THE ZOOLOGIST. 
THIRD SERIES. 
Vot. V.] SEPTEMBER, 1881. [No. 57. 
ON THE COLOUR AND DISPOSITION OF MARKINGS 
IN THE DOMESTIC CAT. 
By G. T. Ropes. 
Tue following fact with regard to the markings of the 
Domestic Cat strikes me as being rather curious, and is I 
think worthy of notice. I have never come across any allusion 
to it in any work treating of this animal, although it may, not- 
withstanding, have been pointed out before. All Cats of the 
“harmless necessary” kind, including the long-haired varieties 
and the Manx Cat, are I believe universally supposed to be 
descended from one species, and one only, although what that 
species is has never been satisfactorily determined. 
Broadly speuking, there are two distinct patterns, if I may so 
call them, to which the markings of all coloured cats may be 
referred, for, with the exception of white ones, all may be said to 
be tabby; that is, they are marked with two shades of colour, 
a light and a dark one, disposed according to one of the two 
patterns I will attempt to describe, the markings of the face, and 
to some extent that of the chest and legs, being common to both 
patterns. Great as is the variety of colour among Domestic 
Cats, the markings of each individual will always be found to be 
disposed, as mentioned above, after one of these two distinct 
plans, which, though often somewhat modified and varied in 
different animals, are never so much so but that the general 
arrangement is at once apparent. Black cats form no exception 
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