The cat - along with other quadrupeds, such as the dog, weasel, civet, etc. - belongs to the Carnivora order of digitigrades, and, in company with the hyaena, etc., composes the family known as Felidæ. The chief characteristics of this group are the beautiful markings - either spotted or striped - which they present in the fur, along with a frill or mane, in some instances. Whole self-coloured are rare in comparison with those exhibiting either stripes or spots.

This coloration may be assimilative, to some extent, to the surroundings of the animals in a wild state, and more necessary than in a state of domestication, considering the stealthy habits which all the members of this group manifest, when seeking their prey in the forests of Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The claws of all this family are completely retractile. The muzzle and head are short and round - the ears short, as also the jaws, which latter are possessed of vicelike strength. There are five complete toes on the fore-feet - the first, or thumb, being very short and placed high up - each armed with a sharp claw, whilst the hind legs have four toes - the first being of a rudimentary character. They have three pairs of incisor teeth in each jaw, whilst the canine teeth are large and sharp.

Referring in particular to the cat, it is exceedingly difficult to locate its origin with any degree of certainty. That it is a descendant of one or the other form of the mountain or forest cat - that is, Felts catus - is fairly well established, but whether it sprung in the first instance from the wild species inhabiting Africa, Asia, or Europe is indeterminate.

The best opinions lean towards a multiple origin. It is just probable that our domestic pussy may have sprung from Western Asia, and be a cross between the Egyptian or North African, and that originating from India or Persia.

The fact that very ancient fossil remains of the cat have been discovered in the Upper Eocene in Europe, whilst in Asia similar formations have been found in the Upper Miocene, and in America in the Lower Miocene, seems to indicate that possibly the continent of Europe may, after all, have been its cradle.

All we know definitely, however, is that a small and common type of wild cat (Felis caffra) has been found throughout the length and breadth of the African continent, very similar in build to our domestic cat, but having a slighter build and possessing a longer but thinner tail. The markings vary considerably in this type throughout its wide distribution. It will readily breed with the tame animal. It is sometimes called the Egyptian cat. The Egyptians paid a certain reverence to the cat, and seem to have made use of a domesticated form of it for some such purposes as hunting rats and mice out of their granaries, etc.

We cannot, however, commit ourselves to the positive assertion that the African wild cat was the progenitor of our domesticated friend, though the "tabby" markings that appear on both seem to favour this supposition.

Besides the above, there is a spotted variety of wild cat that hailed originally from Northern India or thereabouts, and the descendants of which are very prevalent to-day in Hindustan.

This also readily interbreeds with the domestic cat. Furthermore, there is no doubt that a European wild cat has existed from very remote times, inhabiting the then wild steppes and forest portions of the continent.

The wild cat (Felis catus) as we know it from specimens in museums, etc., very much resembles the tame one, but is generally a little larger and has a somewhat bigger head. Its tail is thicker and shorter, striped with black rings, and has a black tip. Its eyes are large and full, and of a yellowish grey tint. The throat, chin and under-part of the belly are white, as also the toes. The whiskers are longer and stiffer than in the tame variety, whilst the claws are grey. Markings resemble those of the domestic cat. The female is smaller than the male and lighter in colour. It preys on other animals and is fierce in its nature; makes a nest in the hollow of a tree as a rule. The distribution of the cat in a domesticated condition is exceedingly extensive - its extreme utility in destroying vermin being the reason for this.

The Greeks seem to have used an animal for mousing purposes, but it is probable that this, i. e. the "ailuros," was the marten and not the cat. This, however, is not absolutely certain. We find no traces whatever of the domestic cat in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, though it is quite possible it was there when established. Certainly it came under control previous to the Christian era.

In the Middle Ages it was very much thought of, and laws and stringent regulations passed against its injury or destruction. Roman literature attests the very great care with which it was preserved. When rats and mice began to infest the human habitations of Northern Africa - Morocco, for instance, and countries bordering the Mediterranean - it became an invaluable ally to man, and speedily replaced the unsatisfactory marten for hunting small rodents, and in this capacity grew more and more in public favour.

In our own country the wild cat was found till within four centuries or so back, and even later in some of the wilder districts, say of Cumberland, Caithness, and North- Wales. Any now found in a wild state are probably such as have reverted from a tame to a wild condition, though disputed by many.

In markings, it varied but little from the tame pussy, but was of superior size* and strength, and had a larger head, whilst its tail was shorter and thicker and of uniform thickness throughout. It generally had a black streak down the middle of its back and tail. The limbs are ornamented with regular dark rings. It is highly probable that as the domesticated Eastern cat was brought or spread from Persia or India into Asia Minor, the Balkan Peninsula, it interbred with the wild variety, and in this way originated the different varieties of the domestic cat existing as we know it to-day.

With the introduction of firearms, the days of the wild cat were numbered, its existence being incompatible with the advancing civilization.

Formerly, most European cats were of the short-haired variety, but these in recent times have been frequently crossed with the Persian, or long-haired breed.

Tabby or striped cats were probably the earliest type, its stripes being derived from its wild ancestor. The eyes were yellow. By interbreeding, selection, etc., most of these stripes have disappeared.

Cats as a rule do not present anything like the same structural differences in conformation as the dog, not being required for such divers purposes; the cat's sole occupation being the destruction of mice and rats.

Neither does the cat become attached to its owner in the same way that the dog does, whilst it reverts much more readily to a savage or wild state than the dog. Singularly, cats never form the same degree of friendship to a person or persons as that of the dog, their attachment being one more of place than of person, hence the reason why a cat so constantly wanders back to its former haunts.