656 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



The Blenheim, Marlborough, or Pyrame of Buffori is 

 very similar to the above, but the black color is relieved by 

 fire-colored spots above the eyes, and the same on the 

 breast and feet; the muzzle is fuller and the back rather 

 short. The Maltese dog (Canis Melitceus), the Bichon or 

 Chien Bouffe of Buffon, is the most ancient of all the small 

 Spaniel races, being figured on Roman monuments and 

 noticed by Strabo; the muzzle is rounder, the hair very 

 long, silky, and usually white, the stature very small, and 

 only fit for ladies' lap-dogs. 



John Scott writes (1830), in the Sportsman 1 s Repository: 



Twenty years ago (i. e. , 1800), His Grace the Duke of Marlborough was 

 reputed to possess the smallest and best breed of Cockers in Britain ; they were 

 invariably red and white, with very long ears, short noses, and black eyes. 



Still another writer claims that at least the King Charles 

 type first came from Japan. Robert Fortune, who traveled 

 in that country in the seventeenth century, says: 



The lap-dogs of the country (Japan) are highly prized, both by natives 

 and foreigners. They are small, some of them not more than nine or ten 

 inches in length. They are remarkable for snub noses and sunken eyes, and 

 are certainly more curious than beautiful. They are carefully bred, and com- 

 mand high prices, even amongst the Japanese; and are dwarfed, it is said, by 

 the use of " saki," a spirit to which their owners are particularly partial. 



Commenting on this statement, " Idstone" says: 



I have seen several of these Japanese lap-dogs; some have been publicly 

 exhibited, and others have been shown to me by gentlemen who imported 

 them from that country. I recollect seeing two very beautiful specimens 

 brought home by Mr. Clogstone, of Wimborne, Dorsetshire. These, both of 

 them, had large, prominent eyes (so that the sunken eye named by Fortune 

 was a misnomer), of the King Charles type, and were only deficient in ear; 

 their color was pale yellow and white, and the coat was silky. The noses of 

 those I saw were very short, but the skull was not so round as the London 

 breeder would desire, yet showing a tendency to the spherical formation which 

 is a mark of the race. 



In corroboration of my statement, I will give Sir Rutherford Alcock's own 

 words: " I am to find a pair of well-bred Japanese dogs, with eyes like saucers, 

 no nose, the tongue hanging out at the side too large for the mouth, white and 

 tan if possible, and two years old." He goes on to say: " My dogs are chosen 

 a species of Charles II. Spaniel intensified and, by-the-bye, there is so 

 much genuine likeness that I think it probable the Merry Monarch was 

 indebted to his marriage with a Portuguese princess for the original race of 

 Spaniels, as well as her dower of Bombay." 



