THE POINTER. 143 



The texture (value 3) of coat in the Pointer should be 

 soft and mellow, but not absolutely silky. 



In color (value 5) there is now little choice, in point of 

 fashion, between the liver and lemon-and- whites. After 

 them come the black-and- whites (witli or without tan), 

 then the pure black, and lastly the pure liver. Dark liver- 

 ticked is, perhaps, the most beautiful color of all to the 

 eye. 



While on this question of color, it may be appropriate to 

 remark that fashion and caprice have always been con- 

 sulted in awarding the palm of preference to one color over 

 another; however, the liver-and- white dogs have been the 

 most generally sought after, taking it all through, and are 

 the popular dogs of the present day. After them come the 

 lemon-and- whites and orange-and-whites. The latter color 

 was, at one time, popularized by Mr. Whitehouse, whose 

 strain, headed by Hamlet, proved most excellent animals. 

 The Duke of Kingston's strain of black Pointers was also 

 at one time quite the thing among sportsmen in England, 

 and some most excellent dogs of that color are now owned 

 in this country, being largely descended from the kennels 

 of Mr. Pope. 



With regard to the weight of pointers, it is customary, 

 in the shows in this country, to separate them into two 

 divisions dogs weighing over and under fifty-five pounds, 

 and bitches weighing over and under fifty pounds. On this 

 point, Mr. Yero Shaw remarks as follows: 



For old sportsmen, the heavy dogs, partaking, as they do, largely of the 

 character of tile old Spanish Pointer, are chiefly to be recommended, as from 

 their greater weight they are not so fast or so active in the field. On the other 

 hand, there is a far greater development of pace to be found in the light 

 weights, and their stanchness in many instances is very slightly, if at all, 

 inferior to the heavier animals. ... It may, therefore, we are of opinion, 

 be taken that the medium-sized Pointers are, as a rule, by far more valuable as 

 sporting dogs than either of the extremes in weight, as they may be reasonably 

 expected to combine pace and stanchness to an extent which is likely to com- 

 mend itself to every sort of sportsman. It is, we believe, a pretty generally 

 admitted fact among sportsmen that modern Pointers are deficient in nose when 

 compared with what they used to be; in other words, nose has been sacrificed 

 by the almost insane importance which has been attached to pace. Breeders 



