246 THE EGYPTIAN CAT. 



ference of colour and markings. The more remark- 

 able varieties, perhaps, are the Chartreuse cat, of a 

 bluish-grey colour ; the Persian cat, with long white 

 or grey hair ; the pendant-eared cat of China, a va- 

 riety apparently but very little known. Another is 

 the Angora cat, which we have represented on Plate 

 XXVIII, from a specimen in the Edinburgh Mu- 

 seum ; it is of a brownish white colour, and the hair 

 is remarkably long and silky. They are frequently 

 kept in this country as drawing-room pets, and are 

 aid to be more mild and gentle in their tempers 

 than the common cat. Their long covering takes 

 off to a certain extent the cat-like appearance ; and 

 being generally well fed and kept, the hair assumes 

 ail the glossy beauty of a healthy state. We have 

 not heard much in praise of their utility. 



But the Spanish, or tortoise-shell cat, as it is more 

 generally called, is by far the most pleasing and 

 beautiful variety of this animal. They are often 

 kept for their beauty alone ; and at one period a 

 male tortoise-shell, among cat-fanciers, brought a 

 high price, obtaining its value from the scarcity 

 in which this sex with the tortoise-shell markings 

 was said to be. 



In this place we ought to notice an animal which 

 has been figured by Griffith as the wild tortoise-shell 

 cat from South America. The species is in the 

 museum of Erlangen, about two feet in length, of 

 which the tail is ten or eleven inches. The hair is 

 extremely soft, long, and silky. The ground colour 



