SHORT-HAIRED CATS. 



279 



very round in face and head, with tiny ears, 

 and eyes set rather wide apart. These are 

 surely the prettiest, and are generally given 

 the preference at shows ; but, of course, it 

 cannot be denied that the long-faced variety 

 present the most foreign appearance, more 

 especially when this type also possesses a lithe 

 and rather lean body. The whiskers, eye- 

 lashes, and tip of nose should 

 all be dark blue. 



" The coat should be short 

 and close, glossy, and silver}' ; 

 sometimes it is rather woolly 

 and furry, Nature having 

 evidently provided these cats 

 with their warm, close coats 

 to enable them to resist the 

 severities of their native 

 climates, short-haired blues 

 existing also in the north of 

 Norway, Iceland, and I am 

 told in some parts of the 

 United States. Many years 

 ago some blues (with faint tabby markings) 

 were imported from the north of Norway ; 

 these were called ' Canon Girdlestone's 

 breed.' I owned two very pretty soft -looking 

 creatures. Blue-and-white cats have been 

 imported from the north of Russia, and are 

 particularly attractive when evenly marked. 



" Some blues are far paler in colour than 

 others. Amongst my kittens are frequently 

 some very beautiful lavender-blues ; I have 

 remarked that these are rather more deli- 

 cate in constitution than those of darker 

 hue. As these cats advance in years they 

 frequently become a rustv brown during the 

 summer months, or when acquiring a fresh 

 coat ; this discoloration asserts itself prin- 

 cipally at the joints of legs and feet. The fur 

 of a very old cat becomes dull and rough, 

 losing the soft and glossy appearance identical 

 with the blue Russian in his prime. 



; ' There are some people who appear to 

 wish to assert that there is an English breed 

 of blues, and I have been told strange tales of 

 unexpected meetings in country villages with 

 cats of this colour, whose owners declared that 



MKS. CAKEW COX S " YUI.A. 



both parents were English bred. As, how- 

 ever, it is not always possible to identify the 

 sires of household cats, I venture to doubt 

 these assertions. It is sometimes possible to 

 breed blues from a black English female mated 

 to a Russian male. This experiment does not 

 always succeed, as some blacks never breed 

 blues, although mated several times consecu- 

 tively with Russians. A white 

 English female mated to a 



<blue male simply produces 

 white kittens at least, this 

 has been my experience. Cats 

 imported from Archangel are 

 generally of a deep, firm blue 

 throughout ; the eyes and 

 ears rather larger than those 

 of English cats, the head and 

 legs longer. In many of the 

 Russian peasants' cabins can 

 be seen a curious coloured 

 print (executed in Moscow). 

 It represents the burial of 

 the cat after a dramatic fashion, and derives its 

 origin from a very interesting Russian legend. 

 The cat is represented as slate-coloured. 



" It is often impossible to decide the ulti- 

 mate colour of a kitten's eyes until it is four 

 months old. They vary very much, some- 

 times giving one the impression that they are 

 green, and perhaps a few days aftei wards one 

 discovers them to be yellow ! As these cats 

 become better known they naturally increase 

 in popularity, and I should not be surprised 

 to hear of several well-established kennels 

 of this breed in the immediate future. 



"It is man}' years ago since I first made 

 acquaintance with this breed ; but I find I 

 made no notes at the time, so cannot give full 

 particulars. In 1889, however, I purchased a 

 smooth blue, whose owner declared her to be 

 a Siamese she certainly resembled a puma- 

 shaped Siamese in her body outline and move- 

 ments and I believe I entered her in the stud 

 book as such. ' Dwiua ' won many prizes at 

 Crystal Palace and other shows in ' any 

 variety ' classes, was a most faithful creature, 

 reared many families, and lived until June, 



