animals; among these the cat was included,
as being at that period of great importance,
on account of its scarceness and utility. The
price of a kitten before it could see, was fixed at
one penny; until proof could be given of its
having caught a mouse, twopence; after such
proof, fourpence: which was a great sum
in those days, when the value of specie was
extremely high. It was likewise required that it
should be perfect in its senses of hearing and
seeing, should be a good mouser, should have its
claws whole, and, if a female, be a careful nurse.
If it failed in any of these qualities, the seller was
to forfeit to the buyer the third of its value. If
any one should steal or kill the cat that guarded
the prince's granary, he was either to forfeit a
milch ewe, her fleece and lamb, or as much
wheat as, when poured on the cat suspended by its
tail (its head touching the floor), would form a
heap high enough to cover the tip of the tail.
Hence we may conclude that cats were not
originally natives of these islands; and from the
great care taken to improve and preserve the
breed of the prolific creature, we may suppose
cats were but little known at that period. Whatever
credence we may give to the circumstances
of the well-known story of Whittington and his
Cat, it is another proof of the great value set
upon this animal in former times. Cats have been
the means of enriching our own and other
languages, with various proverbs. For instance:
"To make a cat's-paw" of a person; "To live
like cat and dog;" "A cat may look at a king;"
"To let the cat out of the bag," might be
compared with similar sayings used in France and
Italy. In Persia, they have one parallel with the
last mentioned: "Gurbah az baghal afgandan,"
to throw the cat from under the arm—meaning,
to discover the secret. Gurbah is Persian for cat,
and it may be noticed that Saadi, the celebrated
Persian poet, alludes to the cat, in his  Gulisthán,
or Rose-Garden. To tumble or fall on one's feet
like a cat, is also said in Italy. One of the
numerous Italian cat proverbs is "Tenere un occhio
alla padella, e uno alla gatta"—(Keep one eye on
the frying-pan, and the other on the cat),
that is, be on your guard against every
possible accident. Besides thus contributing to
the expressiveness of language, cats can also
illustrate a lesson, and rather an important one,
in grammar. This odd assertion is explained
as follows: "The vowel sounds are usually
placed in the order a, e, i, o, u, such being
their succession in the various alphabets of
Europe and Western Asia; but if we wish to
place them in that order which marks their
relation to one another, we should unite i, e, a, o, u,
or in the opposite order, u, o, a, e, i. It has been
shown by experiments, that the different vowel
sounds may be produced artificially, by throwing
a current of air upon a reed in a pipe, and that,
as the pipe is lengthened or shortened, the
vowels are successively produced in the order
above given. When a door creaks, or a cat
mews, we have experiments of the same nature,
at least as regards the result, for in both
cases we may often detect the due series of the
vowels. Indeed, the word mew would be more
expressively written mieaou. In all these
remarks we speak of the vowels as possessing
those sounds which are common on the
Continent; namely, i like ee, e like ay, a as in
father, o as in bone, u as oo, in fool." (English
Cyclop., Art. Alphabet.) The reader may try
it, and say mi, e, a, o, u, according to the right
way of pronouncing. A little practice, with
the help of a cat, will soon make the student
perfect; but let the student not overdo it, for
it is related that a nun in a convent was once
seized with a sort of monomaniacal fancy for
mewing like a cat, and that in a short time the
mania took hold of the other nuns, who went
mewing about like cats for sometime afterwards.

People lose much by not studying animals,
and some have strange antipathies to cats. And
it may be noticed that cats are apt to revenge
themselves by haunting such persons. A lady
who used to visit at the writer's house when he
was a boy, had a great aversion to cats, and
the beautiful cat belonging to the house
generally contrived to be in the way when she
called. One day we could not account for the
poor lady's extreme uneasiness, until we discovered
the cat on an elevation near her, looking
full in her face. By way of a set off to this,
let us record the opposite taste of an
Archbishop of Taranto, who kept many cats, gave
them fine names, had their dinners prepared
according to their individual predilections, kept
servants to attend upon them, and finally wrote
a book about them. Cats sometimes purr in
their sleep, probably dreaming of their friends,
or of some pleasant circumstance of their waking
hours. Many must have noticed the sparks and
crackling noise which sometimes proceed from
cats when they are stroked, and there is much
electricity in the air. There is even a way of
handling a cat by which a slight electric shock
may be obtained. Some think that when cats
repeatedly rub their paws over their ears, it is a
sign of change of weather, and possibly some
tickling sensation may be experienced by them
from approaching atmospheric changes unappreciable
by ourselves. One or two common errors
about cats may be noticed. Many persons will
destroy them when anything is the matter with
them, whereas, in many cases, they would
recover with a little care. Some think they do
not drink much, which is a mistake. Water
should always be placed within their reach. As
to their want of attachment, there is no doubt
that it is generally owing to the neglect (if not
worse treatment) they often experience. Every
animal will ordinarily return kindness for
kindness, and if persons will only try, they will not
find cats an exception. But to knock an animal
about, or hardly ever to notice it, and to punish
severely any fault it may commit, are not ways to
attach it to you. The writer has heard of more
than one instance in which, on its master's
death, a favourite cat has gone away, and not
been seen again. There is a great diversity of
character in cats, as indeed in all animals.
As to their colours, they are not of such