DOMESTIC CATS. 



4^5 



marked b}' indistinct longitudinal dark bands, and there are also numerous rows 

 of incomplete vertical stripes, passing into spots on the sides of the body. The 

 under-parts are plain-coloured, but the tail and feet are marked as in the desert- 

 cat, the under surface of the latter being, however, brown instead of black. 



The desert and waved cats have a particular interest in relation to the origin 

 of the domestic cats of India, since it appears that the fonner interbreeds with 

 domestic cats, many of which, in the i-egions inhabited by the desert-cat, are spotted 

 in a nearly similar manner. In regard to the waved cat, Mr. Blanford remarks 

 that " nothing especial is known of the habits, and it is far from improbable that 

 specimens of the present form are merely descendants of tame cats that have run 

 wild. The converse is, however, ecpially probable, that this is the aboi'iginal race 

 from wliich Indian domestic cats, and possiljjy those from other countries, are 

 derived : and the circumstance that skins from pirts of Lnlia so distant from each 

 other as Nipal, Rajputana, an<l Kashmir, are precisely similar, is in favour of the 

 latter view." 



Domestic Cats. 



In the course of our survey of tlie last few species it has been ineiilentally 

 mentioned how that the domestic cats of various countries interbreed with, and 

 more or less closely resemble in coloration, some of the species of wild cats inhabit- 

 ing the same districts. It has also been mentioned that the ancient Egyptians 

 were in the habit of taming and training the wild caffre cat of their own covnitiy, 

 which has been regarded by many authorities as the ancestral stock from which 

 were dei-ived the domesticated cats of Europe. 



Without committing ourselves definitely to any one view, we confess that we 

 are inclined to follow those who consider the caffre cat as the original parent stock 

 of the domesticated breeds of Europe, but that, as suggested by Mr. Blyth, thei-e 

 has probablj' been, at least in many districts, a large amount of subsequent crossing 

 of the original domestic breed with the wild cat. We are further disposed to believe 

 that the domesticated cats of India may have had a totally independent origin from 

 tho.se of Eui'ope, and we would also incline to the view that either the desert-cat or 

 the waved cat (if the latter be a truly wild species) may have been the original 

 parent stock from which they were derived. The common occurrence of spotted 

 domestic cats in India — such being comparatively rare in Europe — is, indeed, highly 

 suggestive of an origin from one or more of the numerous spotted wild species now 

 inhabiting that country, while the general prevalence of " tabbies " in Europe is in 

 favour of their origin from the caffre cat, with more or less intercrossing with the 

 wild cat. It is, of course, possible that the prevalence of spotted domestic cats in 

 India may be solely due to the effects of crossing with their wild compatriots, but 

 the former is certainly the most natural view. Without going into the question of 

 the origin of the domestic cats of other regions, we think, then, that, on the whole, 

 the evidence shows that all those of Europe and Asia have not been derived from one 

 single parent stock. 



Having said thus much as to the probable origin of domestic cats, we pass on 

 to consider briefly some of the most impoi-tant and well-marked of their breeds. 

 Before doing so we may, however, quote with advantage a passage from the 



