never have a chance of winning a prize if shown against a true beagle. MRS. HALL WALKER.—I do not admire the beagles that are exhibited at shows, Peterborough excepted. In most cases they have never even been entered. When I first started keeping beagles, I began having them of 10 inches to hunt rabbits, but soon found this unsatisfactory. So I got rid of these and got larger ones to hunt hares with, and they give excellent sport. MR. WILLIAM HAMPTON.-I think there is too much inbreeding going on in beagles. In judging they should be judged by their working points. My old bitch Remedy will find, hunt, and drive a rabbit to my gun if it runs three miles; if it keeps above ground it is mine. I have also Mystery, one of the cleverest retrievers I know; brings her birds alive. During the late stormy weather I was out one morning at five, and came across a young sparrow fluttering in a pond. Mystery went in, brought it to the bank, laid it down, and dared Manager, a puppy, to touch it. I got off my mare, picked up the sparrow, put it on Mr. Robert Leadbetter's fence, and away it went, none the worse. This shows the softness of a beagle's mouth. MR. F. B. LORD.-Type was most lamentably neglected till the Beagle Club took beagles in hand a few years ago; but since then, year by year, type has been bred for as well as working powers, and beagle lovers must certainly be satisfied by the results. A few years ago the best beagles exhibited were very poor, ordinary specimens, whilst now it is quite the exception to see a bad beagle on the bench. I was once exceedingly doubtful as to the good of dog shows, but I now think they promote type and quality, as well as work. There is no reason why we should not have both quality and work in the same hound. The meeting of beagle masters at beagle shows, if the show is carefully arranged and judged, promotes good breeding, and, from a consensus of opinion, a right direction is taken. It is a difficulty to make most of us, no matter how old and experienced, understand that in beagles we have all much to learn. I consider the points and their values, as drawn up by the Beagle Club, to be exactly what is wanted in a really good specimen. Good judges may differ in their appreciation of these points. And again a good hound at a show often disgraces himself, and a second-rate one shows himself to advantage; and the opinion of the same judge may reverse them under other circumstances. Mr. Edward M. Kelsey (writing about the rough variety) : The rough or wire-coated beagle differs from the smooth only in the coat, which should be longer and of a wiry nature; they gain a great advantage over the smooth when on rabbit, owing to this, as they will face the roughest gorse or undergrowth without hurting themselves; when on the scent they give tongue with a very rich deep tone-more so than I have heard with the smooth. The roughs have a very hardy constitution. The recommendations of the breed are summed up in the sport they can show, in which every one, from a schoolboy or schoolgirl to a retired colonel or middleaged lady, can participate. The pocket beagles are very popular with ladies, many of whom are enthusiasts in this form of the chase, hunting their hounds themselves. Moreover these little ones, though capital sporting dogs, are also good house ones, if rather timid. and shy when they are isolated, being essentially packdogs. "They are absolutely devoted to their master or mistress," writes one fancier, "and always willing and ready to do anything according to their acquirements." The Beagle Club is a most flourishing institution of nearly fifty members, under the Honorary Secretaryship of Mr. W. R. Crofton, with the Marquis of Linlithgow as president. The annual subscription is a guinea. It differs from kindred institutions in that its business is conducted entirely by correspondence, so that people who live in distant parts of the country, and would be unable to attend meetings, are still able to have an equal voice in its affairs with those who live near its headquarters. The Club holds an annual show of its own, and affords generous support to the leading exhibitions, and its financial position is sound. Nor must I omit to mention the very interesting Annual Report it issues, which contains much sporting matter apart from the actual report of the previous year's proceedings, a sample of which I have given in the preceding pages. The following are the points laid down by the Club : STANDARD OF POINTS OF THE BEAGLE HEAD. Of fair length, powerful without being coarse; skull domed, moderately wide, with an indication of peak; stop well defined; muzzle not snipey; lips well flewed. NOSE.