114                       Experimental Zoology

{c) Tortoiseshell   9 by orange              $

{d) Orange           9 by orange              $

{e) Orange           9 by black or blue   ^

(/)  Black or blue  9  by orange              $

In all of these matings, in addition to tortoiseshell, kittens of
other colors may appear, viz.: —

(a) Tortoiseshell 9 by tortoiseshell $ gives tort., orange, black.

{b) Tortoiseshell ■ 9 by black or blue $ gives tort. 9,
orange $ , black i? , 9 .

(c) Tortoiseshell 9  by orange  i   gives tort., orange, black.

{d) Orange 9 by orange $ gives either tort., orange (or
blue) or only orange.

{e) Orange  9  by black $ gives tort., 9, orange $ .

(/) Black 9 by orange $ gives tort., black (and probably
orange).

{g) Black 9   by black $ gives only black (or blue).

From these results it appears that tortoiseshell is a heterozy¬
gous color produced by the meeting of orange and black gametes.
The explanation that tortoiseshell cats are nearly always females
and rarely males is owing to orange nearly always dominating in
the male over black, while in the female the dominance of the
orange is incomplete, so that tortoiseshell results. In other
words, in the female sex the orange and the black both exist to¬
gether, while in the male sex the yellow usually dominates. A
few examples will make the conclusion clearer. For instance,
in mating {e) when an orange female is crossed with a black
male, only tortoiseshell and orange kittens are produced ; if both
the orange and the black breeds are "pure," the female offspring
are tortoiseshell and the males yellow. In the reverse mating (/),
where a black female is crossed with a male orange, the male may
be heterozygous {i.e. having both black and orange germ-cells),
hence black kittens may also be produced. The kittens will be
black males or females, tortoiseshell females, and orange males.

When a tortoiseshell female is mated with a black male, the
male offspring will be orange, because the tortoiseshell is hetero-