ANECDOTES ABOUT CATS 257 



" Mr Neville first brought a kitten without a tail from 

 the Isle of Man ; she became on growing up the parent 

 of numerous progeny. One of the kittens was given 

 to my mother, and a more gentle, amiable and affectionate 

 little quadruped never acquired the affection of a house- 

 hold. 



" Her fur was light tortoiseshell in colour, and 

 remarkably soft. She was somewhat more delicate 

 than many of her grimalkin neighbours, and as re- 

 gards her tail, it was about half an inch long, merely 

 a little tuft. 



" But we did not observe that the want of that natural 

 rudder prevented her from running in a straight line, 

 or climbing trees most admirably. 



" Her movements were remarkably graceful and cat- 

 like in all respects, and I never observed in her actions 

 or mode of progressing the slightest similarity to those 

 of the Rabbit family. 



" One or two of her kittens were nearly, if not quite, 

 without tails occasionally she had long-tailed kittens ; 

 her mother, as I have said, came from the Isle of Man." 



From the foregoing I have no doubt that the cat 

 described by R. D. was a pure Manx, and the one 

 in the paragraphs above a half-bred Manx, taking 

 after the dam in tail but with the action of its long- 

 tailed sire, and the fact that such specimens are 

 occasionally exhibited in Manx and Variety Classes 

 is my reason for saying in my sketch about Manx cats 

 that all cats even born without tails are not necessarily 

 pure-bred specimens of the variety. 



