D. W. Cutler and L. Donca.ster 71 



geueruUy hope that by nuitiiig male and fciuale tortoiseshells together 

 they may be able to breed tortoiseshell male kittens. More positive, but 

 not very conclusive, evidence is supplied by Sir Claud Alexander, Bart., 

 who has probably had more experience of tortoiseshell (or " tricolour ") 

 toms than any other pei'son. He has at different times possessed five, 

 and has probably seen the few others that have been shown at the more 

 important shows in recent years. One only of these, "Samson," was 

 undotibU'dly fertile; he sired many kittens by tortoiseshell dams, but 

 produced no tortoiseshell males. Of the remaining four, one died 

 before he was mated ; the second, which appeared quite normal, " mated 

 freely but got no kittens." The third " had a long life, served many 

 ' queens,' and got no kittens," but in one case a female after being 

 served by him was sent away and not kept under strict observation, 

 and produced one weakly kitten which soon died ; it is possible therefore, 

 but not certain, that this cat was not totally sterile. The fourth cat 

 was old when he came into Sir C. Alexander's possession, and so savage 

 with females that he was never successfully mated. His previous 

 owner, however, was confident that he had sired kittens in his youth, 

 but there is no direct evidence that the females served were kept 

 rigidly separated from other males. Finally, in the case of the famous 

 tortoiseshell torn " King Saul " which belonged to the late Mrs Herring, 

 Sir Claud Alexander writes that he was believed to have sired kittens, 

 but there appears to be no certainty of this, and no such kittens appear 

 to have been registered'. 



Altogether, therefore, it appears that of six tortoiseshell or " tricolour " 

 toms about which some information is available, one was quite fertile, 

 two completely sterile, and one other almost if not totally sterile ; the 

 remaining two are doubtful ; they are reputed to have become parents, 

 but the evidence is not conclusive. From these facts it is clear that 

 tortoiseshell toms may at least sometimes be fertile, but that a con- 

 siderable, and possibly large proportion of them are sterile. The 

 question arises whether the sterility is in some way a consequence 

 of their possessing the colour-factors normally found only in the female, 

 or whether the sterility is the primary feature, which leads to the 

 development of colour proper to the female. It is impossible to give 

 a final decision, but on the whole, the evidence points to the conclusion 

 that the sterility is a consequence of an abnormal hereditary con- 

 stitution. It is clear that, since the cat " Samson " was fertile, his 



■ Miss F. E. Fiowd has kindly searched old catalogues and made enquiries, without 

 succeeding in tracing any progeny of "King Saul." 



