“To make this theory all the more probable, images and symbols of the cat were dedicated to the moon, the moon being universally regarded as the quintessence of everything supernatural, the very cockpit, in fact, of mystery and spookism.  The nocturnal habits of the cat, its love of prowling about during moonlight hours, and the spectacle of its two round, gleaming eyes, may, of course, as Plutarch seems to have thought, have suggested to the Egyptians human influence and analogy, and thus the presence of its effigy in temples to Isis would be partially, at all events, accounted for; though, as before, I am inclined to think there is another and rather more subtle reason.

“From endless experiments made in haunted houses, I have proved to my own satisfaction, at least, that the cat acts as a thoroughly reliable psychic barometer.

“The dog is sometimes unaware of the proximity of the Unknown.  When the ghost materializes or in some other way demonstrates its advent, the dog, occasionally, is wholly undisturbed—­the cat never.  I have never yet had a cat with me that has not shown the most obvious signs of terror and uneasiness both before and during a superphysical manifestation.

“Now, although I won’t go so far as to say that ghostly demonstrations are actually dependent on the moon—­that they occur only on nights when the moon is visible—­experience has led me to believe that the moon most certainly does influence them—­that moonlight nights are much more favourable to ghostly appearances than other nights.  Hence—­there is this much in common between the moon and cats—­the one influences and the other is influenced by psychic phenomena—­a fact that could scarcely have failed to be recognized by so keen observers of the occult as the Ancient Egyptians.

“The presence of the cat’s effigy in the temples of Isis might thus be explained.  Over and over again we come across the cat in the land of the Pharaohs.  It seems to be inseparable from the esoteric side of Egyptian life.  The goddess Bast is depicted with a cat’s head, holding the sistrum, i.e. the symbol of the world’s harmony, in her hand.

“One of the most ancient symbols of the cat is to be found in the Necropolis of Thebes, which contains the tomb of Hana (who probably belonged to the Eleventh Dynasty).  There, Hana is depicted standing erect, proud and kingly, with his favourite cat Borehaki—­Borehaki, the picture of all things strange and psychic, and from whom one cannot help supposing he may have chosen his occult inspiration—­at his feet.  So sure were the Egyptians that the cat possessed a soul that they deemed it worthy of the same funeral rites they bestowed on man.  Cats were embalmed, and innumerable cat mummies have been discovered in wooden coffins at Bubastis, Speos, Artemidos and Thebes.  When a cat died the Egyptians shaved their eyebrows, not only to show grief at the loss of their loved one, but to avert subsequent misfortune.