Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended for Beview should be addressed to tho Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . Cats : their Points and Characteristics , with Curiosities of Cat Life , and a Chapter on Feline Ailments . By W . GORDON STABLES , M . D ., CM ., R . N . Author of " Medical Life in the Navy , " " Wild Adventares in the Far North . " The " Newfoundland and Watch Dog , " in Webb's Book on Dogs , & c , & c . London : Dean and Son , St . Dunstan ' s Buildings , 160 A Fleet Street , E . C .

WE have seldom come across a work so interesting as this of Dr . Stables on Cats . This animal , without which a house seems hardly to be furnished , is very properly a great domestic petin families which have any sort of respect for tho animal . It renders valuable service in keeping down those troublesome vermin , tho mice and rats , which infest cellars and all underground

belongings . If treated well , by which wo mean , not only with kindness , but also judiciously , the cat is sure to bo one of tho most popular inmates in a house . Pussy gets on famously with the youngsters , who tease it of course , as is the custom of wilful youngsters , and get scratched accordingly , but " the worry " of the three and four-year-olds is only momentary . One moment

they plague , the next moment they pet , and puss is far readier to be on friendly terms than always spitting and scratching . A good housewife , too , knows the value of a good cat . She need have no fear , if proper care is exercised , that her feline friend will misbehave itself in the drawing-room , or go foraging on the sly in the larder . Cats get credit for more mischief than they ever commit . As Dr .

Stables points out , and as tho experience of many of our readers will confirm , sins are too often laid at the cat's door , for which the maid or her follower is truly responsible . It is wonderful how much crockery is destroyed by the domestic cat , which , be it remarked , is the reverse of clumsy in its movements . As for the cream , the chops , the fish , the cold'lamb , & c , which disappear owing to the

hungry passions of puss , the quantity would suffice to keep a whole regiment of cats in tho plumpest condition imaginable . Cats are rather apt to fly at birds , but they may soon be taught to leave the feathered tribe alone . This disposition , which is part of their nature , may soon be corrected , and the favourite canary or piping bullfinch left in its cage in perfect security from any onslaught by Tom

or Tabitha . But in our enthusiasm for cats , we are forgetting their friend , Dr . Stables , who , we repeat , has done good service by writing the work before us . The book is in two parts or volumes , the first of which is devoted to a description of the domestic cat , under such headings as "Pussy on her Native Hearth , " "Pussy ' s Love of

Children , " " Pussy as a Mother , " Pussy s Playmates , " " Hunting Exploits , " tho whole closing with a tale , entitled "The Miller ' s Friend . " It is almost needless to remark that the whole of this , and , indeed , of the second part likewise , is freely interspersed with the liveliest anecdotes , all illustrative of some feline characteristic . Tho following is a case in point . We read , at pp . 97 and 9 S : —

"A Tom-cat , called Bruce , lived , some years ago , at a farm-house near Dundee . This cat—honest in every other way—could never resist the temptation to steal the cream . All efforts to cure him of this habit were resorted to in vain . But one day , Bruce , much to his own satisfaction , found himself shut up in the milk-house . When all was quiet , Bruce came from his corner and had a look round . What

a grand and imposing array of basins of milk and tubs-full of cream One of the latter stood ou a table beneath the window , the edge of the tub being on a level with the sill . It was the largest tub in the room ; aud blessing his luck , up jumped Bruce and began to lick . It was so delicious , and Bruce closed his eyes to get the full flavour of it . Just then , however , some noise outside startled him , —he know ho was

smuing , and was consequently nervous , —and in turning round , he missed his feet , and fell heels over head into the tub . Althongh halfchoked , so soon as he came up , Bruce struck out boldly for the shore , but the sides of the vessel were too slippery even for a cat to hold on to ; besides , the weight of the cream clogged his movements . He would fain not have screamed , but death stared him in the face , and

the idea of dying in a tub of milk , as he had seen mice die , was awful ; so he opened his mouth and gave vent to a smothered yell . That yell , loud resounding through the house , brought "ben " the good-wife , and Bruce ' s life was saved at the expenso of about threo pints of cream ; but never more did that cat go near tho milk-house . He was a reformed cat from that day ; a burning and a shining light to all the cats in tho country-side . "

As to the love of pussy for her offspring , Dr . Stables mentions several interesting cases , of which tho most remarkable are recorded at pp . 116-118 : — " Cats have been often known to leap gallantly iuto the water after a drowning kitten , aud briug it safely to land . A case occurred only a fewdays ago . Some lads stole a cat ' s ouly kitten , aud after playing

with it all day , proposed drowning it . With this intention they went to a mill-dam , aud threw it far into tho water . Dnt tho lovinn- little mother had been waiting and watching not far off ' , and , stimulated by the drowning cry of her kitten , she bravely swam towards it , aud brought it on shore . I know another instance of a cat , that saved the life of a kitten which belonged to another cat . Her own kittens had

been drowned a whole week before , but evidently she had not forgotten the loss ; and one clay , seeing four kittens being drowned in a ° pool , see plunged in , and seizing the largest brought it to bauk , and marched off with it in triumph . She reared it carefully . The children baptized it Moses , very appropriately too ; and it is now a

hue , large Tom-tabby . A poor cat some time since nearly lost her life in tho Deo , attempting to save the life of her kitten . The river was swollen with recent rains , and the kitten was in tho centre of the stream , but , nothing daunted , pussv , like the bravo little heroine she was , plunged in . and

