34 BRITISH DOGS 



the right choice, only to meet the demand. I do not assert that 

 long-haired animals have depreciated, but through unsuitable cross- 

 ings depreciation has been facilitated. The long-haired animals 

 are more imposing and handsomer than the short-haired, but the 

 latter have the advantage of less perspiration, and are hardier. 

 Besides, I adhere to the principle that the race ought to be 

 reared parallel with the parents, so that it may acquire the same 

 reputation. For this reason I have asked the St. Bernard Club 

 section of the Swiss Kynological Society to make the pure breeding 

 of short-haired dogs one of its features. 



In conclusion, I give you explanations about the best-known 

 dogs in England. From 1862 I sold puppies from Sultan I., 

 Diana L, Leo I., Barry II., Favorita I., and Toni I. for England 

 without registration. Before 1867 I learned that the dogs sold by me 

 won the first prizes in the various dog shows, and I decided to 

 exhibit my Sultan I., Favorita L, and Leo I. at the Paris Show in 

 1867, for which purpose the monks of St. Bernard gave me a 

 certificate testifying to the purity of my breed, which contributed 

 to my dogs winning first prize. In 1866 the Rev. J. C. Macdona 

 bought his first three St. Bernard dogs from Mr. Schindler, Berne. 

 Amongst these was a fine, long-haired specimen red, with white 

 marks, and double wolf-claws. With this dog the Rev. J. C. Macdona 

 obtained his first success in England, and many of his offspring 

 are considered the best in England. In 1865 I sold the Rev. 

 Mr. Dillon, in Berne, the dog Tell and the female Hero. The Rev. 

 Mr. Macdona bought Tell, and it is well known that he was con- 

 sidered the best short-haired dog. In 1871 I sold Mr. Murchison 

 Thor and Jura. These two, up to recent date, were considered 

 to be the best long-haired St. Bernards, and their offspring are 

 well known in England. I sold Mr. Murchison, in 1882, Sirius 

 and Bellona. Sultan and Medar are also great prize winners in 

 England. This proves that Englishmen have drawn their St. Bernards 

 from well-known Swiss breeders, and have not, as the Germans assert, 

 manufactured the breed. To the English belongs the merit of first 

 recognising and ennobling the breed, especially by new blood, by 

 which they have contributed to the improvement of the race. 

 In 1867 I started the register for my St. Bernards, and this 

 contains the oldest pedigrees. There were many attempts to cross 

 between German and Newfoundland dogs to produce a short-haired 

 breed similar to St. Bernards, under the impression that the original 

 breed has been thus obtained. These crossings gave no brilliant 

 results. It must remain for later investigation whether the St. 

 Bernard breed is not one which is still to be found in the isolated 

 Rhone valleys, because the first peasants who took part in the 

 wars of liberation five or six centuries ago took with them into 

 battle a species of dog of enormous dimensions, probably of the 



