Concerning Cats 



tabbies. But fanciers and judges do not agree with 

 him, the cats having narrow bands and spots being 

 the ones to take prizes. The word " tabby," according 

 to Harrison Weir, was derived from a kind of taffeta 

 or ribbed silk which used to be called tabby silk. 

 Other authorities state that tabby cats got their 

 name from Atab, a street in Bagdad; but as this 

 street was famous for its watered silks perhaps the 

 same reason holds. The tortoise-shell used to be 

 called, in England, the Calimanco. In America, it 

 is sometimes called the calico cat. 



The red tabby is of a deep reddish or yellow brown, 

 with a well-ringed tail, orange or yellow eyes, and 

 pink cushions to the feet. The brown tabby is 

 orange brown, with black lips, brown whiskers, black 

 feet, black pads, long tail, greenish orange eyes, and 

 red nose bordered with black. The spotted tabby 

 must have no bands at all. It must be brown, red, 

 or yellow, with black spots. In the brown tabby the 

 feet and pads are black ; in the yellow and red, the 

 feet and pads are pink. The spotted cat sometimes 

 resembles a leopard, while the banded tabby resem- 

 bles more the tiger. Some of the spotted tabbies are 

 extremely handsome, and a me originally from a 

 cross between the ordinary cat and the wild cat. 



" Self-colored cats " are entirely of one color, which 

 may vary in different cats, but must never be mixed 

 in the same cat, nor even shaded into a lighter tone 

 on the animal ; and whether this color be black, blue, 



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