A cat brought from the Isle of Man (felis catus anura) to S. Germain en Laye, of which the pedigree is unknown, was mated with ordinary long-tailed cats, and among twenty-four kittens the four following different kinds appeared : I. - Kittens with ordinary long tails.

II. - Kittens with short and stump tails.

III. - Kittens without tails, like the mother.

IV. - Kittens without the least sign of a tail.

The comparison between the influence of the sire and that of the dam on the young is interesting : -

It will be seen that the influence of the mother predominates.

Manx cats may be considered shy breeders, and constantly the litter will consist of one kitten only ! I have been told that they are excellent mothers; but, in the words of a Manx fancier, "they only care to have one family a year, many queens won't breed at all, and heaps of males are very funny and take no notice of their wives ! "Another breeder of Manx informs me that these cats seem entirely fearless with dogs, and that her canines and felines live together in perfect amity. I believe Mr. H. C. Brooke once exhibited a Manx in the same pen as a bull-dog at the South London Bull-dog Show of 1893. And now, having mentioned Mr. Brooke's name, I am pleased to say that this wellknown and successful fancier of Manx, as well as foreign, cats has kindly written an article on this variety, which is his pet speciality: "On this breed I think I may claim to write with some authority, as I have kept it for a number of years, and it has always been my favourite breed of cat. I believe I may, without boasting, say that I have of late years been of some service to the breed, by constantly agitating for the Manx classes to be entrusted to judges who take some interest in the variety ; for it is a lamentable fact that there are numbers of people, good judges of the more popular breeds, who are quite willing to adjudicate upon the Manx classes without possessing the slightest qualifications, and these usually merely judge the Manx as a tailless cat, which is all wrong.

During the last few years I am glad to say that the National Cat Club, at almost all its shows, instead of tacking the Manx classes on to the list of any all-round judge, has appointed capable judges; and whilst, of course, no judge has ever succeeded in pleasing all concerned (except when there was only one entry in the class), the awards at these shows have always been reasonable and sound, and free from the absurdities which too often sicken fanciers and render the judge ridiculous at other shows. When we find an all-round judge openly stating that a Manx is but a tailless cat, and that he could manufacture perfect specimens, it is high time that that judge's name, however excellent a judge he may be of other breeds, should be inscribed upon the tablets of every Manx fancier's memory, and when he again officiates he should be saved the trouble of going over cats which he neither likes nor understands.

"Ballochmyle Bell Spitz." Owned by Miss Hester Cochran.

"'What is a Manx but a tailless cat ?' some may ask. Well, a cat with, perhaps, an inch of tail, though in my opinion unfit to win a prize, may possibly be really a better Manx, more calculated to do good to the breed, than an absolutely tailless cat. It may possess more Manx character, and this Manx character is a thing not'understanded of the people' ; and here it is that those judges score who have taken a real interest in and studied the breed. A cat may have a couple of joints of tail, crooked or straight, and yet be a pure Manx; though, as we strive for perfection, I consider that such cats should be relegated to the stud, or at most only be placed in the money if the competition be very weak, and then never awarded any high prize.

"If breeders of Manx were more careful, there should be no difficulty in obtaining litters without any tail whatever. No cat can be a really typical Manx who is long-cast in the body. A short, cobby body is an essential in a show Manx. So also is a round, short skull. These points are usually noticeable when the kittens are young ; as they grow older they disappear, frequently to return when the cat has outgrown its kittenhood. But the most important Manx property is the great length of hind leg, which absolutely marks the typical Manx as a cat quite distinct from a tailless cat ; with this should be coupled a round, guinea-pig-like rump, round as an orange, which, of course, can only be obtained when there is absolutely no tail. Even a tuft of gristle or hair, as found in many of the best specimens, though in itself but a very trifling defect, detracts from this typical'rumpy' appearance, by giving a more or less angular appearance to the hind quarters, unless, that is, it be situated so far back between the hipbones that it in no way projects. As typical specimens showing this rumpy formation to perfection, I may mention the late' Champion and Premier Katzenjammer,' and' Balloch-myle Bell Stump,' probably two of the best ever seen in this respect.

Had these two been mated, what glorious progeny should have resulted. Now these two cats, whilst possessing the round rumpy formation to perfection, did not excel so much in length of hind leg, and for superlative excellence in this property we must turn to another celebrated couple, the late silver tabby' Champion and Premier Bon-haki' and 'King Clinkie,' who has just passed into the possession of Lady Marcus Beresford, and who at the age of about fifteen months has already twice won championship awards. Now, these two cats exhibited the great length of hind leg which gave them when in motion the desired comical rabbity action; but in roundness of rump they lost to the other two, being somewhat more angular.

"To gain absolute perfection we require roundness of rump united to great length of hind leg. These are the great characteristics of the Manx, to which every Manx judge worthy of the name will attach the greatest importance. Then come other body properties - shortness of back, general cobbiness, roundness of skull, small ears, shortness of face ; then, last of all, colour. And here it is that the average all-round judge goes astray, for in too many cases he attaches too much weight to colour, a good instance of which occurred when'Ballochmyle Bell Stump,' above referred to, whose colour, though quaint, is not very pleasing, was placed below a long-cast cat of a taking colour, but in no wise a typical Manx.