INTERBREEDING OF THE TWO RACES. 91 



sufficiently frequent to affect the character of the 

 breed." 



W. T. Blanford (' Fauna of British India: Mam- 

 malia') states that the Jungle Cat (Felis cliaiis) fre- 

 quently breeds with the Domestic Cat of India, and 

 some of the latter closely resemble it in colour, 

 although they are considerably smaller ; and of Felis 

 torquata he remarks : — " JS'othing especial is known 

 of its habits, and it is far from improbable that 

 specimens of the present form are merely descendants 

 of tame Cats that have run wild. The converse is, 

 however, equally probable, that this is the aboriginal 

 race from which Indian Domestic Cats, and possibly 

 those of other countries, are derived ; and the 

 circumstance that skins from parts of India so distant 

 from each other as Nepal, Eajputana, and Kashmir 

 are precisely similar is in favour of the latter view." 

 He agrees with Jerdon and Blyth that all the various 

 races are varieties of a single species. 