Reviews.

finally reached it . Here her real danger onl y began , for the current was very strong , and pussy was whirled rapidly down the river . After struggling for nearly half an hour , she succeeded in landing ab a bend in the river nearly a mile below . She had stuck to her poor kitten all the time ; but the poor little thing was dead . "

All the anecdotes recorded are authenticated as far as possible , tho names and addresses of the persons from whom the author obtained them being given , and our readers will fully agree with us that cat nature is not as fully appreciated by human nature as it deserves . The second volume is devoted more especially to the history , classification and points of cats , as well as to feline ailments and their

mode of treatment . Here , too , are related sundry short stories and tales , also vouched for in the manner described under Part I . Wo wish we had more space at our disposal , so that wo might convey to our readers some idea of the excellence of Dr . Stables as the historian and medical adviser of the cat , but it will suffice , perhaps , if we

assure them that he may bo accepted a 3 readily in these latter capacities as in his capacity of student of the every day life and habits of this domestic prote " gc . The book is well printed , and though the illustrations leave something to bo desired , we know of few books we would more readily place within reach of intelligent boys , or , indeed , generally of those who take an interest in animals .

The Drama.

THE DRAMA .

" Rough and Ready , " at the Globe . — " Clanearty , " at the Queen ' s .

AFTER a very successful career in tho provinces , Mr . and Mrs . Billington have returned to delight their numerous admirers in London , aud have appeared in a piece written specially for them by Mr . Paul Merritt , entitled Rough and Ready . It is really refreshing to see one more genniuc specimen of domestic melodrama ; to hear once more the enthusiastic applause of vulgar audiences when they are told that honest poverty is noble , and , by implication , that

a rich man is geuerally a scoundrel . Sentiments of this kind are not now frequently heard at any high class theatre : they are chiefly confined to the . Dramas of the East London or tho Pavilion , but tho p leasure is all the greater for being unexpected , when we hear the gallery cheering frantically at the triumph of preternatural virtue over villainy of the blackest dye . Rough and Ready provokes

a great deal of applause of this kind , and the Yorkshire gamekeeper who is the hero of the piece , equally good at verbal repartee , or at that physical kind of repartee which we call the noblo art of self defence , is' a very popular character ; and when the end of the piece discloses tho fact that he is the elder brother by a secret marriage of a yonng gentleman who has lost no opportunity

since the rising of the curtain of grossly insulting him , it is felt that a most satisfactory climax has been reached . The drama is not without effective situations , but theso aro brought about by impossible means , and the dialogue appears to be a mixture of rude flippancy with sentimental nonsense . The acting is as a rule far too good for tho piece ; Mr . Billington plays the gamekeeper hero with

real power , but ho should remember that men who are strong mentally and physically do not indulge iu hysterical snivelling on every possible occasion ; beyond this tendency there is no fault to be found with Mr . Billington ' s acting . Mrs . Billington is always a safe actress , but wo have seen her to much greater advantage than in Rough and Ready . Mdlle . Camille Dubois plays a small part , with

charming vivacity , and sings , " I know a Maiden fair to see , with great point and expression , though with little vocal power . A rascally attorney , the villain of the drama , is portrayed by Mr . Jackson , with admirable discretion , and the minor parts are well filled . Although the piece may be said to be successful from a pecuniary point of view , wo should much prefer to have sccu Mr . and Mrs .

Billington iu some drama more worthy of their abilities . It is rather rash on the part cf Mr . George Rignold to opon a short season at the Queen ' s with " Clanearty . " The drama has been so recently played , by Mr . Neville , at the Olympic , that its newness cannot be an attraction , whilst it is tolerably certain that few will caro to compare the renderings of certain parts by artistes no one of

whom belongs to the first rank of his profession . Mr . Rignold , of course , plays Clanearty , and in a manner which shows that his visit to America has not in any way lessened his somewhat spasmodic vigour ; if Mr . Rignold would repress a tendency to address frequent impromptu speeches to tho audience , the dignity of his performance would be heightened . Miss Helen Barrv is tho new Lady Clanearty ,

and Miss M . Henderson now plays Lady Betty Noel ; she labours under the disadvantage of succeeding Miss Fowler , whoso style is admirably suited to the part , and whose rendering of it will probably never bo surpassed by any successor . The revival is tolerably successful , and ought to profitably occupy Mr . Rignold until September , when ho intends to revisit America .

"The ' Spuciahto Sherry sold by Messrs , Feltuc and Sons , of 27 Albemarle Street , W . is vouched for by various eminent chemical and medical authorities ns being pure . Wo will take that as the very best and most satisfactory basis to start from to criticise tho wine . From thenceforward v / o claim to have as good a right to

speak , and when wo say that the tasto of the Specialito Sherry' is very refined— -something that meets the modern notion of dry , and yet fulfils tho desires of those who ask for tho old-fashioned nutty flavour— we think the public may cxclain— ' We have found it ! This is the verv wine ! ' "—Court Journal .

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