s altogether wanting, as in
the typical Manx cats. These kink-tailed or tailless cats are moreover
smaller in size than the ordinary short-tailed breeds, with rather
longer hair, whose texture approaches that of rabbit-fur, and a cry said
to be like that of the jungle-cat (_F. chaus_) of India and Africa, and
more dog-like habits. Unless the jungle-cat, which is a nearly
whole-coloured species, can claim the position, the ancestry of these
Manx-Malay cats is still unknown. Kink-tailed cats, it should be added,
are also known from Madagascar.

Among the domesticated cats of India a spotted type of colouring, with a
more or less decided tendency for the spots to coalesce into stripes, is
very noticeable; and it is probable that these cats are derived from the
spotted Indian desert-cat (_F. ornata_), with a certain amount of
crossing from other species. The so-called _F. torquata_ of India is
probably based on cats of this type which have reverted to the wild
state. Other Indian cats with a tawny or fulvous type of colouring are
probably the more or less modified descendants of the jungle-cat. From
the same stock may be derived the Abyssinian breed, in which the ears
are relatively large and occasionally tipped with long hairs (thus
recalling the tufted ears of the jungle-cat). The colour is typically
reddish-brown, each individual hair being "ticked" like that of a wild
rabbit, whence the popular name of "bunny cat." Another African breed is
the Mombasa cat, in which the hair is reported to be unusually short and
stiff.

By far the most remarkable of all the Old World domesticated breeds is,
however, the royal Siamese cat, which almost certainly has an origin
quite distinct from that of the ordinary European breeds; this being
rendered evident not only by the peculiar type of colouring, but
likewise by the cry, which is quite unmistakable. Siamese cats may have
the tail either straight or kinked, but whether the latter feature
belongs of right to the breed, or has been acquired by crossing with the
ordinary black and tabby kink-tailed cats of the country, is not known.
In the royal Siamese breed the head is rather long and pointed, the body
also elongated with relatively slender limbs, the coat glossy and close,
the eyes blue, and the general colour some shade of cream or pink, with
the face, ears, feet, under-parts, and tail chocolate or seal-brown.
There is however a wholly chocolate-coloured strain in which the eyes