DESCRIPTION. 41 



The form and thickness of the fur and shortness 

 of the tail have also been held by many as specific 

 characters. 



The terms black and white, often used by the 

 earlier writers, must not be taken too literally. 

 Pennant and Bewick say that the tail of the Wild 

 Cat is marked with black and white, and others 

 have employed the same words in their descriptions : 

 blackish brown and whitish grey would be much 

 more appropriate terms, the grey becoming more 

 light and a black-brown becoming more brown as 

 years increase. 



The so-called black rings on the tail of the Wild 

 Cat are generally of a dark black-brown colour when 

 held up to the light, whilst the rings on the tail 

 of a domestic tabby are black. 



The tail of the Domestic Cat, as Macgilliveay 

 points out, seems longer and more tapering, because 

 the fur is thinner and shorter ; but individuals of 

 the Domestic race are sometimes met with which 

 exhibit scarcely any difference from the Wild Cat. 

 Daubenton describes a variety of the Domestic Cat 

 which has the tips of the tail and the pads of the 

 feet black ; one sees, he says, Domestic Cats which 

 have the black bands on the body and the annular 

 rings of the same colour on the tail and limbs, but 

 the fur is less " fauve," the grey predominating; 

 the fur is shorter than in the Wild Cat, and con- 

 sequently the head, body, and particularly the tail 

 appear less large. 



The measurement of a number of tails of the Wild 



Cat and of the Domestic Cat gives a range between 



'11 inches and 14^ inches, the longer length being 



quite as often found in the Wild Cats as in the 



