this purpose his primary qualifications are small size, low set, great length of body, and exceptional strength of head and fore quarters-fitting him to enter, to perform his task, and to extricate himself where others differently formed would fail. His coat, too, of hard, lanky hair-sufficiently long (averaging 5 in.) to cover head, eyes, and body, but not so long as to impede him in his work-serves as protection against weather and foes. While the undercoat gives warmth, the overcoat serves like the thatch of a cottage-to carry off the rain; and I have seen the hair of the forehead torn, the flesh lacerated, and the blood flowing over the face in encounters with vermin on the Tweedside, when I fully expected to find my dog blind, but I have never seen the eyesight injured.

But, instead of a dog possessed of these qualifications, we often find on the show bench and in the prize list a spurious counterfeit, large, leggy, and short-bodied, with weak head, jaw, and chest, and covered with an inordinate length of soft, flowing hair. By such the typical Skye terrier is largely displaced by many breeders and judges. "The explanation of this to a large extent is not difficult. A number of years ago-but still within the memory of many living-a fierce conflict raged in England and in Scotland as to what constituted

the true Skye terrier. In the South the attempt was made to establish that claim on behalf of a sort of mongrel Scottish terrier, and in the North on behalf of what is known as the Paisley or Clydesdale terrier. The issue in both cases was that these attempts utterly failed. The breeders, however, alike of the true and of the spurious species, were limited in number, connections had been formed, inducing the defeated parties, while modifying somewhat the character of the dog's coat, &c., to maintain that conflict on the show bench in which they had been defeated in open discussion. Judges as well as breeders were implicated, some, it must be confessed, from pure ignorance, while others had formed their standard after a false model, or had been influenced by a variety of extraneous motives.

"The Skye terrier is a purely Scottish dog, and is not generally well known in England. But England is the chief market for his disposal, and purchasers are readily imposed upon by a large showy specimen that may have been awarded a prize, even although destitute of Skye terrier character. The breed has been lately rising in public favour, and numbers of new breeders have entered the field, some of whom have obtained genuine specimens, others have not.

"The work for which the Skye terrier is specially

fitted became largely accomplished, his coat was difficult to keep in order, so another species was found fitted for the remaining work, and more easily kept in trim. Hence his disappearance to a great extent. Though I have repeatedly visited Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, Argyle-shire, and once Skye, I have scarcely ever met with a real Skye terrier till within

the past few years; but Colonel Malcolm, of

Poltalloch, writes me that the Laird of Waternish, in Skye, has always had a pack, and I believe that Lord Macdonald, of Armidale, Isle of Skye, has never entirely lost the blood. Within considerably less than half a century the breed was also carefully kept at Mull, Inverary, and Roseneath (the Duke of Argyll's), and at Bargamy (the Earl of Stair's). From these strains most of the existing race claim to have sprung, and of late years there has been a decided and increasing effort not only to extirpate the spurious and restore the true breed, but also to bring the latter up to the typical standard.

"In his native Highland home, especially where he had generally disappeared, but where solitary specimens and abundant traditions still linger, a special interest is being taken in their restoration. At Inverary, where the breed was wont to be found in perfection, the lately deceased Duchess of Argyll had taken steps for its revival. At

a few, and at numerous and

Oban it has found patrons not Inverness, Dingwall, Skye, &c., enthusiastic breeders have arisen. All are bent on cultivating the genuine article only, and they are able to recognise, in the standard of the clubs, the conditions which their localities required, and its correspondence with all hereditary information they possess. If the efforts to bring up the breed to the standard of the club are to succeed, attention must be given to the defects that abound in the more typical specimens as well as to the exclusion of the wrong type.

"In judging Skye terriers I should put lowness and length first; head, chest, and shoulders second; coat third; level back fourth; all other points being inferior and subordinate. Most of the older judges decide by length of coat alone-a most deceptive and injurious standard-the coat concealing faults and becoming softer the longer it is, and encouraging untypical breeding-5 inches of coat is ample.

During the past two years I have attended most of the large shows from Inverness to London, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Carlisle, Preston, Liverpool, Manchester, Crystal Palace, &c., and have witnessed the prevailing defects specified.

"Some leading breeders of the true type make weight their chief objection to winners of the present

day, and wish to reduce them to from 14lb. to 16lb. each. This, I think, would be a most fallacious standard. A good head will alone weigh about 5lb., although the present prevailing head is under 4lb. A small, well-built dog will often weigh heavier than a larger loosely built one, and it is always easy by starving to reduce weight. Size, therefore, is the proper test, and should form the foundation without which all other points should be comparatively valueless. A skilful and practised eye can readily determine size, but not so easily weight.

"The noble head, wide at the top of the brow, and long from the back of the skull to the eyes, indicative of brain power, is now the exception; and a long, snipey muzzle, indicative of weakness of jaw, prevails. The broad, massive chest and shoulders frequently give place to contracted forequarters. So seldom is the characteristic level incline of the back from the highest point, at the top of the hip joint, to the lowest point, at the back of the shoulder bone-to be seen, that when it does appear it is often considered a defect. The fore legs are

generally too long, and should never be absolutely but only comparatively straight, so that the dog may stand straight upon them. If higher at the back of the shoulders than 10in. it is the worst fault a Skye terrier can have. It unfits him for anything but a