet as a means of determining the relationship of the domesticated cat of Europe.

According to his observations, in the Egyptian wild cat the pads of the toes are wholly See also:

black, while the black extends back either continuously or in long stripes as far as the calcaneum or See also:heel-bone. In the European wild cat, on the other See also:hand, the black is limited to a small See also:round spot on the pads, while the colour of the See also:hair as far back as the heel-bone is yellowish or yellowish-See also:grey. Since in all domesticated cats retaining the colouring of the wild species the soles of the hind-feet correspond in this particular with the Egyptian rather than with the European wild cat, the presumption is in favour of their descent from the former rather than from the latter. Later, Dr Nehring (op. cit. 1889) came to the conclusion that the domesticated cat has a dual parentage, one stock coming' from See also:south-eastern See also:Asia and the other from north-eastern See also:Africa; in other words, from a domesticated See also:Chinese cat (itself derived from a wild Chinese species) on the one hand, and from the Egyptian cat on the other. The See also:ordinary domesticated cats of Europe are, however, mainly of African origin, although they have largely crossed, especially in See also:Germany (and probably also in See also:Great See also:Britain), with the wild cat. The same author was likewise of See also:opinion that the domestication or taming of various species of wild cats took See also:place chiefly among nationalities of stationary or non-nomadic habits who occupied themselves with agricultural pursuits, since it. would be of vital importance that their stores of See also:grain should be adequately protected from the depredations of rats and mice. The foregoing opinion as to the dual parentage of our domesticated cats receives support from observations made many years ago by E. See also:Blyth, which have recently been endorsed and amplified by R. I. See also:Pocock (Prot. Zool.

See also:

Soc. See also:London, 1907). According to these observations, two distinct types of so-called tabby cats are recognizable. In the one the pattern consists of narrow See also:vertical stripes, and in the other of See also:longitudinal or obliquely longitudinalstripes, which, on the sides of the body, tend to assume a See also:spiral or sub-circular arrangement characteristic of the blotched tabby. This latter type appears to be the true " tabby "; since that word denotes a pattern like that of watered See also:silk. One or other of these types is to be found in cats of almost all breeds, whether See also:Persian, short-haired or See also:Manx; and there appear to be no intermediate stages between them. Cats of the striped type are no doubt descended from the European and North African wild cats; but the origin of cats exhibiting the blotched pattern appears to be unknown. As it was to a cat of the latter See also:kind that See also:Linnaeus gave the name of Felis catus, Pocock urges that this See also:title is not available for the European wild cat, which he would call Felis sylvestris. Without accepting this proposed See also:change in nomenclature, which is liable to See also:lead to confusion without any compensating See also:advantage, it may be suggested that the blotched tabby type represents Dr Nehring's presumed Chinese See also:element in the cat's parentage, and that the missing wild stock may be one of the numerous phases of the See also:leopard-cat (F. bengalensis), in some of which an incipient spiral arrangement of the markings may be noticed on the See also:shoulder. As to the introduction of domesticated cats into Europe, the opinion is very generally held that tame cats from Egypt were imported at a relatively early date into See also:Etruria by Phoenician traders; and there is decisive See also:evidence that these animals were established in See also:Italy long before the See also:Christian era. The progeny of these cats, more or less crossed with the indigenous species, thence gradually spread over Europe, to become mingled at some See also:period, according to Dr Nehring's See also:hypothesis, with an See also:Asiatic stock. The earliest written See also:record of the introduction of domesticated cats into Great Britain dates from about A.D.

936, when Hywel Dda, See also:

