PERHAPS no breed or variety of cat has been so much thought about, talked about, and fought about in the fancy as the sil-ver or chinchilla Persian. If blues are a new variety, then silvers are of still more recent origin. Years ago this cat did not exist - that is to say, we should not recognise the silver Persian of today as the silver of bygone times, for the simple reason that the only class of silver in the fancy formerly was the silver tabby. In those days there were self-coloured cats and tabby, or marked cats, and broken-coloured cats. Previous to the introduction of a Chinchilla class at the Crystal Palace in 1894, the class for silver tabbies included blue tabbies " with or without white, " and it is curious to read in the old catalogues of the Crystal Palace shows the titles given to the various cats by the owners, some describing their cats as "chinchilla tabby," "light grey tabby," "silver grey," "silver chinchilla," "blue or silver striped." We may infer that these cats were either blue tabbies or silver tabbies, or something betwixt and between. I distinctly remember the large number of cats which in these enlightened days we should find it difficult indeed to classify.

It is often said, "What's in a name?" But still, in trying to describe a particular breed of cat, it is as well to endeavour to find a term which expresses as nearly as possible both the colour and the appearance of the animal. There has been a great deal of discussion as to the correct name by which these delicately tinted Persians should be called.

" Jack Frost. " Bred by Mrs. Mix, Old Fort Battery, New York. (Photo: A. Lloyd, Amsterdam, N. Y. )

Rev. P. L. Cosway's "Imperial Blue. " (Photo: G. &J. Hall, Wakefield. )

"Un Saut Perilleux. " (From a Painting by Madame Ronner, )

The National Cat Club began by classifying them for the Crystal Palace show in 1894 as Chinchillas, and they have kept to this, although it is really a most misleading title, as the cats are quite unlike the fur which we know as chinchilla, this being dark at the roots and lighter towards the tips. Now, cats of this variety ought to be just the reverse.

It is difficult to give a correct idea of the real colour and appearance of these cats. The fur at the roots is a peculiar light silver, not white, as one might imagine, until some pure white is placed beside it, and this shades to a slightly darker tone - a sort of bluish lavender - to the tips of the coat. The Cat Club introduced the term "self silver, " but this is suggestive of one colour only, without any shadings whatever. Another class, called "shaded silvers," was added; but then, again, tabby markings are not shadings. Formerly, blues used to be called "self blues," but this is entirely done away with, and now we never think of using this term, and speaking of them as blues we understand there should be the one and only colour.

Surely, then, the simplest term and the most descriptive of these beautiful cats is "silver," pure and simple, for whether dark or light they are all silvers, and so we should have blues and blue tabbies, orange and orange tabbies, silver and silver tabbies.

Then comes the question of what is nearest perfection in this variety of cat, which has come upon us of late years, evolved from the silver tabby and the blue. The ideal silver, to use the words of a well-known breeder of these cats, should be the palest conceivable edition of a smoke cat, with fur almost white at the roots and palish silver grey at the tips, and as free from markings as a smoke. I do not go the length of declaring that silvers cannot be too light, for I think that it is the delicate tips of silvery blue that lend such a charm and give such distinction to this variety. Without these delicate tippings a silver cat would look inartistic and insipid. There has been of late quite a rage amongst silver breeders to produce a totally unmarked specimen; but fanciers would do better to endeavour to obtain a light shaded silver free from tabby markings with the broad head and massive limbs, which at present are qualities not often met with in this variety. I am quite aware this is a most difficult task, but we must remember that "all good things come hard, " even in breeding cats, and if it were not so half the interest for fanciers would be gone.

Having, therefore, considered what a perfect silver cat ought to be, I will give a description of the type of cat generally bred and exhibited as a silver. I read the following account in one of our daily papers, evidently written by a non-admirer of these lovely cats: "The chinchillas are very fashionable, and very difficult to breed in perfection. They took their name from a supposed likeness the fur bears to that of the chinchilla. But the chinchilla cat, as at present in request, bears no resemblance to the little rodent. Most of the exhibits are of a dirty white, tinged with lavender, with a quantity of marks and stripes on the face, body, and paws." Now this is not a pleasing picture, and one that would be considered libellous by a silver breeder. It is, however, true that at present our silvers are too full of tabby markings, and in many cases the undercoat is not silvery white, but light grey or pale blue. There are many silver cats with dark spine lines and shaded sides, but they are heavily barred on the head and legs, and the tail is frequently almost black.