Our Cats and All About Them Part 16

Two drachms pure carbolic acid to 6 oz. of water well mixed for a lotion, and apply night and morning.

EYE OINTMENT.

Red oxide of mercury, 12 grains; spermaceti ointment, 1 oz. Mix.

The above prescription was given to me many years ago by the late Dr.

Walsh (Stonehenge), and I have found it of great service, both for my own eyes, also those of animals and birds. Wash the eyes carefully with warm water, dry off with a soft silk handkerchief, and apply a little of the ointment. Dr. Walsh informed me that he deemed it excellent for canker in the ear, but of that I have had no experience.

FOR MANGE.

In the early stages of mange, flowers of sulphur mixed in vaseline, and rubbed in the coat of the cat, is efficacious, giving sulphur in the milk, the water, and on the food of the patient; also give vegetable diet.

Another remedy: give a teaspoonful of castor oil; next day give raw meat, dusted over with flowers of sulphur. Also give sulphur in milk.

If there are any sore places, bathe with lotion made from camphorated oil in which some sulphur is mixed. Oil, 2 oz.; camphor, oz.; sulphur, a teaspoonful.

As a rule, when the animal is of value, either intrinsically or as a pet, the best plan is to consult a pract.i.tioner, well versed in the veterinary science and art, especially when the cat appears to suffer from some obscure disease, many of which it is very difficult to detect, unless by the trained and practised eye. Of all the ailments, both of dogs and cats, distemper is the worst to combat, and is so virulent and contagious that I have thought it well to offer remedies that are at least worthy of a trial, though when the complaint has firm hold, and the attack very severe, the case is generally almost hopeless, especially with high-bred animals.

POISON.

It is not generally known that the much-admired laburnum contains a strong poison, and is therefore an exceedingly dangerous plant. All its parts--blossoms, leaves, seeds, even the bark and the roots--are charged with a poison named _cytisin_, which was discovered by Husemann and Marms in 1864.

A small dose of juice infused under the skin is quite sufficient to kill a cat or a dog. Children have died from eating the seeds, of which ten or twelve were sufficient to cause death. The worst of it is that there is _no remedy_, no antidote against this poison. How many cases have happened before the danger was discovered is of course only a matter of conjecture, as few would suspect the cause to come from the lovely plant that so delights the eye.

It has, however, long been known to gamekeepers and others, and used by them to destroy "vermin." When quite a boy I remember an old uncle of mine telling me to beware of it even in gathering the blossom.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE WILD CAT OF BRITAIN.

The wild cat is said to be now extinct in England, and only found in some of the northern parts of Scotland, or the rocky parts of the mountains of the south, where I am informed it may yet occasionally be seen. The drawing I give above was made from one sent to the first Crystal Palace Cat Show in 1871, by the Duke of Sutherland, from Sutherlandshire. It was caught in a trap by the fore-leg, which was much injured, but not so as to prevent its moving with great alacrity, even with agility, endeavouring frequently to use the claws of both fore-feet with a desperate determination and amazing vigour. It was a very powerful animal, possessing great strength, taking size into consideration, and of extraordinary fierceness.

Mr. Wilson, the manager of the show, though an excellent naturalist, tried to get it out of the thick-barred, heavy-made travelling box in which it arrived, into one of the ordinary wire show-cages, thinking it would appear to better advantage; but in this endeavour he was unsuccessful, the animal resisting all attempts to expel it from the one into the other, making such frantic and determined opposition that the idea was abandoned. This was most fortunate, for the wire cages then in use were afterwards found unequal to confining even the ordinary domestic cat, which, in more than one instance, forced the bars apart sufficiently to allow of escape. As it was, the wild cat maintained its position, sullenly retiring to one corner of the box, where it scowled, growled, and fought in a most fearful and courageous manner during the time of its exhibition, never once relaxing its savage watchfulness or attempts to injure even those who fed it. I never saw anything more unremittingly ferocious, nor apparently more untamable.

It was a grand animal, however, and most interesting to the naturalist, being, even then, scarcely ever seen; if so, only in districts far away and remote from the dwellings of civilisation. Yet I believe I saw one among the rocks of Bodsbeck, in Dumfriesshire, many years ago, though of this I am not certain, as it was too far away for accurate observation before it turned and stood at bay, and on my advancing it disappeared.

