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CHAPTER X. 



WHITE PERSIANS. 



A GREAT change has taken place of late 

 years in the quantity and quality of these 

 beautiful cats, for whereas formerly blue 

 eyes were considered quite a rarity, now it is 

 seldom we see any yellow-eyed white cats 

 exhibited at our principal shows. The most 

 perfect type of a white Persian is assuredly 



with human beings, they are extremely 

 fiery with their fellows. There are two 

 points peculiar to white cats they are 

 frequently stone deaf, and they very often 

 have odd-coloured eyes. Certainly the deaf- 

 ness is a drawback, and in selecting a white 

 cat care should be taken to ascertain if the 



JUNGFRAU, SIRE AND GRANDSIKK OK MANY AMERICAN WINNERS. 

 (Photo: W. F. Arnold, Oak Park, III.) 



to be found amongst the imported cats ; there 

 is a certain beauty of form and silkiness of 

 fur which is not possessed by the specimens 

 bred in this country. They are also generally 

 distinguished by unusually long coats, round 

 heads, tiny ears, and wonderful toe tufts. 



One of the most lovely white imported cats 

 was exhibited by Lady Marcus Beresford at 

 the Westminster Cat Club Show in 1900. The 

 best judges declared that there was not a 

 fault to find with " Nourmahal," but her career 

 was a short one. These imported cats are 

 often of a rather savage disposition, and, 

 although they can be sweet-tempered enough 



specimen is possessed of sound hearing. Need- 

 less to say, there are many ways of arriving 

 at the solution of what is really a mysterious 

 dispensation of Providence, for why should 

 one particular breed of the feline race be so 

 constantly minus this useful sense ? Then, 

 again, as regards the quaint arrangement of 

 different-coloured eyes. One might not be so 

 surprised if the eyes of white cats were some- 

 times pink, for their noses are pink, and the 

 cushions of their feet, and, as in human beings, 

 we might expect to have albinos amongst 

 cats, namely white with pink eyes ; but 

 Harrison Weir states he has never seen pink- 



