THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



of a smoke cat, with fur almost white at the 

 roots and palish silver grey at the tips, and 

 as free from markings as a smoke. I do not 

 go the length of declaring that silvers cannot 

 be too light, for I think that it is the delicate 

 tips of silvery blue that lend such a charm 

 and give such distinction to this variety. 

 Without these delicate tippings a silver cat 

 would look inartistic and insipid. There has 

 been of late quite a rage amongst silver 

 breeders to produce a totally unmarked 

 specimen ; but fanciers would do better to 

 endeavour to obtain a light shaded silver free 

 from tabby markings with the broad head 

 and massive limbs, which at present are 

 qualities not often met with in this variety. 

 I am quite aware this is a most difficult task, 

 but we must remember that " all good things 

 come hard," even in breeding cats, and if it 

 were not so half the interest for fanciers 

 would be gone. 



Having, therefore, considered what a per- 

 fect silver cat ought to be, I will give a 

 description of the type of cat generally bred 

 and exhibited as a silver. I read the following 

 account in one of our daily papers, evidently 

 written by a non-admirer of these lovely 

 cats : " The chinchillas are very fashionable, 

 and very difficult to breed in perfection. 

 They took their name from a supposed like- 



1 THE AHSKXT-MIXDKI) BEGGAR. 



OWNED BY MRS. NEILD. 

 (I'lioto : E. Lamtor, Ealing.) 



" STAR DUVALS." 



SILVER PERSIAN OWNED AND BRED BY Miss MEESON. 

 (Photo : F. Parsons, Southend-on-Sea.) 



ness the fur bears to that of the chinchilla. 

 But the chinchilla cat, as at present in request, 

 bears no resemblance to the little rodent. 

 Most of the exhibits are of a dirty white, 

 tinged with lavender, with a quantity of 

 marks and stripes on the face, body, and 

 paws." Now this is not a pleasing picture, 

 and one that would be considered libellous 

 by a silver breeder. It is, however, true that 

 at present our silvers are too full of tabby 

 markings, and in many cases the 

 undercoat is not silvery white, but 

 light grey or pale blue. There are 

 many silver cats with dark spine 

 lines and shaded sides, but they are 

 heavily barred on the head and legs, 

 and the tail is frequently almost 

 black. It is a case of tabby blood 

 which needs breeding out of the 

 silvers, and which, no doubt, will be 

 obliterated in time, so that two dis- 

 tinct types of silvers will only exist 

 the delicately tipped or shaded silvers, 

 and the richly marked and barred 

 silver tabbies. Just as in the case of 

 the blue Persians it took a long 

 while to eradicate the tabby markings 