The animal shown at the Crystal Palace was very much lighter in colour, and with less markings than those in the British Museum, the tail shorter, and the dark rings fewer, the lines on the body not much deeper in tint than the ground colour, excepting on the forehead and the inside of the fore-legs, which were darker, rather a light red round the mouth, and almost white on the chest--which appears to be usual with the wild cat; the eyes were yellow-tinted green, the tips of the ears, the lips, cushions of the feet, and a portion of the back part of the hind-legs, black; the markings were, in short, irregular thin lines, and in no way resembled those of the ordinary black-marked domestic tabby cat, possessing little elegance of line--in character it was bolder, having a rugged st.u.r.diness, being stronger and broader built, the fore-arms thick, ma.s.sive, and endowed with great power, with long, curved claws, the feet were stout, sinewy, and strong; altogether it was a very peculiar, interesting, and extraordinary animal. What became of it I never learned.

In 1871 and 1872, a wild cat was exhibited at the Crystal Palace Cat Show, by the Earl of Hopetoun, aged three years, also some hybrid kittens, the father of which was a long-haired cat, the mother a sandy, by a wild cat out of a long-haired tabby, which proves, if proof were wanting, that such hybrids breed freely either with hybrids, the domestic, or the wild cat.

Mr. Frank Buckland also exhibited a hybrid between the wild and tame cat.

The Zoological Society, a pair of wild cats which did not appear to be British.

In 1873, Mr. A. H. Senger sent a fine specimen of hybrid, between the domestic cat and Scotch wild cat.

An early description of the wild cat in England is to be found in an old book on Natural History, and copied into a work on "Menageries,"

"Bartholomoeus de Proprietatibus Rerum," which was translated into English by Thomas Berthlet, and printed by Wynkyn de Worde as early as 1498. There is a very interesting description of the cat, which gives nearly all the properties of the wild animal in an odd and very amusing way. It states: "He is most like to the leopard, and hath a great mouthe, and saw teeth and sharp, and long tongue, and pliant, thin, and subtle; and lappeth therewith when he drinketh, as other beasts do, that have the nether lip shorter than the over; for, by cause of unevenness of lips, such beasts suck not in drinking, but lap and lick, as Aristotle saith and Plinius also. And he is a full lecherous beast in youth, swift, pliant, and merry, and leapeth, and riseth on all things that is tofore him; and is led by a straw, and playeth therewith, and is a right heavy beast in age, and full sleepy, and lieth slyly in wait for mice; and is ware where they bene more by smell than by sight, and hunteth and riseth on them in privy places; and when he taketh a mouse, he playeth therewith, and eateth him after the play; and is a cruel beast when he is wild, and dwelleth in woods, and hunteth there small wild beasts as conies and hares."

The next appears in John Bossewell's "Workes of Armorie," folio, A.D.

1597:

"This beaste is called a Musion, for that he is enimie to Myse and Rattes. He is slye and wittie, and seeth so sharpely that he overcommeth darknes of the nighte by the shyninge lyghte of his eyne. In shape of body he is like unto a Leoparde, and hathe a great mouth. He dothe delight that he enioyeth his libertye; and in his youthe he is swifte, plyante, and merye. He maketh a rufull noyse and a gastefull when he profereth to fighte with an other. He is a cruell beaste when he is wilde, and falleth on his owne feete from most high places: and vneth is hurt therewith.

"When he hath a fayre skinne, he is, as it were, prowde thereof, and then he goeth faste aboute to be seene...."

Those who have seen the wild cat of Britain, especially in confinement, will doubtless be ready to endorse this description as being "true to the life," even to the "rufull noyse," or his industry in the way of fighting. Yet even this old chronicler mentions the fact of his being "wilde," clearly indicating a similar animal in a state of domestication. Later on we find Maister Salmon giving an account of the cat in his strangely-curious book, "Salmon's Compleat English Physician; or, the Druggist's Shop Opened," A.D. 1693, in which he relates that marvellous properties exist in the brain, bones, etc., of the cat, giving recipes mostly cruel and incredible. He describes "Catus the Cat" in such terms as these:

"_The Cat of Mountain_, all which are of one nature, and agree much in one shape, save as to their magnitude, the _wild Cat_ being larger than the _Tame_ and the _Cat of Mountain_ much larger than the _wild Cat_. It has a broad Face, almost like a Lyon, short Ears, large Whiskers, shining Eyes, short, smooth Hair, long Tail, rough Tongue, and armed on its Feet, with Claws, being a crafty, subtle, watchful Creature, very loving and familiar with Man-kind, the mortal enemy to the Rat, Mouse, and all sorts of Birds, which it seizes on as its prey. As to its Eyes, Authors say that they shine in the Night, and see better at the full, and more dimly at the change of the moon; as also that the Cat doth vary his Eyes with the Sun, the Apple of its Eye being long at Sun rise, round towards Noon, and not to be seen at all at night, but the whole Eye shining in the night. These appearances of the Cats' Eyes I am sure are true, but whether they answer to the times of the day, I never observed." "Its flesh is not usually eaten, yet in some countries it is accounted an excellent dish."

