better had they been a little less underhung.

It

is given in the 'Description of the Mastiff,' that the muzzle is to be blunt, and at a right angle with the upper line of the face; an impossibility if one jaw is to protrude so far beyond the other.

"When good qualities are exaggerated-for we can have too much of a good thing--or become altogether ignored, it is necessary to make allusion thereto. Mere show points are for the consideration of the fancier alone, perhaps, but even he should insist upon soundness of limb and development of those parts indicative of power, activity, and a good constitution. Many of our mastiffs are not all they should be in forelegs and feet, many are narrow-breasted and contracted in the ribs, evidence of a bad constitution, and many more have weak stifles, weak hocks, and thighs almost devoid of muscle.

"The actual length of the face is of very small importance in comparison with its strength, i.e., breadth, depth and bluntness, and it is in respect of this strength present-day breeders assert that the mastiffs of some twenty years ago failed. In the effort to remedy this, the foreface has become shortened, for I cannot believe that we have our present type as the outcome of a sole desire to shorten, merely for the sake of shortening, a long muzzle which was already perfect in other respects.

"Since the time of Crown Prince we have had many splendid mastiffs, but for good all-round merit there has been nothing to excel Beaufort and Minting of the one sex, or Cambrian Princess and Mr. C. C. Rice's Frigga Secunda of the other. Possessing, as he did, not the smallest drop of Crown Prince's blood, it was to be regretted when Minting left this country for America, and even his brother, Charley Wood, who, though neither so good nor so famous, would have proved of immense service to breeders, had he been left us.

"Dr. Sidney Turner's, afterwards the Rev. H. K. van Doorne's, Orlando, if not by any means the most perfect of Crown Prince's progeny, was perhaps the most conspicuous, and he has fortunately given us many good mastiffs with a large share of their sire's good points, and with but little sign of his deplorable hind quarters. The best of these were Mr. W. K. Taunton's Griselda, and Mr. C. C. Rice's Frigga, whilst others who did, or did not, excel in head points, conclusively proved Orlando to have been capable of begetting excellent limbs on his stock, a case in point being Mrs. Lee's Holda. Orlando's brother, a later litter, and Mr. W. K. Taunton's Hotspur, will also be remembered as the sire of many winners, notably Constable and Carshalton Prince.

"Of late years, Beaufort stands out as the sire of dogs of good all-round excellence. Among the first of his stock was Wodan, so remarkable for his extreme shortness of face and great length of body; then we know Beaufort as sire of Lord Stafford, Sir Stafford, Lady Florida, Seabreeze, Isolde, Ayrshire, and others, as well as of many in the United States, such as Ilford Lady Coleus, Lady Phyllis, Beaufort's Black Prince, &c.

"A noteworthy dog was Mr. R. Cook's Ilford Chancellor, very noticeable for an extraordinary development of dew-lap, a disfigurement which probably did more to bring about his defeats by Beaufort than anything else. Mr. E. Nichols' Victor Hugo, another dog of great excellence, and pretty much free from most of the modern bad. qualities, is illustrated in 'Dogs of the British Isles.' He took a high position, without ever attaining the title of Champion,' and from him we get Jubilee Beauty and Mr. Z. Walker's Stentor. The Rev. H. K. E. van Doorne's Jack Thyr, another mastiff who gained a high reputation on the show bench, though a terribly bad mover when out at exercise, has, however, given us nothing better than Mr. Cook's, now Mr. Higgs', Ilford County Member and Capt. Piddocke's Don Juan II. The career of the last-named was very short, and the

name of Sir Stafford will probably be remembered more as the sire of Frigga Secunda and Cardinal Beaufort than as a show dog. Nor must Capt. Piddocke's Ogilvie be forgotten, for he is probably the best brindled mastiff ever exhibited, and as a sire he has already made his mark, so desirable a specimen of the race as Brampton Beauty owing paternity to him. And a word must be said, too, for Montgomery, the sire of the good headed but bad limbed Kaiser Frederic, Duke Rollo, and Mr. W. Norman Higgs' admirable bitch Coombe Baroness. But during the past two years there has been a lull in the production of mastiffs of marked excellence, the breeding seasons having been disastrous in the extreme.

Since the days when Crown Prince, Cambrian Princess, H.M. King Canute and Maximillian, made Mr. H. G. Woolmore's name as a breeder, Dr. J. Sidney Turner, Mr. W. K. Taunton, the Rev. H. K. E. van Doorne, Capt. Piddocke, and Mr. Cook have been the most successful exhibitors, although others, including Mr. A. Andrews of Stafford, have done much in producing admirable specimens, nor must the name of Mr. J. Hutching, of Exeter, be omitted. But, on the other hand, such old fanciers as Mr. E. Nichols and Mr. Mark Beaufoy, the breeder of Beau, appear to have retired, and their places will be hard to fill.

"Since its foundation in 1883, the Old English Mastiff Club has never flagged in its efforts on behalf of the mastiff, and the respect it commands, both in England and America, proves its endeavours have been appreciated. In addition to its other work, and the money prizes it offers at shows, there is a Challenge Cup for each sex for competition among its members in England, and two others for competition in America. Nor are breeders, as distinct from exhibitors, forgotten, there being Challenge Prizes for the breeders winning them a certain number of times with dogs under two years of age. Lastly, during the present year, a Challenge Cup for brindle mastiffs has been instituted, so that admirers of that colour lack nothing in the way of encouragement."

The following are the descriptions drawn up by the Mastiff Club, and alluded to earlier on.

"General Character and Symmetry (Value 10). -Large, massive, powerful, symmetrical and wellknit frame. A combination of grandeur and good nature, courage, and docility.

"General Description of Head.-In general outline, giving a square appearance when viewed from any point. Breadth greatly to be desired, and should be in ratio to length of the whole head and face as 2 to 3.