356 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
dark patch from which spring the stripes of the chest, only one 
of which is usually entire. As before stated, these markings are 
slightly varied and modified in different animals, and no two cats 
will be found exactly alike ; some of the markings in one example 
will be found to be only faintly or imperfectly indicated, or 
perhaps entirely suppressed; while in another specimen the 
corresponding markings will be perfectly developed, and others 
which were perfect in the first example will be somewhat altered 
in form, or nearly wanting. The ring, however modified, I have 
never found entirely absent, nor the two broad stripes over the 
loins, though they may nevertheless be so occasionally. 
From the foregoing very imperfect description of the two 
distinct manners in which the markings of cats are disposed it 
will be observed that it is the back and sides which differ most. 
The most characteristic points which distinguish pattern 1, or the 
tiger-striped variety, consist in the fact of the light tint forming 
the ground colour, and the dark the spots and stripes, and in the 
vertical direction of the side-stripes; that of pattern 2, or the 
ring-tabby, in the relation of the two tints to each other being 
reversed, and the dark consequently forming the ground, in the 
presence of the ring on the side, and of the two broad light stripes 
on the back, leaving a dark space between. Other well-marked 
distinctions might be enumerated, but the above will, I think, be 
sufficient for the present purpose. In the case of cats marked 
with white, however small the coloured patches may be, the 
markings upon them will be found to correspond exactly with 
those of whole-coloured animals, provided, of course, that the 
coloured parts are large enough to show the pattern, the effect of 
the white being precisely that of a piece of paper with holes cut 
in it of various shapes, placed over the animal, through which bits 
of the pattern are visible. ‘The distribution of white in cats is 
much the same as in dogs (more especially mongrels) ; where only 
a very minute portion of white occurs, it is most likely to be found 
on the chest; if a rather larger quantity, on the chest and feet ; 
where there is yet more white, more or less of the muzzle is 
marked with it, accompanied perhaps by a white collar; and so 
on till we come to white cats with a few dark—that is, tabby— 
spots. Sandy or red tabby cats are to be found marked according 
to both patterns. 
The distribution of colour in tortoiseshell and white cats 
