ORANGE PERSIANS. 



189 



cream, and fawn ; and, inasmuch as many fanciers 

 disagree as to the merits of the different tints for 

 eyes, to encourage the breeding and showing of 

 specimens with green, orange, hazel, and blue eyes. 



Miss Mildred Beal, Romaklkirk Rectory, Darling- 

 ton, has undertaken to act as hon. sec. to the society, 

 and will be glad to hear from any fanciers who may 

 wish to support it. 



November, 1900. 



ORANGE SELF OR TABBY POINTS. 



Colour and marking. Colour to be as bright as 

 possible, and either self or markings to be as distinct 

 is can be got. 25. 



Coat. To be silky, very long, 

 and fluffy. 25. 



Size and Shape. To be large, 

 not coarse, but massive, with 

 plenty of bone and substance ; 

 short legs. 20. 



Head. To be round and broad, 

 with short nose, ears small and 

 well opened. 15. 



Eyes. To be large and full, 

 and bright orange or hazel. 5. 



Condition. 10. 



It will be noticed that the 

 heading of these points is 

 "orange self or tabby"; but, 

 as I have pointed out, the 

 cats exhibited as orange Per- 

 sians are neither self-coloured 

 nor can they be called tabby. 

 So it remains to be seen 

 which type of cat will in due 

 course be the established one. 

 I incline towards a self-coloured orange in 

 the Persian breeds, and a very handsome cat 

 this would be of just one tone of bright even 

 colour, perhaps slightly lighter on the flanks 

 and stomach, under the tail, and with a frill 

 of paler tone. In fact, very much the type of 

 a smoke cat, in two shades of brilliant orange. 

 At the same time, if real orange tabbies can be 

 bred with the distinct body markings these 

 should be encouraged. 



At the Cat Club shows it has been custom- 

 ary to give the classification for orange cats 

 marked or unmarked, so that then the judge 

 may not have to take tabby markings into 

 consideration, but give his awards according 



' BENJAMIN OF THK DURHAMS 



THE PROPERTY OF MRS. D'ARCY HILDYARD. 

 (Photo: Burgess, Market Lavington.) 



to colour and other points of excellence. It is 

 the same when a class is given for sable or 

 brown tabby, silver or shaded silver. In such 

 classes it would be unfair to consider either 

 the tabby markings in the one or the amount 

 of shadings in the other. Of course, it is 

 possible that in time orange cats may be bred 

 to such perfection that two distinct classes 

 will be given, namely " orange " (selfs) and 

 " orange tabby." In former years blues 

 (selfs) and. blue tabbies were included in one 

 class, but gradually blue 

 tabbies have been disappear- 

 ing from our midst. If, 

 therefore, orange tabbies I 

 mean, of course, long-haired 

 cats should likewise be- 

 come extinct, our browns 

 and silvers would be the sole 

 representatives of tabbies in 

 the long-haired varieties. 



As regards the eyes in 

 orange Persians, the stand- 

 ard given in the foregoing 

 list of the specialist society 

 is "bright orange or hazel." 

 I should prefer the terms 

 " golden bronze or hazel," 

 as there is a special shade of 

 gold with a dash of bronze 

 or brown which seems to 

 tone best with the bright 

 coats of these cats. Cer- 

 tainly the pale yellow or greenish-yellow eye 

 is not desirable better a bright green eye. I 

 often wonder if ever fanciers will be fortunate 

 enough to breed an orange Persian with bright 

 blue eyes, such as are seen in whites and 

 Siamese. I have heard of a short-haired 

 orange cat with blue eyes, and sometimes I 

 have been told by a fancier of the Persian 

 tribe that they had bred an orange, and its 

 eyes had not turned from the deep kitten blue 

 at four months, so they were fondly hoping 

 they were going to astonish the cat world ; but 

 their hopes were dashed to the ground, for 

 surely and sadly a change came o'er the colour 

 of that cat's eyes, and it was a case of the 



