the common cat and F. ornata (or torquata) occur, "and that many of the
domestic cats of that part of India were undistinguishable from the wild F.
ornata." Azara states, but only on the authority of the inhabitants, that
in Paraguay the cat has crossed with two native species. From these several
cases we see that in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, the common cat,
which lives a freer life than most other domesticated animals, has crossed
with various wild species; and that in some instances the crossing has been
sufficiently frequent to affect the character of the breed.

Whether domestic cats have descended from several distinct species, or have
only been modified by occasional crosses, their fertility, as far as is
known, is unimpaired. The large Angora or Persian cat is the most distinct
in structure and habits of all the domestic breeds; and is believed by
Pallas, but on no distinct evidence, to be descended from the F. manul of
middle Asia; and I am assured by Mr. Blyth that the Angora cat breeds
freely with Indian cats, which, as we have already seen, have apparently
been much crossed with F. chaus. In England half-bred Angora cats are
perfectly fertile with one another.

Within the same country we do not meet with distinct races of the cat, as
we do of dogs and of most other domestic animals; though the cats of the
same country present a considerable amount of fluctuating variability. The
explanation obviously is that, from their nocturnal and rambling habits,
indiscriminate crossing cannot without much trouble be prevented. Selection
cannot be brought into play to produce distinct breeds, or to keep those
distinct which have been imported from foreign lands. On the other hand, in
islands and in countries completely separated from each other, we meet with
breeds more or less distinct; and these cases are worth giving, showing
that the scarcity of distinct races in the same country is not caused by a
deficiency of variability in the animal. The tailless cats of the Isle of