] 10 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



has told in the following letter to 

 The Guide to Nature why and how 

 she pursues her work. 



Letter from Miss Cathcart. 



The Black Short Haired Cattery was 

 so named in honor of the one who 

 practically was responsible for its ex- 

 istence, a French poodle, "Black" by 

 name and color, whose favorite friend 

 was a black short-haired female cat of 

 wonderful intelligence, who when she 

 died, left behind her a daughter, known 

 to all old friends of the Cattery as 

 "Tiger." It was originally intended to 

 breed only black cats here, but the 

 difficulty in securing good males was 

 so great, and there was such a demand 

 for all colors, that the Cattery became 

 a general, rather than a specialist 

 breeding centre. As at that time there 

 were no pedigreed short-haired cats to 

 be found in this country, the owner 

 paid a visit to England, making the 

 acquaintance of the best known 

 breeders there, from whom she ob- 

 tained her foundation stock — Cham- 

 pions Belle of Bradford, an exquisite 

 Orange Tabby male, and Prissy and 

 Lady Ann, two extremely handsome 

 black females. These cats went the 



PERFECTLY HAPPY AND BEAX T TIFUL, EVEN 

 IF TAILESS! 



THAT INIMITABLE ANGELIC EXPRESSION. 



round of the American shows, making 

 a name for the hitherto despised "com- 

 mon" cat which is gradually lifting it 

 from a state of degradation and suf- 

 fering to the status of its more favored 

 brother, the Persian. 



The points required to make a good 

 domestic short haired cat are the same 

 as for the Persians, with the exception 

 of plume, feathers, and ear tufts, which 

 are peculiar to the latter; — i.e. he 

 should be cobby in build, with short 

 tail, small feet, large round head with 

 large round eyes, and small ears, set 

 far apart. The eye color varies with 

 the color of the coat, — being orange 

 for black, blue (maltese), or orange; 

 blue for white (though orange eyes are 

 allowed in these cats if they excel in 

 other points) ; hazel for brown tabby; 

 and green for silver tabby. And here 

 let me suggest a point that all unpre- 

 judiced fanciers allow, which is that 

 in all "tabbied" or striped classes, 

 there is no cat to equal the short-haired 

 cat, for with him alone you get the 

 full benefit of the markings, sometimes 

 so distinct they seem stencilled on his 

 fur. 



Besides the ordinary common or 

 domestic cat, there are many fancy or 

 foreign varieties of short-haired cats, 

 good specimens of which are excessively 

 rare. Among these are the Siamese, a 

 cream or chocolate colored cat, with 

 dark seal brown points and blue eyes ; 

 the Manx, not only tailless, but with a 



