TORTOISESHELL-AND-WHITE CATS. 45 



to me, it is rather difficult to arrive at this conclusion. In 

 fact, I can scarcely realise the ground on which the theory- 

 is based — at the same time, I do not mean to ignore it 

 entirely. And yet, if this be so, from what starting-point 

 was the original domestic cat derived, and by what means 

 were the rich and varied markings obtained ? I am fully 

 aware that by selection cats with large patches of colour 

 may be obtained ; still, there remain the peculiar markings 

 of the tortoiseshell. Nor is this by any means an uncommon 

 colour, not only in this country, but in many others, and 

 there also appears to be a peculiar fixedness of this, espe- 

 cially in the female, but why it is not so in the male I am 

 at a loss to understand, the males almost invariably coming 

 either red-tabby or red-tabby-and-white. One would sup- 

 pose that black or white would be equally likely ; but, as 

 far as my observations take me,'this is not so, though I have 

 seen both pure white, yellow, red, and black in litters of 

 kittens, but this might be different were the he parent 

 tortoiseshell. 



Some years ago I was out with a shooting party not far 

 from Snowdon, in Wales, when turning past a large rock I 

 came on a sheltered nook, and there in a nest made of dry 

 grasses laid six tortoiseshell-and-white kittens about eight 

 to ten days old. I was much surprised at this, as I did not 

 know of any house near, therefore these must have been 

 the offspring of some cat or cats that were leading a roving 

 or wild life, and, yet it had no effect as to the deviation of 

 the colour. I left them there, and without observing the 

 sex. T -vas afterwards sorry, as it is just possible, though 

 scarcely probable, that one or more of the six, being all of 

 the same colour, might have proved to be a male. As I 

 left the neighbourhood a few days after I saw no more of 

 them, nor have I since heard of any being there ; so con- 

 clude they in some way were destroyed. 



I have observed in the breed of tortoiseshell or tortoise- 

 shell-and-white that the hair is of a coarser texture than the 

 ordinary domestic cat, and that the tail is generally thicker, 

 especially at the base, though some few are thin-tailed ; yet 



