Book of Cats and Dogs, and Other Friends, for Little Folks

Part 1

NATURAL HISTORY SERIES—BOOK FIRST.

BOOK OF CATS AND DOGS, AND OTHER FRIENDS, FOR LITTLE FOLKS.

BY JAMES JOHONNOT.

NEW YORK ·:· CINCINNATI ·:· CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.

COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

WHY AND HOW.

Children love pets; they never tire of stories; and they are delighted with jingle and the fun of incongruity. Mother Goose reigns supreme in the fairy-land of infancy. Through these loves the little opening minds may be led to careful observation, comparison, and descriptions—steps at once necessary to mental growth, and leading up to the portals of science. By insensible degrees, play may be made to merge in study, and fun take on the form of fact.

Upon these ideas of the basis and method of thought, this little work has been constructed. A few familiar nursery-rhymes serve to connect the present with the past thought of the child. The pet of the household—the cat—is studied. From the obvious in structure and movement, the mind is led to see relations, and the adaptations of structure to functions and outward conditions. As each new animal is introduced, the study goes on by comparisons, showing resemblances and differences, and pointing toward scientific classifications.

This and kindred works will be of little use, however, if the lessons stop with the book. The whole intent of the method is to incite to a study of the animals themselves—the matter in the book directing attention, arousing interest, and serving as a guide to observation.

An endeavor has been made to present the pleasant side of animal life. To this end the affection, the intelligence, and the uses of our servants and friends have been dwelt upon, and ideas of violence have received but a passing notice. That we should be kind to animals is a necessary inference from observed relations, and this obviates the necessity of a formal exhortation or a cut-and-dried moral.

As a reader, this book is designed to supplement the regular reader of the grade. Common and familiar language is used, but no effort has been made to reduce the expressions to baby-talk, or to construct halting sentences with words of three or four letters only.

CONTENTS.

LESSON PAGE

The Cat and the Fiddle 9

Mother Hubbard and her Dog 10

I. What the Cat Does 11

II. The Grateful Cat 13

III. What the Cat Wears 15

Who Stole the Apples? 17

IV. Patch and the Mouse 18

Tommy and the Chickens 20

V. How the Cat Moves 21

VI. Daisy and her Plays 23

VII. How the Cat Eats 25

VIII. Old Tom and the Eagle 27

IX. How the Cat Sees 29

X. Miss Muffet and Fluffy 31

Fluffy and the Mouse 33

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XI. How Dogs Behave 35

XII. How Nero Saved his Master 37

XIII. How Dogs Look 39

XIV. How Mungo Did 41

XV. How Dogs Use their Feet 43

XVI. The Dog and the Shadow—A Fable 45

The Boot-black and his Dog 46

XVII. How Dogs Use their Jaws 47

XVIII. Lupo and Tiny 49

XIX. How Dogs See and Smell 51

XX. Puff and the Baby 53

Puff and the Rat 55

XXI. How the Horse Looks 57

XXII. The Horse and his Friends 59

XXIII. How the Horse Eats 61

XXIV. How the Pony got Shod 63

XXV. What the Horse Does 65

XXVI. What the Horse can Do 67

XXVII. How the Horse should be Treated 69

XXVIII. How the Donkey Looks 73

XXIX. What the Donkey Does 75

XXX. What the Donkey can Do 77

Strange Doings 79

XXXI. How the Cow Looks 81

XXXII. What Cattle Do 83

XXXIII. What Cattle are Good for 85

XXXIV. How the Sheep Looks and Lives 87

XXXV. The Ways of the Sheep 89

Part 3

XXXVI. About Goats 91

XXXVII. About Pigs 93

The Little Piggie Wig 95

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE.

Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see the witch-craft, And the dish ran away with the spoon.

MOTHER HUBBARD AND HER DOG.

Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard, To get her poor dog a bone; But when she got there, The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none.

LESSON I.

WHAT THE CAT DOES.

1. Come, Jessie! put your kitty up in the cradle, and take a good look at her. She looks very pleasant. Can you tell us anything about her?

2. Yes! the other day I saw her come out of the barn with a mouse in her mouth.

3. She would lay the mouse down and let it run a little way, and then would pounce upon it and catch it again.

4. By-and-by she got tired of playing with it, and then she bit off its head and ate it up.

5. One day I saw her creep slyly along the ground and spring upon a little bird; but it flew away out of her reach. In a little while I heard it sing up in a tree.

6. I was glad that she did not catch the bird, but she looked sorry. When she catches birds, I think she is a naughty pussy; but perhaps she does not know any better.

7. I like to hear her purr, and have her rub against my hand, for then she is good and ready to play. It is great fun to see her run round after her tail.

8. But sometimes she growls and looks cross, and then I am afraid to touch her for fear she will scratch me.

9. When she is hungry she comes and mews until she gets something to eat. Some cats will jump upon the table and steal meat, but my kitty knows better.

10. She does not like dogs. One day a strange dog came into the yard and barked at her.

11. Then her back came up, her fur stood out straight, and she growled and spit at him.

12. When he tried to bite her, she gave him a scratch on both sides of his nose, and ran up a tree out of his reach.

LESSON II.

THE GRATEFUL CAT.

1. A lady tells this pretty story of how a cat showed its thanks to a kind friend who had helped it in distress:

2. While living in a country place, one day the cat ate some rat-poison, but not enough to kill it. It was very ill, and cried like a little child. Its pain and heat were so great that it would dip its paws in water to cool them, though cats nearly always keep away from the water.

3. At last it went to the lady, and, mewing and looking up to her in a most pitiful way, seemed to ask for help. The lady took the poor thing in her arms, and tried in all ways she could think of to relieve it.

4. She bound it up in cool, wet cloths, and gave it medicine and gruel, and took care of it all day and night. The cat was soon better, and after a day or two it was as well as ever; and this was the way it took to show how thankful it was to the lady for her kindness:

5. One night, after she had gone up-stairs, she heard a mew at the window; and, upon opening it, there was the cat with a mouse in its mouth.

Part 4

6. It had climbed up a tree that grew against the house, and, when the window opened, it came in and laid the mouse at the lady’s feet. It rubbed against her, and purred loudly, as if it said, “See what a fine mouse I have brought you!”

7. The cat thought a mouse the best of all things, and this best it gave up for itself, and brought to its best friend, the lady.

8. This she did for a long time every day, and when, afterward, she caught mice for her kittens, one mouse was laid aside for the lady. If the kittens tried to eat this, she gave them a little pat, as if she said, “That is not for you.”

9. After a while the lady would take the mouse, and thank puss with a pleased look and a kind tone, and then give it to the kittens, the cat looking on well pleased while they ate it.

LESSON III.

WHAT THE CAT WEARS.

1. Come, Jessie, take your cat in your lap and look at her again. Can you tell something more about her?

2. Yes! Pussy has a thick coat of soft fur to keep her warm, so that she can run out of doors in cold weather.

3. She does not need to have clothes like ours, and mamma does not ever have to mend her coat. Her fur all grows one way, and it is so thick that, when it rains, the water runs off and does not wet her skin unless it rains hard.

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