SIAMESE CATS. 



257 



into England, and they have always owned a 

 direct descendant from the first and famous 

 " Tiam-o-Shian," and many 

 are the prize-winners they 

 have reared and shown from 

 this celebrated strain. Miss 

 Forestier- Walker has fre- 

 quently acted as judge of 

 Siamese, and took a very 

 active part in the formation 

 of the specialist club for this 

 breed. She has kindly fur- 

 nished me with the follow- 

 ing notes, and given me 

 some photographs of Mrs. 

 Vyvyan's cats : 



" Siamese cats were first 

 introduced into England 

 about twenty-five years ago, 

 but were not often seen until 

 a few years later. Among 

 the earliest were those 

 belonging to Sir Robert 

 Herbert, Lady Dorothy 

 Nevill, the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Mrs. Cun- 

 liffe Lee, Mrs. Vyvyan, and myself. Since 

 then they have become fairly common. 



"There are two 

 distinct varieties 

 in the present day. 

 (i) The ro3'al cat 

 of Siam, cream- 

 coloured in body, 

 with sharply de- 

 fined seal - brown 

 markings on head, 

 ears, legs, feet, 

 and tail ; eyes a 

 decided blue. 

 The cats generally 

 become darker 

 after two years 

 old, but where 

 great care has 

 been taken in breeding the true royal cats 

 keep the light colour longer. In any case the 

 body colouring should be even, not blotched 

 or striped. The larger, lighter-coloured cats 

 17 



THE PROPERTY OF W. MARGETSON, ESQ. 

 (Photo: H.J. Comley, Stroud.) 



TIAM-O-SHIAN I \ 

 OWNED BY MRS. VYVYAN. 

 (Photo : Speight, Kittering.) 



have china or ultramarine blue eyes ; the 

 more slender, darker cats have deeper-coloured 

 eyes. (2) The chocolate cats 

 are deep brown in colour, 

 showing hardly any mark- 

 ings, and have blue eyes. 



" All Siamese kittens are 

 white when born, but in a 

 few days slight markings 

 appear on tail, ears, and 

 paws, and by four months 

 old the markings are dark 

 and complete, excepting 

 those which connect the face 

 and head ; these are seldom 

 perfect before eight months 

 old. 



" The tails are sometimes 

 straight, which is not a fault ; 

 but a knot or kink in the 

 tail is a peculiarity of the 

 breed, and therefore desir- 

 able. In England it has 

 been asserted that this is a 

 defect, but in Siam it is highly prized, and 

 cats from the royal palace which have been 

 given bv the King as presents of value to 



important people 

 have had this dis- 

 tinction. In the 

 East a cat with a 

 kinked tail fetches 

 a higher price. 



" The Siamese 

 have a great affec- 

 tion for animals, 

 and there is no 

 doubt that the 

 cats are much val- 

 ued, those in the 

 royal palace hav- 

 ing been kept ex- 

 ceptionally pure. 

 " There is a 

 legend that the light-coloured cats, with blue 

 eyes, represent silver ; the dark cats, with 

 yellow eyes, gold ; and that the possessor of 

 both will always have plenty. This rather 





