are yellow. The most remarkable feature about the breed is that the
young are white. "The kittens," observes a lady writer, "are born
absolutely white, and in about a week a faint pencilling comes round the
ears, and gradually all the points come. At four or five months they are
lovely, as generally they retain their baby whiteness, which contrasts
well with their almost black ears, deep-brown markings, and blue eyes."
In constitution these cats are extremely delicate. The blue eyes and the
white coat of the kitten indicate that the Siamese breed is a
semi-albino, which when adult tends towards melanism, such a combination
of characters being apparently unknown in any other animal. If the
frequent presence of a kink in the tail be an inherent feature, the
breed is evidently related to the other kink-tailed Malay cats which, as
already stated, have a cry differing from that of European cats. Should
this be so, then if the ordinary Malay cats are the descendants of the
jungle-cat, we shall have to assign the same ancestry to the Siamese
breed.

Although definite information on this point is required, it seems
probable that the southern part of North America and South America
possessed certain native domesticated breeds of cats previous to the
European conquest of the country; and if this be so, it will be obvious
that these breeds must be derived from indigenous wild species. One of
these breeds is the Paraguay cat, which when adult weighs only about
three pounds, and is not more than a quarter the size of an ordinary
cat. The body is elongated, and the hair, especially on the tail, short,
shiny and close. This small size and elongated form suggest origin from
the jaguarondi (_F. jaguarondi_), a chestnut-coloured wild species; but
information appears to be lacking with regard to the colouring of the
domesticated breed. Another South American breed is said to be free from
the hideous "caterwauling" of the ordinary cat. In old days New Mexico
was the home of a breed of hairless cats, said to have been kept by the
ancient Aztecs, but now well-nigh if not completely extinct. Although
entirely naked in summer, these cats developed in winter a slight growth
of hair on the back and the ridge of the tail.

LITERATURE.--St George Mivart, _The Cat_ (London, 1881); R. Lydekker,
"Cats," in _Allen's Naturalists' Library_ (1888); F. Hamilton, _The
Wild Cat of Europe_ (London. 1896); Frances Simpson, _The Book of the
Cat_ (Lond