The term "Angora," in relation to a long-haired cat, should be seldom if ever used in this country, as a typical Angora scarcely exists; therefore, it is supremely ridiculous to see a number of badly bred, long-haired specimens advertised and spoken of as Angoras.

The general public in this country think if a cat is longhaired, it must be Angora, and poor specimens, such as "Maine" cats, are also termed Angoras.

Whatever they were originally, they certainly are far removed now from thoroughbred Angoras. These Maine cats have deteriorated in quantity, quality and length of coat, whereas they excel in head; this deterioration of coat and improvement of head is probably due to crossing with short-haired cats, which undoubtedly often occurs.

Our pedigree imported long-hairs of to-day are undoubtedly a cross of the Angora and Persian; the latter possesses a rounder head than the former, also the coat is of quite a different quality. The coat of the Persian consists of a woolly under coat and a long, hairy outer coat. In summer it loses all the thick underwool, and only the long hair remains. The hair is also somewhat shorter on the shoulders and upper part of the hind legs.

Now, the Angora has a very different coat, consisting of long, soft hair, hanging in locks, inclining to a slight curl or wave on the under parts of the body. The hair is also much longer on the shoulders and hind legs than the Persian, this being a great improvement; but the Angora fails to the Persian in head, the former having a more wedge-shaped head, whereas that of the modern Persian excels in roundness.

Of course, Angoras and Persians have been constantly crossed, with a decided improvement to each breed; but the long-haired cat of to-day is decidedly more Persian-bred than Angora.

Wherever breeders notice the long, locky coat in Persians (especially where great length of coat is seen on the shoulders and legs), they should do all that is possible to encourage this desirable point in their strain. I have made a great point of this myself for years in breeding Persians, and would be very sorry to lose this beautiful type of coat.

The term "Long-haired Cats" has long been used in the cat clubs and stud books of England, and if they cannot keep the breeds separate there, surely we cannot, who breed from English stock.

The Angora cat originally came from Angora, the principal colour being white, and the fur is much valued by the natives, as it forms an important article of commerce and is much sought after by merchants of surrounding countries.

The Persian cat, as its name denotes, originally came from Persia; they were of all colours, but the silver varieties were very rare.