Genre:

Catechism, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood

Subjects:

Natural History, Animal Behaviour, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment

    The article addresses a series of comic questions about animals: 'Are Fish Deaf as well as Dumb?' (50), 'Can a Fly read in a book?' (51), and 'Has a cat nine lives?' (53). The illustration captioned 'A Drop of the Creature' (facing 53) depicts a genteel mother and her family being knocked over by a cat falling into the street. The article ends with an anecdote about 'an eminent and eccentric surgeon', whose advice for the treatment of a particular bodily wound was to 'Put on a Cataplasm', or, in the case of a child, 'a Kittenplasm' (56).