These animals possess a very acute sense both of sight and smell; and by the peculiar structure of their eyes, which sparkle in the dark, they are able to discover their prey, such as rats and mice, as well in the night as during the day; and a cat, that is a good mouser, will soon clear a house of these troublesome little quadrupeds. Cats should not, however, either be much handled or too well fed, if kept for this purpose; as, in this case, they become indolent and disinclined to exert themselves. Useful as cats are to us, they are, in some respects, unpleasant. If injured or offended, they suddenly express their resentment by scratching and biting, and sometimes with great fury. Constantly bent on theft and rapine, they are never to be trusted in the same room with provisions that are within their reach; and although many persons do not hesitate to let them sleep on their beds, it is a practice much better avoided, as the exhalation from their bodies is considered to be injurious. The _skins_ of cats form, in some countries, a very considerable branch of commerce; and, as furs, they are much esteemed for particular purposes. Those of Spanish cats are the most valuable; but the greatest numbers sent from the northern parts of Europe and Asia. The Russians not only export them to other countries of Europe, but even send them into China. In Jamaica, and some of the other West Indian islands, the negroes frequently eat the _flesh_ of cats. From the skins of their intestines was formerly manufactured the article called _cat-gut_, which was used as strings for violins, and other similar musical instruments; but this is now chiefly made from the intestines of sheep. If the fur of the cat be rubbed with the hand, particularly in frosty weather, it yields electric sparks; and if a cat, clean and perfectly dry, be placed during frosty weather on a stool with glass feet, and rubbed, for a little while, in contact with a coated phial, the phial will become effectually charged. This fur is consequently sometimes used in electrical experiments. The Caffre women, in the South of Africa, occasionally use cat-skins as pocket handkerchiefs. 49. _The LYNX_ (Felis lynx) _is an animal of the cat tribe, about four feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which is obscurely ringed, and black at the tip; the head and body are whitish tawny, spotted with black; and the ears have a long pencil of black hair at the tip._ _This animal is found in woods and forests of the northern parts of Europe, of Asia, and America, where it climbs with facility into the loftiest trees._