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



Cats from some Siamese or Oriental species, must be challenged 

 to produce that species before the question can be profitably- 

 discussed. There seems to be no reason whatever for entertaining 

 Trouessart's suggestion* that the rare Bornean Felis hadia was 

 its agriotype. I may add that all the small species of Felis in- 

 habiting Siam, including even F. chaus, which is doubtfully 

 indigenous, differ in the structure of the skull and teeth from 

 the Siamese Domestic Cat f. 



According to Blyth (Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xxv. pp. 442-445, 

 1856) two types of Domestic Cat were prevalent in India in his 

 time. " One is the streaked or spotted type, the colouring and 

 markings of which are not much unlike those of the European 

 Wild Cat {F. si/lvestris), only more distinct, and the ti-ansverse 

 streaks are more broken into spots, especially towards the hinder 

 part of the body ; the fur, however, is short, and the tail J slender 

 and of uniform apparent thickness to the end, showing a series of 

 rings and a black tip ; ears slightly rufescent externally but 

 infuscated, but passing to black at tip, where there is a distinct 

 small pencil-tuft of black hairs. Paws deep sooty black under- 

 neath.'"' Two examples of this Cat were shot wild in the Punjab 

 Salt Range ; another seen at Allahabad in a state of domestica- 

 tion exactly resembled them ; but the tame Cats of Calcvitta were 

 usually greyer, with smaller and more numerous spots. 



The other type, says Blyth, resembles the Jungle-Cat (F. cheats) 

 in colour, the body being uniformly " cat-gi-ey," more or less rusty 

 or fulvescent, without a trace of spots or stripes, but the stripes 

 on the tail and limbs are more distinct ; there are also confused 

 stripes on the forehead and two on the cheeks and a dark band 

 across the chest ; the lower parts are whitish or tinged with 

 tawny, and spotted ; the ears are dull rufous behind with a 

 slight blackish tip and no pencil of hairs ; the paws more or less 

 sooty beneath. In its proportions, however, this Cat is quite 

 different from F. chaus, the limbs and ears being much shorter, 

 and the tail much longer and tapering. Blyth adds that Domestic 

 Cats of this type abounded in Bengal, if not all over India, but 

 were quite unknown in Europe ; whereas, on the other hand, 

 the English "tabby" was qviite unknown in India. 



Mr. W. L. Sclater also discussed these two breeds, and accredited 

 Blyth with the belief that the self-coloured " cA«?6s "-like type was 

 derived from interbreeding between the " Domestic " Cat and 

 F. chaus (Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. ii. p. 233, 1891). He also sug- 

 gested that the form named F. torquata by F. Cuvier was based 

 upon a feral example of the spotted or streaked breed. 



So far as I can judge from what the two authors quoted say 

 about these breeds, there is nothing to distinguish them from 



* Cat. Mamm. 1904, p. 273. 



t For list of the species, see S. S. Flower, P. Z. S. 1900, pp. 322-327. 



X In this particular the tail must resemhle and not differ from that typical of 

 1?. sylvestris. Surely Blyth intended to say "tapering" towards the end, otherwise 

 the remark is pointless. 