prince of South See also:Wales, enacted a law for their See also:protection. " The See also:Romans," writes Dr Hamilton, " were probably the See also:original introducers of this cat, and as the final evacuation of Britain by that nation took place under the See also:emperor Valentinian about A.D. 436, the period of its introduction may certainly be dated some 50o years previous to the Welsh See also:chronicle and even much earlier." It is added that the remains of cats from Roman villas at See also:Silchester and Dursley are probably referable to the domesticated breed. Before proceeding to See also:notice some of the different types of domesticated cats, a few lines may be devoted to the wild European species, F. catus. Beyond stating that in colour it conforms very closely to the striped phase of domesticated tabby, it will be unnecessary to describe the species. Its See also:geographical range was formerly very extensive, and included Great Britain, See also:France, the See also:Netherlands, See also:Switzerland, Germany, Bohemia, See also:Hungary, See also:Poland, Transylvania, See also:Galicia, the See also:Caucasus as far as the See also:Caspian, See also:southern See also:Russia, Italy, See also:Spain, 'See also:Greece, See also:Rumania, See also:Bulgaria, See also:Servia, and portions of central and See also:northern Asia. " At the See also:present See also:time," observes Dr Hamilton, " the wild cat has become almost See also:extinct in many of the above districts. Examples may perhaps occasionally still be found in the uninhabited forests of Hungary and Transylvania, and occasionally in Spain and Greece, as well as in the Caucasus and in some of the Swiss cantons, but the original race has in most countries interbred with the domestic cat wherever the latter has penetrated." In Great Britain wild cats survive only in some of the Scottish forests, and even there it is difficult to decide whether pure-bred specimens are extant. Remains of the wild cat occur in English caverns; while from those of See also:Ireland (where the wild species has apparently been unknown during the historic period) have been obtained jaws and See also:teeth which it has been suggested are referable to the Egyptian rather than to the European wild cat. Such a determination is, however, extremely hazardous, even if it be admitted that the remains of cats from the See also:rock-fissures of See also:Gibraltar pertain to Fells ocreata. The favourite haunts of the wild cat are See also:mountain forests where masses or rocks or cliffs are interspersed with trees, the crevices in these rocks or the hollow trunks of trees affording sites for the wild cat's lair, where its See also:young are produced and reared. In the See also:Spanish plains, however, the young are often produced in nests built in trees, or among tali bamboos in See also:cane-brakes.

" To fight like a wild cat " is proverbial, and wild cats are described as some of the most ferocious and untamable of all animals. How far this untamable See also:

character lends sup-See also:port to the view of the origin of our domesticated breeds has not yet been determined. See also:Hares, rabbits, See also:field-mice, See also:water-rats, rats, squirrels, moles, game-birds, pigeons, and small birds, form the See also:chief See also:food of the wild cat. Apart from the above-mentioned See also:division of the striped members of both See also:groups into two types according to the pattern of their markings, the domesticated cats of western Europe are divided into a short-haired and a long-haired See also:group. Of these, the former is the one which bears the closest relationship to the wild cats of Africa and of Europe, the latter being an importation from the East. The striped (as distinct from the blotched) short-haired tabby is probably the one most nearly allied to the wild ancestors, the stripes being, however, to a great extent due to the European wild cat. In one direction the tabby shows a tendency to melanism which culminates in See also:complete blackness, while in the other direction there is an equally marked tendency to albinism; grey cats, which may be regarded as tabbies whose stripes have disappeared, forming the connecting See also:link between the tabby and the See also:white cat. A mixture of the melanistic with the albinistic type will of course give rise to parti-coloured cats. A third colour-phase, the " erythristic " or red, is represented by the sandy cat, the See also:female of which takes the form of the " See also:tortoise-See also:shell," characterized, curiously enough, by the colour being a blend of black, white, and sandy. The so-called See also:orange tabby is one phase of the erythristic type. As to long-haired cats, there appear originally to have been two closely-allied strains, the See also:Angora and the Persian, of which the former has been altogether replaced in western Europe by the -latter. That these long-haired cats have an ancestry, to some extent at any See also:rate distinct from the ordinary short-haired breeds, is practically certain, and it has been suggested that they' are derived from the " See also:manul " cat, or See also:Pallas's cat (Felis manul), of the deserts of central Asia, which is a long-haired and bushy-tailed species with comparatively slight striping.

The fact that in tabby Persians the body-markings are never so strong as in the short-haired breeds is in some degree confirmatory of this, as suggesting descent from a nearly whole-coloured type. At the present See also:

