The momentous question, Why do cats always fall on their
feet? has been asked and answered by the French Academy of Sciences, after many experiments and much instantaneous photographing of cats in the air. M. Maurice Levy gave .a mathematical demonstration that the cat can, by certain movements of its body, turn round in the air without any external assistance. Hie theorem is,—" A natural system can pivot on and by itself if certain of its points have, in com- parison with others, such a degree of liberty as to describe curves without hampering the movement of the other points of the system." That has a fine air of science ; but we confess we find more comfort in the gymnast who writes to the Temps : —" Just as an acrobat," he says, "turns a somersault in the air by pressing his chin on his breast and his knees on his thorax, thus making his centre of gravity pass from one point to another, so the cat, a born acrobat, is equally expert." Mr. Rudyard Kipling must give us a new jungle story showing how the cat took to amusing the beasts and birds of the forest by a variety entertainment, and so obtained her nine lives.
Previous page
