Cats
In his
book "Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication" Charles Darwin referred briefly
to a drooping eared race of cats in China. In "The Cat" by Lady Cust (1870) it states "Bosman
relates that in the province of Pe-chily, in China, there are cats with long hair and drooping
ears, which are in great favour with the Chinese ladies; others say this is not a cat but an
animal called 'Samxces'"
In his 1885 book "The Cat: Natural History, Husbandry ["Hygiene"] and Illnesses" Gaston
Percheron suggested the lop-eared cat might be a hybrid between the cat and a
marten: "Certain respected naturalists even claim even that the [domestic cat] mates with the
marten and produces among the hybrids those like the latter in colour and fur. In this way
they explain the hanging-ear cats of China [...]" but instead of being fed delicacies by its
mistress, the cat has become a delicacy to be eaten, "The Chinese Cat. It has long, silky hair
and hanging ears, like those of a badger
annaabi.ee 
