TABBY CATS 71 



Another view that may be held is that the Blotched 

 Tabby resulted from crossing some introduced exotic 

 species with the Striped Tabby. But there is no 

 reason to think that, apart from menagerie-kept 

 specimens, representatives of any exotic species, 

 except tamed African Wild Cats, have ever been 

 introduced into Europe. It is also absolutely certain 

 that the Blotched Tabby is not the pure-bred descen- 

 dant of any species of existing Cat, since its pattern 

 is quite unlike that of any known species of the 

 genus Felis. 



Finally, it may be held that the Blotched Tabby 

 is the survivor of some species of European Cat 

 which is now extinct as a wild animal. In this 

 connection it may be remembered that complete 

 extinction as wild species has followed the domestica- 

 tion by man of the agriotype or wild form of Euro- 

 pean cattle, of eastern humped cattle, of the ass, 

 of more than one species or race of horse, according 

 to modern views, certainly of one perhaps of both 

 species of camel, and perhaps of our long-tailed 

 breed of sheep. This extinction of the wild forms 

 of some of our domesticated animals points to the 

 possibility of a like fate having overtaken the ancestor 

 of the Blotched Tabby. However that may be, 

 it seems to me that the origin of this Cat must be 

 explained on the hypothesis either that it is a 

 mutation of the Striped Tabby or that it is the 

 survivor of some species now extinct in a wild state. 



From the Mendelian standpoint these two Cats 

 are of the greatest interest, for the following reasons : 



