A.J. Jacobs in his book, The Know-it-All, talks about the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the entry on cats.
"My God, these Scotsmen were not cat people. The poor feline species inspires several hundred words of venomous prose. To give you an idea:
"'Of all domestic animals, the character of the cat is the most equivocal and suspicious. He is kept, not for any amiable qualities, but purely with a view to banish rats, mice, and other noxious animals from our houses....Constantly bent upon theft and rapine, they are full of cunning and dissimulation; they conceal all their designs; seize every opportunity of doing mischief, and then fly from punishment...In a word, the cat is totally destitute of friendship.'
"Wait, there's more. The cat is overly 'amorous' (that is, horny), 'torments' his prey, and generally 'delights in destroying all kinds of weak animals indifferently.' Cats often pretend to sleep when in 'reality they are meditating mischief.' Oh, and cat mothers 'devour their offspring.'"
I laughed so hard. I had to share this on my blog.
"venomous prose." ;) yes, this is pretty hilarious
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