86 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



Blue Pf.rsian Cat 



From painting b)' E. Landor 



quite as handsome as that of the Angora. It 

 has a mane around its neck, and usually has 

 dark eyes, the sinister glare of which comes 

 vividly out of its dark blue fur. By nature it is 

 less sociable in western lands than in its own, 

 which is not surprising, in view of the great 

 difference there is between Persian households 

 and ours. Angora and Persian cats are highly 

 valued when they come of pure race ; but many 

 young "Angoras" are sold which will not 

 bear minute inspection, and the buyers may 

 say with truth that they have bought a " cat 

 in a poke." 



Tricolor or tortoise-shell cats are sometimes 

 extremely beautiful, but perfect specimens are 

 rare. They have yellow-brown and red-brown 

 patches on a white ground. What experi- 

 ments might be made in this field of interest- 

 ing varieties of color still so little worked ! 

 Cats would lend themselves to it readilv, but 



much patience is needed and a vast 

 establishment. If breeders would 

 seriously apply themselves to the 

 breeding of tricolor cats, the suc- 

 cess and profit would not be long 

 in coming. It is generally believed 

 that the tricolor male cat is rare. 

 Perhaps we here meet with one of 

 those strange phenomena of color 

 in relation to sex in these animals. 

 We cannot now enter into details, 

 but we advise those who are inter- 

 ested in the breeding of cats to take 

 up the study, relatively neglected 

 and incomplete, of colors in ani- 

 mals, and, better still, to make ex- 

 periments themselves with the cats 

 they own and note down the results. 

 It is needless to enlarge on the 

 indigenous cats of Cochin China 

 and Madagascar, which have ab- 

 normal tails ; or on the Siamese 

 cat, a typical little beast with black 

 head, legs, and tail, thick fur, and 

 a brown body. In China cats are 

 fattened for food, and those who 

 do not disdain jugged hare can try 



Siamese Cat 



From painting iiy F. I.rindor 



