Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/238

230 As those great burghers of the forest wild, The hart, the goat, and he that slew the child Of wanton Mirrah, in their strength do know The due observance nature doth me owe."

That the panther had a spot on his hide which bore the form of the moon, and that, like her, it regularly increased to full and then diminished to a crescent, was an error at least as old as Pliny, who likewise tells us of a species of ape that became quite melancholy when the moon was on the wane, and leapt for joy at the time of new moon, and adored it. That the domestic cat and other felidæ have pupils which are but narrow lines in sunshine and are at night dilated is a fact which Science recognises. It was mainly on account of this peculiarity, as I believe, that cats were chosen for the steeds of the Teutonic goddess Freyja, who ruled the night, as her brother Frô or Freyr, in some sort, ruled the day. So Pussy was a kind of symbol of lunar influence; and, as that influence is great on tides, seafaring men pay great respect to cats.

Another bit of folk-lore about the panther is to be found in Noah's Flood; it is referred to as an animal