165 



"THE MARQUIS OF DINGLEY. 



SILVER TABBY, OWNED BY Miss ANDERSON LEAKE. 



(Photo : Cassell & Company, Limited.) 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SILVER TABBY PERSIANS. 



^ I A HERE can be no question that a really 

 _L good silver tabby will carry off the 



palm even from the most exquisite 

 unmarked silver cat, and in this assertion I 

 feel I have the support of all our professional 

 judges, for with the " mere man," it is well 

 known, the pale silvers do not stand high 

 in favour. Men call them " wishy-washy," 

 insipid, and wanting in expression, and are 

 generally displeased at this sport in the fancy 

 that has spoiled the handsome silver tabbies 

 of years gone by. 



No doubt there is just cause for complaint, 

 for the inter-breeding of silvers with silver 

 tabbies has undoubtedly done much to destroy 

 the clear defined markings which in tabby 

 cats is their chief glory. Now, of course, it 

 is easily understood that these tabby markings 

 in a long-haired cat cannot be so distinct as 

 those that appear to such advantage in the 

 short-haired breeds. " The better the coat 

 the weaker the markings," may be said of 

 Persian silver tabbies, and judges have been 



11* 



known to give the highest award to an out- 

 of-coat specimen just because the markings are 

 more evident than in a cat in full pelage. 

 Harrison Weir states that " Tabby is not a 

 Persian colour," and goes on to say, " Nor 

 have I ever seen an imported cat of that 

 colour." His definition of a silver tabby 

 reads thus : " Markings : Jet-black lines, not 

 too broad, scarcely so wide as the ground 

 colour shown between, so as to give a light 

 and brilliant effect. When the black lines are 

 broader than the colour space, it is a defect, 

 being then black marked with colour, instead 

 of colour with black. The lines must be 

 clear, sharp, and well-defined, in every way 

 distinct, having no mixture of the ground 

 colour. Head and legs marked regularly, 

 the rings on the throat and chest being in no 

 way blurred or broken, but clear, graceful, and 

 continuous ; lips, cushions of feet, and the 

 backs of hind legs, and the ear points, black." 

 And here it will be interesting to give the 

 discussion which took place and the list of 