day, however, Persians exhibit nearly all the colour and pattern types of the short-haired breeds, the " orange Persian " representing the erythristic phase. Turning to the tailless or so-called Manx cats, in which the tail should be represented merely by a tuft of hair without any remnant of bone, it seems that the See also:strain is to be met with in many parts of Russia, and there is a very See also:general opinion that it originally came from See also:Japan or some other far eastern See also:country. Throughout Japan, See also:China, See also:Siam, and the See also:Malay countries, normal long-tailed cats are indeed seldom seen. Instead of these are cats with more or less abbreviated tails, showing in greater or less degree a decided kink or See also:bend near the tip. In other cases the tail is of the short See also:curling type of that of a bulldog; some-times it starts quite straight, but divides in a See also:fork-like manner near the tip; and in yet other instances it is altogether wanting, as in the typical Manx cats. These kink-tailed or tailless cats are moreover smaller in See also:size than the ordinary short-tailed breeds, with rather longer hair, whose texture approaches that of See also:rabbit-fur, and a cry said to be like that of the See also:jungle-cat (F. chows) of See also:India and Africa, and more See also:dog-like habits. Unless the jungle-cat, which is a nearly whole-coloured species, can claim the position, the ancestry of these Manx-Malay cats is still unknown. Kink-tailed cats, it should be added, are also known from See also:Madagascar. Among the domesticated cats of India a spotted type of colouring, with a more or less decided tendency for the spots to coalesce into stripes, is very noticeable; and it is probable that these cats are derived from the spotted See also:Indian See also:desert-cat (F. ornata), with a certain amount of See also:crossing from other species. The so-called F. torquala of India is probably based on cats ofthis type which have reverted to the wild state. Other Indian cats with a tawny or fulvous type of colouring are probably the more or less modified descendants of the jungle-cat.

From the same stock may be derived the Abyssinian breed, in which the ears are relatively large and occasionally tipped with long hairs (thus recalling the tufted ears of the jungle-cat). The colour is typically reddish-See also:

brown, each individual hair being " ticked " like that of a wild rabbit, whence the popular name of " bunny cat." Another African breed is the See also:Mombasa cat, in which the hair is reported to be unusually short and stiff. By far the most remarkable of all the Old See also:World domesticated breeds is, however, the royal Siamese cat, which almost certainly has an origin quite distinct from that of the ordinary European breeds; this being rendered evident not only by the See also:peculiar type of colouring, but likewise by the cry, which is quite unmistakable. Siamese cats may have the tail either straight or kinked, but whether the latter feature belongs of right to the breed, or has been acquired by crossing with the ordinary black and tabby kink-tailed cats of the country, is not known. In the royal Siamese breed the head is rather long and pointed, the body also elongated with relatively slender limbs, the coat glossy and See also:close, the eyes See also:blue, and the general colour some shade of cream or See also:pink, with the See also:face, ears, feet, under-parts, and tail See also:chocolate or See also:seal-brown. There is however a wholly chocolate-coloured strain in which the eyes are yellow. The most remarkable feature about the breed is that the young are white. " The kittens," observes a See also:lady writer, " are See also:born absolutely white, and in about a See also:week a faint pencilling comes round the ears, and gradually all the points come. At four or five months they are lovely, as generally they retain their baby whiteness, which contrasts well with their almost black ears, deep-brown markings, and blue eyes." In constitution these cats are extremely delicate. The blue eyes and the white coat of the kitten indicate that the Siamese breed is a semi-See also:albino, which when adult tends towards melanism, such a See also:combination of characters being apparently unknown in any other animal. If the frequent presence of a kink in. the tail be an inherent feature, the breed is evidently related to the other kink-tailed Malay cats which, as already stated, have a cry differing from that of European cats. Should this be so, then if the ordinary Malay cats are the descendants of the jungle-cat, we shall have to assign the same ancestry to the Siamese breed.

Although definite See also:

information on this point is required, it seems probable that the southern See also:part of North See also:America and South America possessed certain native domesticated breeds of cats previous to the European See also:conquest of the country; and if this be so, it will be obvious that these breeds must be derived from indigenous wild species. One of these breeds is the See also:Paraguay cat, which when adult weighs only about three pounds, and is not more than a See also:quarter the size of an ordinary cat. The body is elongated, and the hair, especially on the tail, short, shiny and close: This small size and elongated form suggest origin from the See also:jaguarondi (F. jaguarondi), a See also:chestnut-coloured wild species; but information appears to be lacking with regard to the colouring of the domesticated breed. Another South See also:American breed is said to be See also:free from the hideous " caterwauling " of the ordinary cat. In old days New See also:Mexico was the home of a breed of hairless cats, said to have been kept by the ancient See also:Aztecs, but now well-nigh if not completely extinct. Although entirely naked in summer, these cats See also:developed in See also:winter a slight growth of hair on the back and the See also:ridge of the tail. Lydekker, " Cats," in See also:Allen's Naturalists' Library (1888) ; F. Hamilton, The Wild Cat of Europe (London. 1896) ; Frances See also:Simpson, The See also:Book of the Cat (London, 1903). (R.

End of Article: CAT

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