286 British Dogs. 



dog is, notwithstanding he is frequently possessed of unflinching 

 courage, quite incapable of the part assigned him by Claudian and the 

 subsequent writers ; indeed, the dwarfed body and limbs would not only 

 prevent his ever being able to catch an active and unfettered bull, but 

 would also deprive him of the ability to make good his escape should he 

 feel so disposed, whilst the absurd, excessive, and unnatural shortness of 

 face would render a firm and lasting hold almost an impossibility. A 

 wretched jaded beast, tied to a stake, a toy bulldog, or indeed a game fox 

 terrier, would no doubt be able to pin ; but it was no such miserable 

 exhibition as this which suggested Claudian' s " Magnaque taurorum 

 fracturae colla Britannge." 



Since the subjugation of the enlarged bull or wild boar by bulldogs 

 has become impossible in this country, an absurd standard, founded upon 

 no basis, has constantly been foisted upon breeders of this variety ; and, as 

 Darwin remarks, " there can be no doubt that the fancy bulldogs of the 

 present day have been greatly reduced in size ; ' ' and at the same time 

 other properties have been lost. The scale of points (usually made to fit 

 the dog owned by the author of the same) are in themselves destructive of 

 many of the peculiarities of the breed, because, whilst advocating the 

 breeding for one particular property, the framer of the scale admits his 

 ignorance of the force of correlated action : thus, for example, in advocat- 

 ing the production of a small thin ear, he is unconsciously but certainly 

 diminishing the thickness and volume of the skin covering the head and 

 neck, so necessary for the protection of an essentially gladiatorial animal 

 as the bulldog, and at the same time, also rendering impossible the pro- 

 duction of the folds of skin or wrinkles, and the hanging chaps so much 

 desired, and all of ,which points he insists upon in the same breath. The 

 amateur is also told that the tail must be destitute of rough hair, which 

 practically means that the coat of the dog must be of an extremely fine 

 nature. Now, the scientist knows full well that the cultivation of this 

 peculiarity tends to, and has actually resulted in, diminution of the bony 

 structures ; the inferior dentition ; and weakness of constitution ; yet the 

 breeder is told that large bones and teeth are a sine quoL non ! Darwin has 

 also noticed the effect of correlated action here, for he remarks, the modern 

 bulldog has fine limbs, but " this is a recently selected character." It has 

 been frequently urged by those who have during the last few years flooded 

 the country with canine literature, that the ancient bulldog was not so 



