I

always before us animals who are known first-class workers. wish I could say the same of all prize-winners. I should like to see greater encouragement given by show committees to the working classes."

The Pointer Club, established in 1887, looked after the interests of the breed until it deceased-at least I believe it to be defunct, for many searches after its address have been futile. The following Standard of Points is that given by "Stonehenge," and still retained by the majority of fanciers as the best to work to:

STANDARD OF POINTS OF THE POINTER

HEAD. Should be of good size; wider across the ear than in the setter, with the forehead rising well at the brows, though showing a decided stop. A full development of the occipital protuberance is indispensable, and the upper surface should be in two slightly rounded flats, with a furrow between.

NOSE. Should be long (4 inches to 4 inches) and broad, with widely opened nostrils. The end must be moist, and, in health, cold to the touch. It should be black or very dark brown in all but the lemon and whites; in them it may be a deep flesh colour. It should be cut off square, and not pointed, e.g., "snipe nose" or "pig jaw"; teeth meeting evenly.

EARS, EYES, AND LIPS are as follows:-Ears soft in coat, moderately long and thin in leather, not folded like the hound's, but lying flat and close to the cheeks, and set on low, without any tendency to prick. Eyes soft and of medium size; colour brown, varying in shade with that of the coat. Lips well-developed and frothing when in work, but not pendant

or flue-like.

NECK.-Should be arched towards the head; long and round, without any approach to dewlap or throatiness. It should come out with a graceful sweep from between the shoulder-blades.

SHOULDERS AND CHEST are dependent on each other for their formation. Thus, a wide and hooped chest cannot have the blades lying flat against the sides. And, consequently, instead of this and their sloping backwards, as they ought to do in order to give free action, they are upright, short, and fixed. Of course a certain width is required to give room for the lungs, but the volume required should be obtained by depth rather than by width. Behind the blades the ribs should, however, be well arched, but still deep; this last-depth of back rib-is especially important.

BACK, QUARTErs, and Stifles constitute the main propellers of the machine, and on their proper development the speed and power of the dog depend. The loin should be very slightly arched and full of muscle, which should run well over the back ribs; the hips should be wide, with

a tendency even to raggedness, and the quarters should droop very slightly from them. These last must be full of firm muscle, and the stifles should be well bent and carried widely apart, so as to allow the hind legs to be brought well forward in the gallop, instituting a form of gallop which does not tire.

LEGS, ELBOWS, AND HOCKS.-These, chiefly bony parts, though merely the levers by which the muscles act, must be strong enough to bear the strain given them, and this must act in the straight line of progression. Substance of bone is therefore demanded, not only in the shanks but in the joints, the knees and hocks being especially required to be bony. The elbows should be well let down, giving a long upper arm, and should not be turned in or out, the latter being, however, the lesser fault of the two, as the confined elbow lessens the action considerably. The reverse is the case with the hocks, which may be turned in rather than out, the former being generally accompanied by that wideness of stifles which I have already insisted upon. Both hind and fore pasterns should be short, nearly upright, and full of bone.

FEET are all-important, for however fast and strong the action may be, if the feet are not well shaped and their horny covering hard, the dog will soon become footsore when at work, and will then refuse to leave his master's heels, however high his courage may be. Breeders have long disputed the comparative good qualities of the round, cat-like foot, with the toes well arched and close together. This is the desideratum of the master of foxhounds, and, I think, stands work better than the hare-foot; but in the pointer no such superiority can be claimed. The main point, however, is the closeness of the pads compared with the thickness of the horny covering.

STERN. Must be strong in bone to the root, but should at once be reduced in size as it leaves the body, and then gradually taper to a point, like a bee's sting. It should be very slightly curved above the line of the back, and without the slightest approach to curl at the tip.

SYMMETRY AND QUALITY. Of these the pointer should display a goodly proportion, no dog showing more difference between the gentleman and the opposite. It is impossible to analyse the essentials, but the judge carries the knowledge with him.

COAT. The texture should be soft and mellow, but not absolutely silky.

COLOUR.-There is now little choice in fashion between the liver and the lemon and whites. After them come the black and whites, with or without tan, then the pure blacks, and, lastly, the pure livers. Dark liver, ticked, is perhaps the most beautiful colour of all to the eye.

The three most typical show-bench pointers of the present day would appear to be Ch. Lunesdale Wagg, Ch. Faskally Bragg, and Ch. Coronation, and I have selected the former for illustration.

Ch. Lunesdale Wagg was bred by its owner, Mrs. L. Horner, and is by the field-trial Champion Woolton Druid ex Druidess, and was whelped in July 1900. It is a white dog, with a liver head and a slight patch of liver on its back; weighs rather over 60 lbs. and stands 26 inches at the shoulder. Its owner describes it as "a big, strong dog, eyes brown (rather on the light side), carriage of ears and tail perfect, as also are his legs, feet, and girth of body. He has won five championships, including Birmingham in 1903, under such a connoisseur as Mr. Harding Cox, and nearly fifty first prizes, with many of lesser dignity. He is the sire of Fishguard Shot and several other very promising young pointers, and will no doubt leave his mark on the breed."

VOL. II

THE RETRIEVER

THE retriever is a nineteenth century dog, but it would be hard to say which was the exact decade of its début. The generally accepted idea is that it is the product of a cross between the Labrador, or lesser Newfoundland dog, and the water spaniel, with a good dash of setter blood in the flat coated variety. The Labrador retriever, as he is now called, has been recently honoured with a separate classification by the Kennel Club, and is a much older dog than the ordinary English retriever, being known and imported into this country in the first quarter of the last century, and used for retrieving and sporting duties. But the half-caste son has altogether outstripped the pure-blooded sire, and established himself as a recognised and common English breed, whilst its progenitor is still a comparative rarity, confined to a few select kennels.

There are two varieties of the English retriever-the flat-coated and the curly-coated, of which the former is by far the commoner and held in the higher esteem. Indeed, there are experts who profess to believe it will become the sporting dog, par excellence, of the future.

THE FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER

It is just thirty years ago since the flat-coated retriever first made his bow on the show-bench, and at