The eye of the C. is capable of much contraction and dilatation of its pupil, so that the animal can see in a very feeble light, and is thus adapted for those nocturnal habits to which, even in domestication, it shows so strong a natural tendency.
The fur of the C. is very free froin any oily sulistance,,so as to be readily injured by water, and is capable of being rendered highly electric by friction, particularly in very dry or frosty weather. An electric spark is readily obtained from the tip of the ear.
strong statements of Billion gave for a time great currency to the opinion, that the C. is incapable of affection, and retains, even in a domesticated state, its savage ferocity, merely restrained by selfishness, and disguised by cunning. The belief is very prevalent that the C. forms an attachment to places only, and not to persons. There are, however, well-authenticated stories which prove the C. to be capable of strong attach ment to its master or mikress, although this quality is less frequently and remarkably displayed than by the dog. The instances which have, on the other hand, been recorded to show the attachment of the C. to places, are well worthy of attention in connection with the subject of instinct in animals. Some of these instances of cats finding their way back from great distances to their former home, are very wonderful, and indeed cannot be explained on any grounds or principles known. The same instinct and power, however, are displayed by other animals.
The varieties of the domestic C. are neither numerous nor very different. The tor tobie-skell C. differs from the most common variety chiefly in color, although it is also particularly elegant and delicate in form. It is much more common in the s. of Europe than in Britain.—The Angora 0. is a beautiful variety, remarkable for its long silky hair.—The Chinen C. has a fine glossy fur, and is remarkable for its pendulous ears.— The Ghartreuse is of a bluish color.—It is supposed that the tabby may have undergone less change by domestication Oaf) any other variety.
The wild C. is still to be found in a few of the woods of the n. of England, in the mountains of \Voles, the Highlands of Scotland, and some parts of Ireland. It has entirely disappeared from districts where it was once common. It is the only beast of prey remaining* in I3ritain the strength and fierceness of which make it at all dangerous to man; but an encounter with a wild C. is safe only to a man well armed. Fortunately, the instances of its attacking when unmolested are rare, lint such instances have occurred. The wild C. is an inhabitant of deep thickets sari recesses of woods, and of the rocky and bushy ravines of mountainous districts. Its fur is held in considerable estimation. The
fur is soft, long, and thick. The color of the face is yellowish-gray, with a band of black spots towards the muzzle; the forehead is brown; the head is gray, with two black stripes passing from the eyes, over and behind the ears; the back, sides, and limbs are gray, darker on the back, paler on the sides, with a blackish longitudinal stripe along the middle of the back, and numerous paler curved ones on the sides; the tail is ringed with light-gray and black, the tip being black. The length of a medium-sized male wild C. is almost 2 ft., exclusive of the tail, but this length is sometimes very con siderably exceeded.—We know no record of any attempt to domesticate the wild cat.
The animal often called wild C. in America is the bay lynx. See Lrxx.
Superstitions regarding have been objects of superstition from the earliest ages. In Egypt, they were held in the highest reverence; temples were erected in their honor; sacrifices and devotions were offered up to them; and it was customary for the family in whose house a C. died to shave their eyebrows. In the middle ages, they were regarded as the familiars of witches. The favorite shape of Satan was said to be that of a black C. ' • and the animal was an object of dread instead of veneration. There is or was a belief among sailors, that the frolics of a C. at sea portended a storm. Many peo ple still prophesy rainy weather from a C. washing its face; and a eat-call on the house top was formerly held to signify death. Their superstitious connection with witches, and the foolish belief that a C. has nine lives, have led to the perpetration of great cruelties upon this harmless and very useful domestic animal. See Brand's Popular Antiquities, Ellis's revised edition.
CAT, on shipboard, is a name for many of the ropes or lines employed. A cat fall is a rope for heaving up the anchor from the water's level to the bow; it works through and is connected with the are small ropes for tightening the shrouds. The just named, are two strong short timbers projecting from the bow, on each side of the bowsprit. A fastens the ring of the anchor to the cat-block.
CAT, or CAT-CASTLE, in the military engineering of the middle ages, was a kind of movable tower to cover the sappers as they advanced to a besieged place. The garri son sometimes poured down burning pitch and boiling oil from the walls upon the C.; but occasionally this stratagem was disastrous, for the besiegers availed themselves of the blazing tower to burn the wooden gates of the town or fortress.