the breed to be popular with those at any rate who have little leisure for the indulgence of their pet hobby. The appearance of red wounds, too, on the white ground is also a great drawback. For all these reasons I doubt it is too much to

expect that the breed can ever become popular, especially when there are other breeds of terriers better suited for the special purposes for which pet dogs are kept. Such terriers as the Irish, for example, are game, gay, and always the same, ready for a fight, and rarely much the worse for a shindy, while they can be picked up and set on the show bench with the least possible trouble and what more do we want? While regretting

extremely the decay of the white English terrier, I am afraid they must bow to the inevitable, and give place to dogs better suited to the wants and conveniences of the present day than they unfortunately are."

With all of which I cordially agree, and in this age we must be content with the "survival of the fittest." It is only to be expected that in the common course of events, when we are introducing new varieties of the dog from foreign countries and re-popularising varieties of our own, that the least suitable must, sooner or later, go to the wall. We had imagined that there had been a turn in the tide

so far as this dog was concerned, for during 1895 the classes at the various shows were certainly better filled than had been the case for years, and hoped that, "cropping being dead," a more popular future was in store for this graceful and elegant variety of the terrier. But our hopes have been doomed to disappointment, and this little dog is now as low in the scale of popularity as it can be, if not in danger of actual extinction.

At one time some of the best of our white terriers were to be found in Scotland, for which there was no particular reason, as the Scottish shows gave them no more encouragement than they received this side the Border. Mr. Ballantyne, at Edinburgh, has a particularly good kennel, but at the time of writing this he and Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Walsh appear to be the only persons who take very much interest in the white English terrier. Mr. Walsh, who was the secretary to the club, has for many years taken a great interest in the variety, and sadly laments its decadence. He thinks more highly of it than of any other terrier, praises its hardihood, and instances as its breeding true to type the fact that his Lady Superior was one of a litter of five which all became champions.

Generally, the English white terrier ought to be constructed on pretty nearly the same lines as a black and tan terrier, but he must never reach the

full size of the latter variety, and he should be a more compact and a more sprightly little dog generally, possessing a character of his own in the latter respect. He may vary in weight from, say, 6lb. to 16lb., and a perfect specimen of the small size is as pretty and elegant a little creature as anyone need desire to possess, though he may be delicate and perhaps deaf. No colour in a perfect specimen is allowable but pure white, eyes dark hazel, or as dark as they can be had, nose perfectly black, and the eye-lashes must be as dark as possible; a cherry or partly cherry coloured nose, or yellow gooseberry coloured eyes ought to disqualify. Tail carried straight from the back without curl, and gradually tapering to a point; the ears were formerly cropped, and "trained to stand quite upright with an inward inclination. The ear in its natural state should, according to the club standard, be a drop or button ear, shaped, hanging close to the head above the eyes. Some are born with large erect ears, certainly by no means picturesque, hence possibly the reason why the "fancier " endeavoured to improve upon Nature, and cut such ears into what he considered an elegant shape. Fore legs straight, with nice amount of bone; hind legs nicely trimmed and proportionate. The feet ought to be as round and thick as those of a fox terrier or bull terrier, although good feet are

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seldom seen on this terrier, they having more than
an inclination to be long-hare-like in fact, which to
my idea shows more than a sign of a cross with the
Italian greyhound or whippet. The coat fine,
though fairly strong, and so close that it should
quite hide any
of the black skin marks that appear
in so many instances on smooth-coated white dogs
of all kinds. The teeth must be perfectly level and
sound. They are not always the former, and I rather
astonished an exhibitor some years ago when I had
his white terrier before me in a "variety class," a
dog that had hitherto never been shown without
winning a prize. It was, however, undershot, and of
course I left it out of the list of winners altogether,
nor did the owner consider me wrong in so doing.

The description of the English white terrier as drawn up by the club is as follows :

"Head.-Narrow, long and level, almost flat skull, without cheek muscles, wedge-shaped, well filled up under the eyes, tapering to the nose, and not lippy. "Eyes.-Small and black, set fairly close together, and oblong in shape.

"Ears. Small and V shaped, hanging close to the head above the eyes.

"Neck and Shoulders.-The neck should be fairly long and tapering from the shoulders to the

head, with sloping shoulders, the neck being free from throatiness, and slightly arched at the occiput. "Chest.-Narrow and deep.

"Body.-Short and curving upwards at the loin, ribs sprung out behind the shoulders, back slightly arched at loin, and falling again at the joining of the tail to the same height as the shoulders.

"Legs. Perfectly straight and well under the body, moderate in bone, and of proportionate length.

"Feet.-Feet nicely arched, with toes set well together, and more inclined to be round than hare-footed. "Tail.-Moderate length, and set on where the arch of the back ends, thick where it joins the body, tapering to a point, and not carried higher than the back. "Coat.-Close, hard, short, and glossy.

"Colour.-Pure white; coloured marking to disqualify.

"Condition.-Flesh and muscles to be hard and firm. "Weight. From 12lb. to 20lb."