n cat and _F. ornata_ (or
_torquata_) occur, "and that many of the domestic cats of that part of
India were undistinguishable from the wild _F. ornata_." Azara states, but
only on the authority of the inhabitants, that in Paraguay the cat has
crossed with two native species. From these several cases we see that in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, the common cat, which lives a freer life
than most other domesticated animals, has crossed with various wild
species; and that in some instances the crossing has been sufficiently
frequent to affect the character of the breed.

Whether domestic cats have descended from several distinct species, or have
only been modified by occasional crosses, their fertility, as far as is
known, is unimpaired. The large Angora or Persian cat is the most distinct
in structure and habits of all the domestic breeds; and is believed by
Pallas, but on no distinct evidence, to be descended from the _F. manul_ of
middle Asia; but I am assured by Mr. Blyth that this cat breeds freely with
Indian cats, which, as we have already seen, have apparently been much
crossed with _F. chaus_. In England half-bred Angora cats are perfectly
fertile with the common cat; I do not know whether the half-breeds are
fertile one with another; but as they are common in some parts of Europe,
any marked degree of sterility could hardly fail to have been noticed.

Within the same country we do not meet with distinct races of the cat, as
we do of dogs and of most other domestic animals; though the cats of the
same country present a considerable amount of fluctuating variability. The
explanation obviously is that, from their nocturnal and rambling habits,
indiscriminate crossing cannot without much trouble be prevented. Selection
cannot be brought into play to produce distinct breeds, or to keep those
distinct which have been imported from foreign lands. On the other hand, in
islands and {46} in countries completely separated from each other, we meet
with breeds more or less distinct; and these cases are worth giving as
showing that the scarcity of distinct races in the same country is not
caused by a deficiency of variability in the animal. The tail-less cats of
the Isle of Man are said to differ from common cats not only in the want of
a tail, but in the greater length of their hind legs, in the size of their
heads, and in habits. The Creole cat of Antigua, as I am informed by Mr.
Nicholson, is smaller, and has a more elon