Queer Things About Cats
The Cat in the Mysteries of Religion and Magic. By M. 01,1field Jiunvec.(Ruder. 15..) eil hy Tony Pass.) IT is a strange fact that when the human animal tries to make use of the rich literary material which we have to offer him, tie always inclines either to the eccentric or the sordid. " The ( at in Witchcraft," " How to Cure Mange " ; he seldom pauses between these extremes. We do not mind, for if he took to writing about I's the sort of novels that he writes about himself, it is almost certain that the results would be unpuriable. Far better and safer that he should mainly confine himself to Medicine and Superdition ; subjects. after all, which are closely akin. Mr. Howey's book leans
mainly to the superstitious. It is a wonderful collection • odd tales and foolish notions about us which he has brouglii together ; I will not say to our honour, for though there arc some interesting tit-bits, a more judicious selection and :4 little more effort to distinguish fact from fable would better have served that end. All eats will 'understand me when say that the pleasures afforded by this work are those of the dustbin rattler than the larder.
There is a lot about the sort of things we may have done io Egypt, where our family history begins. Here we find manv pleasing references to the Divine Cat—a most proper tern. We go on to the Mass of tales (printer, please observe author's spelling) which take their rise from us in the Middle Ages. Most of these are of a regrettable kind ; but some would make a cat laugh-- a feat which is far less difficult than human beings generally suppose. I am told, however, that I must not quoto the funniest bits, especially those about May Kittens.
Filially, the connexion of eats with " psychic. science" is dealt with. That we should be adepts at telepathy is no news to anyone who has conveyed without a mew from Mailt to brain the "pure thought" of a second helping of milk. or the desired opening of a door, but our clairvoyant imam, are less generally acknowledged. Here Mr. Howey tells rather an objectionable story of a cat who, seeing the ghom of her late mistress sitting in her old armchair, jumped upon her lap, and fell through. I have heard a variant of this tale before ; but always understood that the unfortunate creature concerned in it was a dog. Our traditional routine of sus- picious sniffs, and thorough testing of skirt or trouser with outstretched claws, protects us from humiliating accidents of this kind. I was also interested in the account of the lady who saw two cats at once ; but, having received the Higher Teaching, knew that she was looking at an " astral photo- graph," and not at the results of -inebriation. I am myself occasionally worried by an astral mouse ; and when, with the best intentions, I dash behind the curtain, the comments of onlookers betray little knowledge of the Higher Teaching.
Here and there Mr. Howey has deep and neglected. truths to impart to the heedless human world. " Cats," he says "symbolize the All." Their nine lives "prove their possession of the Perfect Number." (Did not Dante call Bea- trim. a Nine? a consoling thought.) Finally, "a Coiled eat is the symbol of eternity." This, I may add, is specially true when we suspect that someone is waiting for the chair. Bat in spite of these occasional sparks of wisdom, this book doe: not rise to the demands of its great subject. In fact, I feel • as I understand reviewers so often do—that I could have made a better job of it myself. TONY Puss. p.p. K U.
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