256 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



General Appearance. With points emphasised 

 above, a somewhat curious and striking looking cat, 

 of medium size ; if weighty, not showing bulk, as 

 this would detract from the admired " svelte " appear- 

 ance. In type, in every particular, the reverse of 

 the ideal short-haired domestic cat, and with properly 

 preserved contrasts of colour, a very handsome 

 animal, often also distinguished by a kink in the tail. 



Remarks. While admit- 

 ting that blues, blacks, 

 whites, tabbies, and other 

 coloured cats may be also 

 cats of Siam, these being 

 common to all parts of the 

 world, this club recognises 

 only as Siamese cats those 

 cats the points of which 

 conform to the above 

 standard, and is, in fact, 

 desirous of encouraging the 

 breeding of those particular 

 cats first made known to 

 British fanciers as the 

 -' royal " Siamese. 



The points of the 

 " chocolate " Siamese are 

 the same as above, with 

 the exception of body 

 colour. 



VALUE OF POINTS. 



Body colour 



Shape 



Coat 



Head 



Eyes 



Mask 



Density of points 



20 

 IO 

 10 

 IO 

 2O 

 15 

 15 



MRS. ROBERTS LOCKE, WITH 



AM) " BANGKOK." 

 (Photo: S. S. Finlcy, Chicago.) 



75 of the above marks 



shall not be eligible for the club's challenge prizes 



and medals. 



Total . . . . 100 

 Any cat failing to obtain 



It was shortly after the formation of the 

 Siamese Cat Club that the following letter 

 appeared in Fur and Feather: 



POINTS OF THE SIAMESE. 

 The committee of the Siamese Club wish to draw 

 attention to the unfortunate diversity of opinion 

 concerning Siamese cats expressed in articles which 

 appear from time to time in some of the papers which 

 devote a portion of their issue to cat news. One great 

 object of the Siamese Club is to encourage the dis- 

 tinct breeding of the royal cat of. Siam and also of the 

 chocolate cat of Siam both beautiful in their own 



way, but recognised as distinct breeds. The Siamese 

 Club is young, and not infallible ; but, containing as 

 it does most of the principal breeders and exhibitors, 

 its committee would like to record their opinion on 

 some few points which have appeared in the Press, 

 in order to avoid a silence which might be construed 

 as consent. With regard to colour, they cannot agree 

 that a royal can be too light in body colour, nor can 



they endorse " we like a 

 rich cream body, choco- 

 late saddle, and the points 

 glossy black, shading away 

 to chocolate." Another 

 paper advises the mating 

 of royal Siamese with the 

 chocolate variety. It is 

 true that the young kittens 

 are very pretty, but after 

 six months old quickly 

 become dark and blurred. 

 The great beauty of royal 

 Siamese is the contrast 

 between the sharply de- 

 fined, deepest brown mark- 

 ings and a body of as 

 light a cream as possible. 

 A third paper gives the 

 information that an exhibi- 

 tor known to it has bred 

 prize - winning Siamese 

 from a cross between a 

 white cat with blue eyes 

 and a Siamese queen. It 

 also mentions another case 

 where such crossing has 

 produced good Siamese 

 kittens, and thinks "that 

 many other people have, 

 with more or less suc- 

 cess, followed the same 

 tactics. The above ex- 

 periment has often been tried, purposely and acci- 

 dentally, but no case is known to the writers where 

 the result has been anything like Siamese, the kittens 

 always favouring the English parent. All Siamese 

 are born white, and therefore if the children of one 

 white parent died quite young such a mistake might 

 be natural. It certainly would be very unfair to 

 sell such kittens, as their progeny would inherit, and 

 might pass on, an English parentage, not even neces- 

 sarily white. A white is, or may be, merely an albino 

 variety. (Signed). A. Forestier Walker, Jean A. 

 Spencer, May Robinson, L. Parker-Brough, S. E. 

 Backhouse, Constance Carew Cox. 



Miss Forestier Walker and Mrs. Vyvyan 

 were amongst the first to introduce Siamese cats 