-Black, broad, and nostrils well expanded. EYES.-Brown, dark hazel or hazel; not deep set or bulgy, and with a mild expression. EARS.-Long, set on low, fine in texture, and hanging in a graceful fold close to the cheek. NECK.-Moderately long, slightly arched, and throat showing some dewlap. SHOULDERS.-Clean and slightly sloping. BODY.--Short between the couplings, well let down in the chest ; ribs fairly well sprung, well ribbed up, with powerful and not tuckedup loins. HINDQUARTERS.-Very muscular about the thighs; stifles and hocks well bent; hocks well let down. FORE LEGS. Quite straight and well under the dog, of good substance and round in bone. FEET.--Well knuckled up and strongly padded. STERN. Of moderate length, set on high and carried gaily, but not curled over the back. COLOUR.-Any recognised hound colour. COAT. In the smooth variety, smooth, very dense, and not too fine or short; in the rough variety very dense and wiry. HEIGHT.-Not exceeding 16 inches. --- GENERAL APPEARANCE. A compactly built hound, without coarseness, conveying the impression of great stamina and activity. POCKET BEAGLES.-Must not exceed 10 inches in height, although ordinary beagles in miniature; no point, however good in itself, should be encouraged if it tends to a coarse appearance in such minute specimens of the breed. They should be compact and symmetrical throughout, of true beagle type, and show great quality and breeding. CLASSIFICATION.-It is recommended that beagles should be divided at shows into rough and smooth, with classes for "not exceeding 16 inches and over 12 inches," "not exceeding 12 inches and over 10 inches, and "not exceeding 10 inches." DISQUALIFYING POINTS.-Any kind of mutilation, but it is permitted to remove the dew claws. POINT VALUES-- (The following table is published as a guide for novices, but the exact value to be attached to some parts must necessarily depend to a certain extent upon locality, and the work for which the beagle is to be used.) Archie, bred by and the property of Mr. H. Howard-Vyse, a tan and black and white hound by Chawston Guardsman er Madcap. Archie, who was born in 1902, stands 14 inches high, and is described by his owner as "a very excellent and typical specimen of the true hare beagle, and full of old beagle blood. He won the champion cup at Peterborough in 1903, and two firsts and a cup at Richmond." Kerswell Lollipop, who represents the rabbit or pocket beagle, was bred and is owned by Mr. F. B. Lord, the sire being Ravager and the dam Melodia. The little hound was born in July 1898, is a tricolour, and stands 10 inches at shoulder. It is smart in appearance, having perfect legs, a short back, and low-set ears. His hunting qualities are excellent, and he comes of a good line of working ancestors. It may be mentioned that on an occasion of hunting a deer that had escaped from a park, Lollipop and his half-brother Warrior, and their dam Melodia, when separated from the pack, got on a good line and ran their deer for six miles over very rough and difficult ground, and finally lodged it back in the park. Time-one hour and twenty-four minutes. The field and the keepers who assisted at the run were much impressed with the pluck, endurance, and keenness of these diminutive hounds. Lollipop won two firsts at the Richmond Hound Show of 1903. THE BLOODHOUND A HALO of romance, not untinged with horror, hangs over the bloodhound. The noble creature is the victim of a vicarious ill reputation, which quite unauthoritatively associates him with the chase, mutilation, and slaughter of runaway slaves and fugitive unfortunates. Being associated with blood in his name is doubtless the cause of his being associated with blood in his nature. Ask a hundred people whether, under necessity to choose, they would rather be attacked by a bloodhound or a Thibetan sheep-dog, and I fancy ninety-nine would plump for the latter; yet the sheepdog will butcher you, whilst the bloodhound will seldom more than bay you. The origin of the bloodhound or sleuth-hound has been traced to several breeds, the principal ones being the St. Hubert, the Talbot, and the Old Southern hound. The Talbot was introduced into England by William the Conqueror, and some writers consider it a descendant of the St. Hubert hound-a breed that existed in the forest of Ardenne, where St. Hubert established himself, and introduced his hounds from the south of Gaul in the sixth century. The Old Southern hound is one of the most ancient of British breeds of dogs, and our modern harriers claim descent from it. It differed from the St. Hubert hounds, which |