Mr. Blaine, in his excellent and useful work, the "Encyclopaedia of Rural Sports"--a book no sportsman should be without--thus discusses the origin of the domestic cat compared with the British wild cat:

"We have yet, however, to satisfy ourselves with regard to the origin of the true wild cat (_Felis catus_, Linn.), which, following the a.n.a.logies of the _Felinae_ generally, are almost exclusively native to countries warmer than our own. It is true that occasionally varieties of the _Felinae_ do breed in our caravans and menageries, where artificial warmth is kept up to represent something like a tropical temperature; but the circ.u.mstance is too rare to ground any opinion on of their ever having been indigenous here--at least, since our part of the globe has cooled down to its present temperature. It is, therefore, more than probable that both the wild and the tame cat have been derived from some other extra-European source or sources. We say source or sources, for such admission begets another difficulty not easily got over, which is this, that if both of these grimalkins own one common root, in which variety was it that the very marked differences between them have taken place? Most sportsmen, we believe, suspect that they own one common origin, and some naturalists also do the same, contending that the differences observable between them are attributable solely to the long-continued action of external agencies, which had modified the various organs to meet the varied necessities of the animals. The wild cat, according to this theory, having to contend with powerful enemies, expanded in general dimensions; its limbs, particularly, became ma.s.sive; and its long and strong claws, with the powerful muscular mechanism which operated on them, fitted it for a life of predacity. Thus its increased size enabled it to stand some time before any other dogs than high-bred foxhounds, and even before them also, in any place but the direct open ground. There exist, however, in direct contradiction to this opinion, certain specialities proper to the wild, and certain other to the domestic cat, besides the simple expansion of bulk, which sufficiently disprove their ident.i.ty. It will be seen that a remarkable difference exists between the tails of the two animals; that of the domestic being, as is well known, long, and tapering elegantly to a point, whereas that of the wild cat is seen to be broad, and to terminate abruptly in a blunt or rounded extremity. Linnaeus and Buffon having both of them confounded these two species into one, have contributed much to propagate this error, which affords us another opportunity of adding to the many we have taken of remarking on the vast importance of comparative anatomy, which enables us to draw just distinctions between animals that might otherwise erroneously be adjudged to be dependent on external agencies, etc. Nor need we rest here, for what doubt can be entertained on the subject when we point at the remarkable difference between the intestines of the two? _Those of the domestic are nine times the length of its body_, whereas, in the _wild cat_, they are little more than _three times as long as the body_."

The food of the wild cat is said to consist of animals, and in the opinion of some, fish should be added. Why not also birds' eggs? Cats are particularly fond of the latter. In the event of their finding and destroying a nest, they invariably eat the eggs, and generally the sh.e.l.ls.

Much has been written as to the apt.i.tude of the domestic cat at catching fish. If this be so, are fish necessarily a part of the food of the native wild cat? Numerous instances are adduced of our "household cat"

plunging into water in pursuit of and capture of fish. Although I have spent much time in watching cats that were roaming beside streams and about ponds, there has never been even an attempt at "fishing." Frogs they will take and kill, often greedily devouring the small ones. Yet doubtless they will hunt, catch, and eat fish, for the fact has become proverbial.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILD CAT, BRITISH MUSEUM.]

A writer in "Menageries" states: "There is no doubt that wild cats will seize on fish, and the pa.s.sionate longing of the domestic cat after this food is an evidence of the natural desire. We have seen a cat overcome her natural reluctance to wet her feet, and take an eel out of a pail of water." Dr. Darwin alludes to this propensity: "Mr. Leonard, a very intelligent friend of mine, saw a cat catch a trout by darting on it in deep, clear water, at the Mill, Wexford, near Lichfield. The cat belonged to Mr. Stanley, who had often seen it catch fish."

Cases have also been known of cats catching fish in shallow water, springing on them from the banks of streams and ponds; but I take this as not _the habit_ of the domestic cat, though it is not unusual.

Gray, in a poem, tells of a cat's death through drowning, while attempting to take gold-fish from a vase filled with water.

