Chateaubriand was much interested in Dupont de Nemours's researches into
the language of cats. "Its claws," says the latter, "and the power of
climbing trees which its claws give it, furnish the cat with resources
of experience and ideas denied the dog. The cat, also, has the advantage
of a language which has the same vowels as pronounced by the dog,
and with six consonants in addition, _m, n, g, h, v_, and _f_.
Consequently the cat has a greater number of words. These two causes,
the finer structure of its paws, and the larger scope of oral language,
endow the solitary cat with greater cunning and skill as a hunter than
the dog."
Abbe Galiani also says: "For centuries cats have been reared, but I do
not find they have ever been really studied. I have a male and a female
cat. I have cut them off from all communication with cats outside the
house, and closely observe their proceedings. During their courtship
they never once miowed: the miow, therefore, is not the language of
love, but rather the call of the absent. Another positive discovery I
have made is that the voice of the male is entirely different from that
of the female, as it should be. I am sure there are more than twenty
different inflections in the language of cats, and there is really a
'tongue' for they always employ the same sound to express the same
thing."
I heartily concur with him, and in addition have often noticed the wide
difference between the voice and manner of expression of the gelded cat
and the ordinary tom.
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