The domestic cat has run wild in several countries, and everywhere assumes,
as far as can be judged by the short recorded descriptions, a uniform
character. Near Maldonado, in La Plata, I shot one which seemed perfectly
wild; it was carefully examined by Mr. Waterhouse,[98] who found nothing
remarkable in it, excepting its great size. In New Zealand, according to
Dieffenbach, the feral cats assume a streaky grey colour like that of wild
cats; and this is the case with the half-wild cats of the Scotch Highlands.

We have seen that distant countries possess distinct domestic races of the
cat. The differences may be in part due to descent from several aboriginal
species, or at least to crosses with them. In some cases, as in Paraguay,
Mombas, and Antigua, the differences seem due to the direct action of
different conditions of life. In other cases some slight effect may
possibly be attributed to natural selection, as cats in many cases have
largely to support themselves and to escape diverse dangers. But man, owing
to the difficulty of pairing cats, has done nothing by methodical
selection; and probably very little by unintentional selection; though in
each litter he generally saves the prettiest, {48} and values most a good
breed of mouse or rat-catchers. Those cats which have a strong tendency to
prowl after game, generally get destroyed by traps. As cats are so much
petted, a breed bearing the same relation to other cats, that lapdogs bear
to larger dogs, would have been much valued; and if selection could have
been applied, we should certainly have had many breeds in each
long-civilized country, for there is plenty of variability to work upon.

We see in this country considerable diversity in size, some in the
proportions of the body, and extreme variability in colouring. I have only
lately attended to this subject, but have already heard of some singular
cases of variation; one of a cat born in the West Indies toothless, and
remaining so all its life. Mr. Tegetmeier has shown me the skull of a
female cat with its canines so much developed that they protruded uncovered
beyond the lips; the tooth with the fang being .95, and the part projecting
from the gum .6 of an inch in length. I have heard of a family of six-toed
cats. The tail varies greatly in length; I have seen a cat which always
carried its tail flat on its back when pleased. The ears vary in shape, and
certain strains, in England, inherit a pencil-like tuft of