and exhibition of bull terriers, and between him and Mr. F. Hinks, of Birmingham, must be divided the honour attending the reputation of being the largest dealers in bull terriers in this country.

I have already casually alluded to what must be considered the small variety of bull terriers, such dogs as are under 16lb. weight, and not animals of 25lb. weight starved down until they can be shown in the class restricted to animals not more than 20lb. In our early days of dog shows these little bull terriers were common, and remarkably popular. Now a really good specimen is not to be found, nor will there be any inducement to reproduce such a dog unless the present weight arrangement in dog show classification is changed.

Those who can carry their recollection of bull terriers back for twenty or twenty-five years, no doubt remember such dogs as Dick, Nelson, little Rebel, Triton, Jenny, Kit, Riot, and others shown by Mr. S. E. Shirley; and Mr. Addington's Billy, Mr. J. Willock's Billy, Mr. J. F. Godfree's Napper, Mr. S. Lang's Rattler (a 10lb. dog), and Mr. J. Hinks's Daisy. These were all bull terriers under 16lb. in weight, shapely, well-made, smart, and so far as I can learn, and know from my own experience, were as game and hardy as any terrier ever bred. Somehow or other they came to

languish; the classes provided for them did not fill, and with the result that now stares us in the face, the little bull terrier is no more-at least, he is no more in that perfection of form we saw him on the benches in Birmingham and in London, when Mr. Shirley's gallant little dog Nelson ruled the roast.

In 1866 there were twenty entries of bull terriers under olb. weight at the London show, and at Laycock's Dairy Yard three years later there were thirty-two bull terriers under 15lb. weight against nineteen over that size. Then the former had two classes provided, the latter one class. Now things are reversed, nor can I agree that the fittest survive. Most of these terriers came from the Midlands, Birmingham being responsible for the best of them. Nelson was so bred; but another good one of Mr. Shirley's, Dick, had some strains of London blood in him. Unfortunately the pedigrees of these earlydate little bull terriers were no more reliable than are those of their larger cousins, and I fancy that they were bred so in and in that they became difficult to rear, and so degenerated. They were never toys, like the small black and tan terriers, and even when crossed with the white English terrier, then more numerous than he is to-day, they maintained their distinguishing character as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

It was always to be much regretted that Mr. Shirley did not endeavour, more than actually was the case, to continue the variety; and had he done so there is no reason to doubt that the Ettington Park Kennels might now be as noted for "little bull terriers" as they are for wavy-coated retrievers. Could such dogs as Nelson and Dick be produced to-day, I should not be at all afraid of a return to popularity of such a handsome strain. Messrs. J. F. Godfrey, Hinks, J. Watts, Harry Nightingale, J. Whillock, and E. Bailey, all of Birmingham or the neighbourhood, from time to time had excellent bull terriers under 16lb. in weight, and in their days they brought quite as much money as the larger variety

At one or two of our London shows an attempt was made, similar to what was done with regard to bull terriers other than white, to resuscitate the little dogs by providing classes for them. The result was, however, a failure, and the one or two competitors were either bandy legged little creatures or indifferent specimens of the English white terrier. So we must take it that for the present the bull terrier under 15lb. weight is lost, and that the illustration on another page is actually out of place in a book supposed to be given over to the description of modern dogs. We live in times of change

and fashion, and maybe another generation may find the restoration of this dog and of the oldfashioned brindled and white, or fallow smut bull terriers of which our "old men" are so fond of talking.

There is no doubt that the bull terrier, be he either big or little, has not reached that height of popularity his merits might deserve, by reason of the obnoxious custom of cropping his ears. This cruelty was originally perpetrated in order that when fighting the ears would not afford hold for an opponent's teeth. Then the aural appendages were cut right off. Now the operation is a much more artistic piece of work, and the ears are so cut as to stand straight up almost to a point, with an inward curve, rather than an outward one, which is said to give the animal a smarter and more aristocratic appearIt may do so or not, and I cannot deny that a modern bull terrier with his ears on does look, to say the least, dowdy and coarse alongside one that is properly cropped. This, however, arises from the fact that the bull terrier has been bred with ears that will crop the best-thick at the roots, and just such ears that hang badly and look inelegant on the dog that carries them. It would not take many generations to produce bull terriers with nice drop ears, as has been the case with the Irish terrier,

ance.

which would not require cropping. I have heard it urged that bull terriers never had such good "drop" ears as were sometimes to be found on the original Irish terrier, and that unsuccessful attempts have already been made to breed them with drop ears that would look well uncropped. However, be that as it may, I am afraid that we are a long way off such a desirable change, and the ordinary "bull terrier breeder” is not yet educated up to that point attained by the admirers of Irish terriers ; at any rate, education or otherwise, the cropped bull terrier has not yet had his day. I need scarcely say here that cropping a terrier is illegal, and prosecutions for cruelty to animals under such. circumstances have been successful.

This mutilation is usually done when the animal is from seven to ten months old. It is a troublesome performance, requiring considerable skill and nerve. It is customary in many cases to have the dog under chloroform when it is being performed upon, and one operator has an ingenious contrivance to which he fastens the patient with straps. Even when the actual cutting is finished the trouble is not ended, for the ears have to be fastened up, and daily manipulated until they grow into the correct position. Prior to showing bull terriers it is the custom to cut their whiskers, which is again said to smarten their