Abstract
WITH reference to Mr. Vicar's letter last week (p. 551) about the cats at Victoria Station, I beg to state that there are cats all over the District Railway both in and out of the tunnels, and many of them—familiarly called “Stumpy” by the men on the line—can testify by the shortness of their tails to the hairbreadth escapes they have had from passing trains. Those I have seen are mostly full-grown cats, and only once have I seen a kitten walking on the rails, and that was at night after the traffic had ceased. At one signal-box which is built on a platform over the line, and the only access to which is by a steep iron ladder, down which no cat could climb, there are two full-grown tabbies—toms I believe—and I have often seen them asleep behind the signal bells or even on the handrail of the platform, utterly callous to the trains rushing by underneath. As a rule the men are very kind to them, and give them milk, &c.
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MALAN, E. Cats on the District Railway. Nature 29, 573 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/029573e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/029573e0
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