144 MR. R. I. POCOCK ON [Feb. 19, 



" Smokes,*' " Sables," " Blues," " Oranges," " Creams," " Whites," 

 "Tabbies," "Tortoise-shells," &c. The "Short-haired" are 

 similarly distinguished, after the elimination of certain types like 

 " Siamese," " Manx," and " Abyssinians," to which special classes 

 are assigned*. 



From the exhibitors' and breeders' points of view this arrange- 

 ment has much to recommend it, and probably supplies the most 

 feasible and satisfactory method of classifying the various breeds 

 that are set side by side for comparison. The animals must be 

 sorted out upon some basis, and it would perhaps be impossible to 

 suggest a substitute that would meet the requirements of fanciers 

 equally well. 



But, from the standpoint of affinity and descent, I think it is 

 open to the criticism that a primary impoi-tance is given to 

 characters like the length and thickness of the fur, the tint of the 

 ground-colour, and the absence of the tail, which can be shown to 

 have no great systematic value ; whereas a quite subsidiary signi- 

 ficance is attached to the nature of the pattern of the stripes, a 

 character which should be of the greatest moment in differen- 

 tiating the bi"eeds, if confidence be paced in the analogy supplied 

 by existing species of the genus Felis. 



It may fairly be asked, however, why a greater taxonomic value 

 is claimed for the " pattern " than for the three characteiistics 

 mentioned above upon which fanciers establish their breeds. The 

 answers are bi^iefly these : — 



1 . The shortness of the hair in tropical Leopards and Tigers as 

 compared with those that come from colder countries shows that 

 no great systematic importance can be attached to length of 

 coat. The difference between the extremes of long- and short- 

 haired Domestic Cats is admittedly much greater than that between 

 long- and short-haired Leopards or Tigers : but all gradations 

 between " Persian " and ordinary Cats exist, so that no hard-and- 

 fast line can be drawn between them ; and probably no one 

 doubts that the luxuriant growth characteristic of the former 

 breed has been preserved and increased by artificial selection. 

 In the matter of coat, the adaptability of Domestic Cats to 

 changed conditions is proved by the evolution of a thick-haired 

 breed in the Pittsburgh refrigerators t and in the ai-ctic island of 

 St. Paul t, and by the alleged shortness and stiffness of the fur in 

 Domestic Cats from Mombasa in East Africa §. 



2. The conclusion that the shortness or complete absence of the 

 tail in so-called " Manx Cats " has been brought about by selective 

 breeding from favoured sports must be regarded as beyond 

 dispute. There is no such thing as a tailless species of Felis 

 amongst fossil or recent forms. The tail is short in Lynxes, but 



* ' Cats and all about tliem,' 1902 ; and ' The Book of the Cat,' 1903, -by 

 Prances Simpson. 



t Quoted from Lydekker, ' Cats, &c.' p. 159 (1896) (Allen's Nat. Library). 



+ See H. C. Marsh, 'Darwinism,' p. 21 (1883). 



§ Darwin, 'Animals and Plants under Domestication,' p. 58 (ed. 1905). 



