1 6 MAMMALS 



the difference is enhanced by the great length of hair. 

 This is soft, dense and very profuse all over the body, includ- 

 ing a brush to rival that of the fox. The head is broad and 

 short. The shoulders and back are well developed and 

 the legs of moderate length. 



Both short-haired and Persian cats are found in many 

 colors. The eyes of most should be deep yellow or orange, 

 with the exception of whites, in which they are blue, or 

 sometirnes one of each color. Blacks are perhaps the most 

 common and must be of deep lustrous color, entirely free 

 from white spots or ticks. Whites are attractive but all 

 too frequently those with the correct blue eyes are deaf. 

 In selecting specimens, this point should be observed. 



Smokes have a rather unattractive sooty appearance, the 

 coat being lighter underneath than on the surface, while 

 the extremities approach black. In blues one finds the 

 familiar Maltese. The particular shade may vary but it 

 must be even throughout. Creams are an uncommon vari- 

 ety, of a soft, even shade suggested by the name. Chin- 

 chillas are perhaps the most beautiful of all, a soft, pale 

 gray, with darker shadings. The eyes are generally green. 



We come now to the tabbies and it is here that we are 

 closest to the primitive. Although the narrow-striped type 

 of the wild cat is still to be seen, it is not the one most in 

 favor. The form admired by breeders is known as the 

 marbled or blotched tabby. It is characterized by three 

 parallel dark stripes along the back, from which radiate 

 heavy oblique bands of varying width. The two types of 

 markings are quite distinct. The origin of the blotched 

 tabby is obscure but it seems most probable that it repre- 

 sents a mutation from the striped form.* 



Tabby-marked cats occur in several combinations. The 



♦Pocock, R. I.: "English Domestic Cats,'- Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society of London, Vol. I., 1907, pp. 143-168. 



