148 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



" SEA FOAM." 

 THE PROPERTY OF MR. LAUGHTON. 



his one brief year of existence won first in the 

 open class and silver medal for best in show 

 Albert Palace, 1885, first Louth, Maidstone, 

 second Frome, third Lincoln. 



"In fatal 1886 ' Vezzoso,' who belied his 

 exquisite appearance by being very un- 

 domesticated, like his maternal grandfather 

 the wild cat of Babbicombe, roamed to 

 return no more. ' Lost in the woods ' is his 

 epitaph. 



" An even more tragic fate befel ' Fluffy II.,' 

 the 1886 son of ' Fluffy I.' and ' Chinnie,' who 

 after winning first Crystal Palace, first and 

 silver medal for best in show Brighton, second 

 Albert Palace and Ealing, and siring the two 

 before-mentioned kittens of the year, died in 

 1887 from the effects of an accident in which 

 he was internally injured. Thus within little 

 more than a year Mrs. Vallance lost three of 

 the most promising young cats anyone could 

 possess. At the time their owner scarcely 

 realised their value, and allowed them absolute 

 freedom, with such sad results. 



" But undoubtedly the best result of the 

 ' Fluffy ' and ' Chinnie ' alliance was ' Beauty,' 

 from whom, as already stated, came the 

 ' Silver Lambkins.' As a kitten she became 



the property of Miss Howe, of Bridgyate, 

 near Bath, and later, by a breeding arrange- 

 ment with the Miss Greshams (now Mrs. 

 Bridgwater and Mrs. Balding), had three 

 remarkable litters of chinchilla kittens, the 

 first by ' Rahman,' who shortly afterwards 

 strayed from home and was lost. This was 

 the litter which produced four queens, in- 

 cluding the two ' Silver Lambkins,' and 

 which (with the exception of one renamed 

 ' Mimi,' who went to America with her owner) 

 all unfortunately died. 



" The second of Bridgyate ' Beauty's ' 

 litters was by Mrs. Shearman's 'Champion 

 Perso,' a magnificent light smoke with re- 

 markable coat and wonderful mane, winner of 

 a large number of first and special prizes. In 

 this lot was a torn kitten destined to be a pillar 

 of the chinchilla stud book, the ' Silver 

 Lambkin,' named after his deceased half- 

 sisters. The chief beauties of this remarkable 

 cat are his size and muscular frame, the length 

 and thickness of coat, and the enormous frill 

 inherited from 'Champion Perso,' which spreads 

 Elizabethan like round his shoulders and falls 

 to his feet in front, a cascade of silvery white 

 fluff several inches long. To ' Perso ' may 

 be traced in some degree ' Silver Lambkin's ' 

 success as the sire of unmarked cats, and to 

 ' Beauty ' their pale colour, green eyes, and 

 perfect shape, which have won for her de- 

 scendants by ' Lambkin ' upwards of 150 

 first prizes. 



" At the time ' Silver Lambkin ' was bred 

 there was no chinchilla stud cat, and no one 

 had thought of trying to breed chinchillas, 

 for whom, as before stated, there was no 

 encouragement at shows or at home. 



" The third litter which brought further 

 fame to ' Beauty ' was by ' Bonny Boy,' who 

 in the early 'nineties was placed second in the 

 class for silver tabbies at the Crystal Palace, 

 but was considered by admirers of chinchillas 

 to be the best cat in the whole show an 

 honour, however, which came to him a month 

 later when at Brighton he was awarded the 

 special for the most perfect specimen of the 

 Persian breed in the exhibition ; he had 



