MATING. 105 



Very beautiful brown tabbies are also to be found 

 among the litters of the female tortoiseshell, allied with a 

 dark-brown tabby with narrow black bars. It is a cross 

 that may be tried with advantage for both variety and rich- 

 ness of colour, among which it will not be found difficult to 

 find something worthy of notice. 



WHITE. 



Of English, or short-haired cats, the best white are those 

 from a tortoiseshell mother, and as often some of the best 

 blacks. These whites are generally of soft yellow, or sandy 

 tint of white. Although they have pink noses, as also are 

 the cushions of their feet, they are not Albinos, not having 

 the peculiar pink or red eyes, nor are they deficient in sight. 

 I have seen and examined with much care some hundreds 

 of white cats, but have never yet seen one with pink eyes, 

 though it has been asserted that such exist, and there is no 

 reason why they should not. Still, I am inclined to think 

 they do not, and the pale blue eyes, or the red tinted blue, 

 like those of the Siamese, take the place of it in the feline 

 race ; neither have I ever seen a white horse with pink eyes, 

 but I find it mentioned in one of the daily papers that 

 among other presents to the Emperor of Russia, the Bokhara 

 Embassy took ^vith them ten thoroughbred saddle-horses of 

 different breeds, one of them being a magnificent animal — 

 a pure white stallion with blue eyes. 



The cold gray-white is the opposite of the black, and 

 this knowledge should not be lost sight of in mating. It 

 generally has yellow or light orange eyes. This colour, in 

 a male, may be crossed with the yellow-white with advan- 

 tage, when more strength of constitution is required ; but 

 otherwise I deem the best matching is that of two yellow- 

 white, both with blue eyes, for soft hair, elegance, and 

 beauty ; but even a black male and a white female produce 

 whites, and sometimes blacks, but the former are generally 



