A reduction of the large black Cat's Head, drawn for the Posting Bill giving notice 

 of the first Cat Show at the Crystal Palace, July i6, 1871. 



OUR CATS 



AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



After a Cat Show at the Crystal Palace, I usually receive 

 a number of letters requesting information. One asks : 

 ''What is a true tortoiseshell like?" Another: "What is 

 a tabby?" and yet another: "What is a blue tabby?" One 

 writes of the "splendid disposition" of his cat, another 

 asks how to cure a cat scratching the furniture, and so on. 



After much consideration, and also at the request of 

 many, I have thought it best to publish my notes on cats, 

 their ways, habits, instincts, peculiarities, usefulness, colours, 

 markings, forms, and other qualities that are required as 

 fitting subjects to exhibit at what is now one of the insti- 

 tuted exhibitions of "The land we live in," and also the Folk 

 and other lore, both ancient and modern, respecting them. 



It is many years ago that, when thinking of the large 

 number of cats kept in London alone, I conceived the idea 



B 



