THE CAT. 



[CHAP. i. 



The tabby cat may be the result of the occasional crossing of the 

 domestic cat by the wild cat. That they do breed together occasion- 

 ally is certain,* and indeed races of domestic cats of different parts 

 of the world will breed with wild cats of the same region. 



The tortoiseshell cat should be fawn-coloured, mottled with black. 

 Cats thus marked are almost invariably females, while sandy-coloured 

 cats are almost always males. It appears that the sandy torn cat is 

 the male of the breed of which the tortoiseshell is the female the 

 litters being almost invariably so divided. This fact is very interest- 

 ing, because the sexes of cat-like animals are similarly coloured. f 



Sometimes, however, sandy cats are female, and there is at least 

 one good instance of a true tortoiseshell torn cat. Such cats, indeed, 

 have not unfrequently been offered, by letter, to the Secretary of the 

 Zoological Society, at very extravagant prices. Probably many of 

 them were male cats of three colours such as white and tortoiseshell 

 and grey-white and sandy but not the true tortoiseshell. 



The Royal Siamese cat is of one uniform fawn colour, which may 

 be of a very dark tinge. There is a tendency to a darker colour 

 about the muzzle as in pug dogs. It has also remarkable blue 

 eyes, and sometimes, at the least, two bald spots on the forehead. 

 It has a small head. 



The blue or Carthusian cat is a breed with long, soft hair of a uniform, 

 dark greyish-blue tint, with black lips, and black soles to the paws. 



The Angora, or Persian cat, is remarkable for its great size, and 

 for the length and delicacy of its hair, especially of the belly and 

 throat. Most commonly its coat is of a uniform white, yellowish 

 or greyish colour, while the soles of its paws and its lips are often 

 rlesh-coloured. Its temperament is said to be sometimes exception- 

 ally lethargic ; but this is certainly not always the case, and may 

 be due to excessive petting for generations. This breed is believed 

 by some naturalists to be descended from an Asiatic wild cat ; J with 

 a shorter tail than that of the Egyptian cat. It is commonly re- 

 peated in works on Natural History that there is in China a breed 

 of cats with pendent ears; but the Pere David regards the 

 assertion as an absurd fable. He has repeatedly sought to find 

 such animals, but has never been able to see any, or to learn that 

 they existed. 



* This lias been ascertained by Mr. A, 

 IT. "Wills, who succeeded in getting the 

 wild and domestic cat to breed together 

 in confinement. (See Land and Water, 

 Sept. 4th, 1875 ; and the Zoologist for 

 1873, p. 3574 ; and for 1876, pp. 4867 

 and 5038.) Mr. S. C. B. Ptisey has also 

 successfully crossed the wild and domestic 

 cat, and several kittens resulting from 

 this cross have been sent to the gardens of 

 the Zoological Society of London. This 

 interbreeding is remarkable, seeing that 

 the period of gestation of the wild cat is 

 sixty-eight days, or twelve days longer 



than that of the domestic animal. 



f The only exception I have met with 

 is the Yaguarondi of America, in which 

 species the female is said to be of a 

 lighter and brighter colour than the 

 male. 



+ Pallas says that cats like the Angora 

 cat are brought to Siberia from China. 

 Zoographia Russo-Asiatica, vol. i. p. 28, 

 note 3. 



The well-known Lazarist missionary 

 and naturalist, who has made so many 

 interesting discoveries in China and 

 Thibet. 



