244 British Dogs. 



were compounded " ; but I would also expect that the seventh or eighth 

 generation at furthest would show no traces of the boarhound, and 

 would be as fully entitled to be called pure-bred mastiffs as any in or 

 out of the Stud Book. Hence, in judging mastiffs I do not care to 

 consider whether they were manufactured twenty years ago, or have 

 an unspotted lineage from the Flood. 



This part of the subject has, however, unwittingly drawn on my space 

 to a greater extent than I intended it should ; I will, therefore, only say 

 further that it is self-evident that while I think judicious crossing in 

 this and all breeds is not only permissible within certain limits but a 

 necessity of improvement although we may produce a fine dog by a 

 mixture of breeds, we cannot have a mastiff unless that blood is allowed 

 to predominate, and the older and purer it is the sooner and better it 

 will assert itself over the introduced blood, as shown in foreign features 

 engrafted on it, yet that specially desired feature, such as increased size r 

 may, by selection, be retained. 



In general appearance the mastiff is noble and dignified ; his strength 

 is shown in his immense bone, large, square, and well-knit frame, whilst 

 the majesty of his carriage, his noble head, and the magnanimous ex- 

 pression of his countenance bespeak consciousness of power governed by 

 a noble and courageous nature. There are mastiffs with sinister and 

 scowling faces, exhibiting the ferocity of the coward and bully, but these 

 will rarely be found to possess the grandeur of form that distinguishes 

 the breed, and are often cross-bred ; but instances of a surly and dangerous 

 disposition will show itself in otherwise good and pure dogs, and when 

 it does, they become a positive danger even to their owners, and a terror 

 and a nuisance to the neighbourhood in which they may be kept ; but the 

 natural disposition is gentle, with an intuitive desire to afford protection, 

 so that a well-trained mastiff is at once the best of companions not 

 given to quarrel, solicitous of notice from those he serves and proves, 

 with his intelligence and high mettle, the best of guards for person and 

 property. These good qualities characterise the modern mastiff, and 

 show the power of man in taming down the fierce nature of the fighting 

 dogs of Britain, for in this, as in outward form, it is impossible 

 to doubt he has been greatly modified and improved since he was mainly 

 kept in order to display his prowess in the bull ring and the bear 

 garden. 



