"The dark or shaded silvers, it was understood, should have pale, clear undercoats; but instead of the neckings of the self silver (so called), the dark edges ran a considerable way into the fur. The shaded silver is a handsome cat, but too often much marked on the face and barred on the legs, a defect most difficult to overcome. Many cat fanciers describe the shaded silver as a 'spoilt tabby.' "The third in the group of silvers is the silver tabby. The points are here stated : "'The colour of a silver tabby should be a pale, clear silver, with distinct black markings.'

"This variety ought in equity to have been mentioned first, as it is the original stock, but it has been overshadowed by the superior attractions of the chinchilla. (Silver tabby enthusiasts will perhaps pardon this eulogy of my favourite breed.) There is not the slightest doubt this handsome cat, the silver tabby, has suffered materially from the craze for the newer variety, and consequently the type has not been kept pure. They have been mated over and over again with cats of less markings in the hope of breeding chinchillas, until at the present day there are very few silver tabbies true to type.

"The position of the silver tabby in the feline scale is very peculiar. As a Persian it is, of course, necessary that its coat should be long and fine, whilst as a tabby it is desirable that the markings should show up to advantage. How to reconcile the two is the puzzle, for the longer the coat the less the markings are evident, as the stripes are merged in the flowing coat, so that we sometimes see at the cat shows exhibits woefully out of coat placed in the first rank, as the markings are much more distinct. It follows, then, in this variety of the silver, a long coat is distinctly a disadvantage when competing at shows.

"Having now obtained three types for silvers, and the Cat Club willing to give classes for them at the great shows held in St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster, the outcome was looked forward to with much interest. But it was one thing to get four types, and quite another matter to get silver breeders to understand the fine distinction ; consequently, the cats were entered in self silver, shaded silver, and silver tabby classes indiscriminately. The result was, of course, muddle and confusion, many exhibitors having the mortification of finding 'Wrong Class' on the cat pens.

"At a recent show held at Westminster under the auspices of the Cat Club, the judge was asked by the Honorary Secretary to go round the classes first, and if any exhibit was wrongly placed to re-classify before judging. This worked satisfactorily so far as disqualification was concerned.

"At this show, however, the judge was confronted with another difficulty, it being found that most of the cats in the classes for shaded silver had deviated materially from the standard of points laid down by the Silver Society. Instead of the clear, pale undercoat, the fur was a dark grey right down to the skin. The majority of these cats were quite dark, and, rightly speaking, were not silvers - that is, if one bears in mind the metal so named. It is difficult to say in what class they could be placed, unless a new class was created, to be called 'clouded or oxydised silver.' If we go on to these subdivisions we shall not know where to stop. Self silver or chinchilla, shaded silver, clouded silver, and silver tabby - a truly appalling problem for the bewildered judge to decide, for the majority of exhibitors would not appreciate the variations.

"It may come to this eventually, but at the present time the threefold classification leads to much confusion, for as nearly - or very nearly - all silver cats are more or less tabby marked, so will exhibitors be in doubt as to the class to which their cats rightly belong.

"It is a question if the introduction of the shaded class at shows has not done more harm than good, for as previously we saw very few of the dark silvers - it not being worth breeding the variety when there was no class in which to show them - so now the tendency of exhibits, as anyone who attends shows can see, is to run to darkness rather than light; and breeding for colour, purity of colour, and absence of markings has received a set-back, for with some judges colour is nothing, and prizes will be showered upon a' spoilt tabby' if it happens to have, perhaps, a broader head or a bulkier body - good points, as everyone will allow, but points which the common or garden cat may possess; and we do not pit our dainty chinchillas against all and sundry.

"Without wishing in any way to detract from the good qualities which the more plebeian branches of the cat tribe undoubtedly possess, it is impossible not to award the palm for grace and beauty to the highly bred aristocratic chinchilla. Coal and iron are useful, but we give our admiration to diamonds and pearls."

Before closing the chapter on silvers, I will allude to the Cat Club show held at St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster Aquarium, in January, 1903. On this occasion there was quite a record entry in the male silver class, which contained twenty-one cats. The list was headed by Mr. J. F. Dewar's handsome "Father O'Flynn II." Many well-known prize winners had to be content with a V.H C. card in this class of quantity and quality. The females numbered eighteen, and here again a noted winner was awarded the highest honours. Miss Chamberlayne's "Cap and Bells" is very pale and pure in colour, and carries a soft, silky coat. In the silver kitten class the sexes were not divided, and Miss Ford's lovely kittens scored first and third. A sweeter face and rounder head than that possessed by "Silver Button," the first prize winner, would be difficult to find, and Miss Ford may be congratulated on having bred such a gem. Mr. T. B. Mason judged the silver classes at this show, and he doubtless experienced some difficulty in testing the colour of the exhibits in the bad light of St. Stephen's Hall, more especially as on the opening day of the show a dense fog hung over the city.

Another difficulty which must present itself to our most capable judges is the awarding of specials offered for silvers and shaded silvers. Perhaps the easiest way out of this difficulty is to give the shaded silver prizes to the darkest cats; but all are shaded, even the palest, and therefore some judges might justify themselves if they awarded both sets of specials to the one cat. At this show Lady Marcus Beresford offered three special prizes in each silver cat class for the palest specimens, one of these in the male class being won by her own handsome "Beetle," a son of the famous "Lord Southampton." The classification for silvers at the specialist societies' show at Bath, which followed close after the Westminster show, was the largest that has ever been given, consisting of classes for novices and breeders, in addition to the ordinary division and subdivision for cats and kittens. The sensible plan of a ring class for neuters only was adopted.

"Dolly Daydream." (Photo : E. Landor, Ealing.)

Members of the specialist society for the encouragement of silvers must on this occasion have felt proud of the liberal classification and of the long list of handsome special prizes offered for their favourite breed of longhaired cats.