Of Dr. Samuel Johnson it is related, that his cat having fallen sick and refused all food, he became aware that cats are fond of fish. With this knowledge before him he went to the fishmonger's and bought an oyster for the sick creature, wrapped it in paper and brought the appetising morsel home. The cat relished the dainty food, and the Doctor was seen going on the same kindly errand every day until his suffering feline friend was restored to health.

Still this is no proof that the _wild_ cat, in a pure state of nature, feeds on fish. Again, it is nothing unusual for domestic cats to catch and eat c.o.c.kroaches, crickets, c.o.c.kchafers, also large and small moths, but not so all. In domesticity some are almost omnivorous. But is the wild cat? Taking its anatomical structure into consideration, there is doubtless a wide distinction, both as regards food and habit.

In Daniel's "Rural Sports," A.D. 1813, the wild cat is stated to be "now scarce in England, inhabiting the mountainous and woody parts. Mr.

Pennant describes it as _four_ times the size of the house cat, but the head larger, that it multiplies as fast, and may be called the British _tiger_, being the fiercest and most destructive beast we have. When only wounded with shot they will attack the person who injured them, and often have strength enough to be no despicable enemy."

Through the kind courtesy of that painstaking, excellent, observant, and eminent naturalist, Mr. J. E. Harting, I am enabled to reprint a portion of his lecture on the origin of the domestic cat, and which afterwards appeared in _The Field_. Although many of the statements are known to naturalists, still I prefer giving them in the order in which they are so skilfully arranged, presenting, as they do, a very garland of facts connected with the British wild cat (_Felis catus_) up to the present, and which I deem valuable from many points of view, but the more particularly as a record of an animal once abundant in England, where it has now apparently almost, if not quite, ceased to exist.

"In England in former days, the wild cat was included amongst the beasts of chase, and is often mentioned in royal grants giving liberty to inclose forest land and licence to hunt there (extracts from several such grants will be found in the _Zoologist_ for 1878, p. 251, and 1880, p. 251). Nor was it for diversion alone that the wild cat was hunted.

Its fur was much used as tr.i.m.m.i.n.g for dresses, and in this way was worn even by nuns at one time. Thus, in Archbishop Corboyle's 'Canons,' anno 1127, it is ordained 'that no abbess or nun use more costly apparel than such as is made of lambs' or _cats'_ skins,' and as no other part of the animal but the skin was of any use here, it grew into a proverb that 'You can have nothing of a cat but her skin.'

"The wild cat is believed to be now extinct, not only in England and Wales, but in a great part of the south of Scotland. About five years ago a Scottish naturalist resident in Stirlingshire (Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown) took a great deal of trouble, by means of printed circulars addressed to the princ.i.p.al landowners throughout Scotland and the Isles, to ascertain the existing haunts of the wild cat in that part of the United Kingdom. The result of his inquiries, embodying some very interesting information, was published in the _Zoologist_ for January, 1881. The replies which he received indicated pretty clearly, although perhaps unexpectedly, that there are now no wild cats in Scotland south of a line drawn from Oban on the west coast up the Brander Pa.s.s to Dalmally, and thence following the borders of Perthshire to the junction of the three counties of Perth, Forfar and Aberdeen, northward to Tomintoul, and so to the city of Inverness. We are a.s.sured that it is only to the northward and westward of this line that the animal still keeps a footing in suitable localities, finding its princ.i.p.al shelter in the great deer forests. Thus we see that the wild cat is being gradually driven northward before advancing civilisation and the increased supervision of moors and forests. Just as the reindeer in the twelfth century was driven northward from England and found its last home in Caithness, and as the wolf followed it a few centuries later, so we may expect one day that the wild cat will come to be numbered amongst the 'extinct British animals.'

"A recent writer in the new edition of the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica'

(art. _Cat_) expresses the opinion that the wild cat still exists in Wales and in the north of England, but gives no proof of its recent occurrence there. From time to time we see reports in the newspapers to the effect that a wild cat has been shot or trapped in some out-of-the-way part of the country; but it usually turns out to be a large example of the domestic cat, coloured like the wild form. It is remarkable that when cats in England are allowed to return to a feral state, their offspring, in the course of generations, show a tendency to revert to the wild type of the country; partly, no doubt, in consequence of former interbreeding with the wild species when the latter was common throughout all the wooded portions of the country, and partly because the light-coloured varieties of escaped cats, being more readily seen and destroyed, are gradually eliminated, while the darker wild type is perpetuated. The great increase in size observable in the offspring of escaped domestic cats is no doubt due to continuous living on freshly-killed, warm-blooded animals, and to the greater use of the muscles which their new mode of life requires. In this way I think we may account for the size and appearance of the so-called 'wild cats'