...Swan, in his ' Speculum Mundi ' (Cambridge, 1643), writing of the cat, says: — "She useth therefore to wash her face with her feet, which she licketh...crown of her head in this kind of washing, it is a signe of rain." Indeed, in the eyes of the superstitious, there is scarcely a movement of the cat which...

..." Speculum Mundi " in 1643, tells us very seriously that the cat " useth therefore to wash her face with her tongue ; and it is observed by some that...crown of her head in this kind of washing, it is a signe of raine." In fact there was scarcely a movement of the cat which had not its meaning for the...

...Mundi " (Cambridge, 1634), "therefore to wash her face with her feet, which she licketh and moiseneth with her tongue; and it is observed by some that if...head in this kind of washing, it is a sign of rain." In his " Hesperides " Herrick refers to this belief: True calendars as pusses eare, Wasn't o'er to...

...wedding day she brought good luck to the bride. The cat "useth therefore to wash her face with her paw, and it is observed by some that if she put her feet...this kind of washing, it is a sign of rain." If a kitten comes to a house in the morning, it is lucky; if in the evening, it portends evil of some kind,...

...' Hesperides '; and from Swan's ' Speculum Mundi' (1643) :— " It is observed by some that if the put her feet beyond the crown of her head in this kind of washing, it is a signe of rain." с. с. в. I have heard it remarked in North Yorkshire that when a cat " washes over...