10 FANCY MLCE 



three times a week, and they should be kept clean in all parts, 

 especially if the backs are of brass, as they sometimes are. In fact, 

 great cleanliness should be used in every part of the feeding arrange- 

 ments. 



BREEDING AND CROSSING FOR COLOUR. 



To breed an animal of any sort well, it is necessary to have some 

 standard of excellence to which it is desirable to attain. Now, 

 whether this standard has been laid down for mice we do not know, 

 but when we kept them we had a standard of our own. To commence 

 with, the size of the mouse was a great consideration, especially with 

 multi-coloured subjects, as the larger the surface the more imposing 

 the colours appear. The tail should be long, and in proportion to 

 the size of the body, or an incongruity appears. The head should be 

 medium sized ; the ears round and leaf- shaped, not flat ; eyes in white 

 subjects of a bright pink, and in dark subjects jet black, very bright 

 and bead-like ; and the head should present a sharp and intelligent 

 appearance generally. The coat should be close, smooth, and sleek, 

 and not rough in patches. Feet clean, and in the w^hite subjects of a 

 pink colour, like the ears ; but in dark colours, of the colour that 

 predominates in the coat. The general aspect of the animal should 

 be brisk, sharp, and lively, and the colour or colours should strike 

 the eye in a pleasant manner. 



In breeding, care should be taken to obtain strains so that some 

 peculiarity of colour or form should be retained. Thus, a strain of 

 silver grey mice is very beautiful ; so is a strain of plum or lavender, 

 and these strains should be kept intact, and not crossed by other 

 colours. A strain of whites with black ears and feet, although liable 

 to revert more or less, is still worth keeping, as the animals fetch a 

 fair sum, and some trouble would be experienced in breeding out 

 faults of colour. The same with any other particular colour or form 

 of marking, as peculiarities of this description are more easily 

 obtained by in-and-in breeding than by crossing various diverse 

 marked animals together. Good points or faults are perpetuated by 

 breeding, and by judicious breeding perfect animals are obtained, 

 whereas careless crossing only results in a deterioration of the 

 subject taken in hand. This holds good with horses and cattle as 

 well as smaller animals ; therefore it behoves breeders to carefully 

 study what they require before effecting a cross. AVith mice we 

 sometimes find faulty ears, badly shaped heads, small size, bad coats, 

 &c., and by careful selection these faults can be bred out in two or 

 three generations. If ears are badly shaped in a doe — say they are 

 deficient in size — then take a buck that has oversized ears, and some, 

 if not all the young ones from the cross, will show an improvement ; 



