Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/82

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72
CARNIVORA.—FELIDÆ.

learn that they trained it to assist in fowling among the papyrus reeds of the river margins. There is a Cat found wild in Nubia, which agrees in many particulars with these representations, with the mummies of Egyptian Cats, and with our domestic species; and hence many zoologists incline to consider this Nubian Cat (Felis maniculata, Temm.) as the original of the tame breeds. It is worth remarking, however, that the cats of the Egyptian pictures, in their robust form, short ears, and short legs, as well as in their decidedly brindled or tabby pattern of colouring, agree better with our own common breeds than with the maniculata;

EGYPTIAN FOWLING-SCENE.
EGYPTIAN FOWLING-SCENE.

EGYPTIAN FOWLING-SCENE.

as may be seen by a reference to an original painting of a fowling scene in the Egyptian Saloon of