in 1736–37, martini's work was superseded by that of french jesuit du halde's works on the chinese empire. this included the description of the white droop-eared cat of peking province from martini's book and remained the standard reference book for many years, being copied by other authors. german naturalist alfred brehm gave a very detailed description of the chinese lop-eared cat in 1796, based on a specimen said to have been brought back from china by a traveller.