2 CRYSTAL PALACE CAT SHOW. 



that it would be well to hold '' Cat Shows," so that the dif- 

 ferent breeds, colours, markings, etc., might be more care- 

 fully attended to, and the domestic cat, sitting in front of 

 the fire, would then possess a beauty and an attractiveness 

 to its owner unobserved and unknown because uncultivated 

 heretofore. Prepossessed with this view of the subject, I 

 called on my friend Mr. Wilkinson, the then manager of the 

 Crystal Palace. With his usual businesslike clear-headed- 

 ness, he saw it was "a thing to be done." In a few days 

 I presented my scheme in full working order : the schedule 

 of prizes, the price of entry, the number of classes, and the 

 points by which they would be judged, the number of prizes 

 in each class, their amount, the different varieties of colour, 

 form, size, and sex for which they were to be given ; I 

 also made a drawing of the head of a cat to be printed on 

 black or yellow paper for a posting bill. Mr. F. Wilson, the 

 Company's naturalist and show manager, then took the 

 matter in charge, worked hard, got a goodly number of cats 

 together, among which was my blue tabby, " The Old Lady," 

 then about fourteen years old, yet the best in the show of 

 its colour and never surpassed, though lately possibly 

 equalled. To my watch-chain I have attached the silver bell 

 she wore at her debut. 



My brother, John Jenner Weir, the Rev. J. Macdona, 

 and myself acted as judges, and the result was a success 

 far beyond our most sanguine expectations — so much so 

 that I having made it a labour of love of the feline race, 

 and acting " without fee, gratuity, or reward," the Crystal 

 Palace Company generously presented me with a large silver 

 tankard in token of their high approval of my exertions on 

 behalf of "the Company," and — Cats. Now that a Cat 

 Club is formed, shows are more numerous, and the entries 

 increasing, there is every reason to expect a permanent 

 benefit in every way to one of the most intelligent of (though 

 often much abused) animals. 



