6 JANUARY 1917, Page 24

CHAUCER ON CATg.

(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOIL."3

SIR,—The following quotation from Chaucer seems to support the view that the well-fed cat may be a keen hunter :—

" Let take a cat, and foster hire with milks And tendre flesh, and make hire concha of silks, And let hire see a mous go by the wall, Anon she weiveth milks and flesh and all, And every deintee that is in that hone, Swiche appetit hath she to eta the mous.

Lo, here hath kind hire domination, And appetit flemeth discretion."

—The Manciple's Tale.