The Domestic Cat

CHAPTER ONE.

CLASSIFICATION: ITS BASIS.

In the feline world you find no such diversity, of form, shape,
disposition, coat, size, etc, as you do in the canine. Dogs differ from
each other in both the size and conformation of the skeleton, and in
many other important points, almost as much as if they belonged to
entirely different species. Mark, for instance, how unlike the bulldog
is to the greyhound, or the Scotch toy-terrier to the English mastiff;
yet, from the toy-terrier upwards to the giant Saint Bernard, they are
all _dogs_, every one of them. So is the jackal, so is the fox and the
wolf. The domesticated dog himself, indeed, is the best judge as to
whether any given animal belongs to his own species or not. I have
taken dogs to different zoological gardens, and have always found that
they were ready enough to hob-nob with either jackal or fox, if the
latter were only decently civil; but they will turn away with
indifference, or even abhorrence, from a wild goat or sloth. But among
the various breeds of cats there exists no such characteristic
differences, so that in proposing a classification one almost hesitates
to use the word "breed" at all, and feels inclined to search about for
another and better term. If I were not under a vow not to let my
imagination run riot in these papers, but to glide gently over the
surface of things, rather than be erudite, philosophical, theoretical,
or speculative, I should feel sorely tempted to pause here for a moment,
and ask myself the question--Why are there so many distinct breeds of
the domesticated dog, and, properly speaking, only one of the more
humble cat? Did the former all spring from the same original stock, or
are certain breeds, such as the staghound, etc, more directly descended
from the wolf, the collie, Pomeranian, etc, from the fox after his kind,
and other breeds from animals now entirely extinct in the wild state?
And once upon a time, as the fairy books say, did flocks of wolves,
foxes, wild mastiffs, and all dogs run at large in these islands,
clubbing together in warlike and predatory bands, each after his kind,
much in the same way that the Scottish Highlanders used to do two or
three hundred years ago? Animals of the dog kind are a step or two more
advanced in civilisation, if I may be allowed to use the term, than
cats; and hence, as intelligence can appreciate intelligence, and always
seeks to rise to a higher level, more breeds, or a larger number of
species, of the former than of the latter have forsaken their wild or
natural condition to attach themselves to man. May not the time come,
in the distant future, when a larger variety of feline animals shall
become fashionable--when domesticated tigers, tame lions, or pet ocelots
shall be the rage? If so, that will indeed be the millennium for cats.
Just fancy how becoming it would be to meet the lovely and accomplished
Miss De Dear out walking, and leading a beautiful leopard by a slight
silver chain, or Lady Bluesock in her phaeton, with a tame ocelot beside
John on the dickey! A lady beside a lion on the lawn would, I think,
make a prettier picture than one by the side of a peacock, and a tame
Bengalese tiger would be a pet worthy to crouch at the foot of a throne.
To be sure, little bits of mistakes would occur at times; instead of
the pussy of the period bolting away with the canary, nothing less would
satisfy the pet than a nice fat baby, and then those extraordinary
people the cat--exterminators would be louder in their denunciations
than ever.