Smokes are one of the most beautiful varieties of the longhaired cat.

Their colour is most effective, and there is no other animal exactly like it, the nearest, perhaps, being the marmosette monkey.

The head, face and paws should be as nearly black in appearance as possible. This blackness should extend down the centre of the back and tail; in fact, all over the body. The frill should be light silver-grey, and the hair on the sides and stomach also light; the under coat, very light in colour, being nearly white even in the darkest parts - viz., face, legs, etc.; but the light under coat does not show where the hair is short, unless parted.

The more contrast there is between the light and dark fur, the better. Each hair, with the exception of the frill, should be tipped with black, shading at the roots to a light silver.

The great point is density of colour; the head, face and paws should appear black, with no trace of tabby markings. This short, dark hair should also part nearly white at the roots.

The body should be as even in colouring as possible - black, shading to silver - and have no sign of tabby markings or brownness in colouring. In breeding smokes, it is well to keep clear of the chinchilla cross, as this lightens the colour too much and introduces green eyes, which are a great fault, as those of the smoke should be golden or orange.

Blues and blacks, crossed with shaded silvers, breed good smokes. Do not introduce too much silver, as it is liable to lighten the colour. Silver tabby is also a bad cross, introducing tabby markings.

If, on the other hand, your smokes should be too dark in colour or fail in lightness of under coat, then a light silver cross is advisable, choosing a silver with orange, or yellow, eyes, if possible.

It is a most difficult matter to select the best smoke kitten when very young, as the worst-coloured kitten often turns out the most perfect when full grown, or even when it gets its second coat. It is wise to choose those with the best points, and most free from tabby markings, and those which promise to have the correct eye-colouring.

Champion Caroline.

A round head is very important in this variety, as the black mask shows up the shape of the face; and, should it be long, it is doubly accentuated, giving a plain and faulty expression.