i 4 RABBITS, CATS, AND CAVIES 



between the several varieties, and which make or mar 

 their success at the shows. 



I have not the slightest doubt there are hundreds, if 

 not thousands, of cats running about the country quite 

 good enough to win prizes at shows, and to sell for sub- 

 stantial figures if their owners knew their value. 



This I have proved on more than one occasion by 

 picking up specimens at different times in most unlikely 

 places, with which I have taken prizes at some of our best 

 shows. 



To give three instances from my own experience. I 

 remember being in a boot shop some years since when a 

 little brown tabby female Short-Hair jumped on the 

 counter, and made friends with me. The proprietor of 

 the shop, seeing I was interested in cats, told me she had 

 lately had kittens, and that, if I pleased, he would reserve 

 one for me when old enough to leave its mother. I 

 thanked him, and said I would call for it in a month's 

 time. 



When I went there for it, he said he had an arrival 

 in his own family, and his wife wished to get rid of cat 

 and kitten, so if I would accept it, he would be happy 

 to give me both, which I took with pleasure. 



Shortly afterwards I was in the same shop again, 

 when the man said he had been tempted to buy a fine 

 cat from a sailor, and, if I liked, I could have it for a 

 sovereign. 



This was one of the best black Persians I had ever 

 seen, and I was not long deciding to accept his offer, and 

 never regretted my purchase. As it was in the autumn, some 



