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tittens are born in tbis condition andare unable to see simply because ttreiids completely covei the eyes. Norma]l-vthe eyeiids will open at about 'the seventh to tenth d4Y. In casesrvhere kittens are homozygous for thegene (" open eyes at birth ") the eyelidsdo not get comPletelY bridgedbe{ore birth, and these kittens aretherefore born with oPen eyes. Insome cases the lids maY be PartiYopen and in others ful1Y oPened. Inall cases the eyes are exPosed, andrvithout the usual lid movements toprotect against injury-including thatfrom early excessive light-damagemay be done rvhich could be impossibleto repair.Sometinies during the first twentvfourhours a slight haemorrhage takesplace in the lo'w'er lid and occasionallyin the upper one. SimultaneouslY, aslight haemorrhagic exudate is formedbetrveen the lids, rvhich may quicklydry up, Iilling the space betrveen thelids. This adheres to the cornea, but,as a rule, disappears rvhen kittens arefrom seven to fourteen daYs o d.\l'here it has adhered to the cornea abulging often remails for some time,but later this often disappears. Quitefrequently, hou'ever, kittens soafiected retain some opacities in thecornea throughout 1ife.Readets have asked for advicewhich might help in selecting suitablestuds for their queens,As the queens concerned are not ailof one breed, this ansrver is framedin zr lay mos'c likely to assist allreaders similarly interested..Undoubtedly, I s'ould be \-eryn'rong if I did not suggest that healthshould be the first consideration s'henchoosing an\ animal for 1.1eedingpurposes. Very definitell this mustbe the cr -e rr here stock is beingselected to lorm the foundation of astrain. No matter how near to Perfectionof colour or form these initialanimals may be, their value tvi1l havebeen very littie if theY Possessedu,eaknesses in ttre factors Ior healthand reproductive caPacitY.The fancier x'ho takes heed thisway can be successful' If he ignoresthe point of " health first," then hewill not be successful. The first need,therefore, is to estabiish the fact thatany prospective stud cornes from aline oI healthy qnd ful1Y fertiieanimals. Get to know the Performanceof his ancestors, especially thoseon the rnale side.The next consideration will be thatthe colour and type of the studmatches up to the colour and tYPe ofthe queen to be mated, rememberingthat all the individual characteristicsof outward bodily make-up constitute" type." The aim must be tocounteract any faiiings !n the queenby using a. male definitely strong inthose particular failings. For instance,should the queen have ratherpoor eye-colour, choose a male withreally good eye-colour. Each separatecharacteristic must be consideredin this rvay, but the greatest failingmust al*'ays have prior attention'\,Iake certain at mating time ttrat thestud is in tight coat. In the case oflonghaired cats the length of coat atthe time of mating is not important'provided it is knorvn that when inful1 c.oat good length of coat iscarried.Obviously, the most likely place tochoose el suitable stud is at a show,n,here sevetal likely males can be seenand compared. Tt u'il1 not necessarilylre the rvinnins male rvhich rtill bethe m,sr suitabl'{or a, particularmr f in q Th. celee tinn rur duy rrra L-ino mrci he made on the basis ofcomparison u'ith the queen point bypoint.I:Iaving selected the 1ikely. stud, itis nou' vital to have proof that he iscanahrc of renrodrrrinp himsell in hisprogeny. We often talk of " throwingbatk," and this is the reason whysome males have the ability of breedingyoungsters rvhictr may be much15