THE FOX-TERRIER 423 



came in for his condemnation. He said : " In the early seventies 

 there was a reaction against the cloddy or cob-built Terrier the 

 1 brick with the four corners knocked off,' as it was facetiously called. 

 This was, as is usual with reactions of all kinds, carried to extremes. 

 The fiat went forth that Fox-terriers were to have narrow chests 

 and oblique shoulders. Good ! But what was and is the con- 

 sequence? We now have dogs so narrow in front, so oblique in 

 shoulder, that as a natural result they have flat sides, weak back 

 ribs, long couplings, wedge-like and feeble quarters, with enough 

 daylight under them to absorb a Norwegian summer. This is not 

 the first time I have fallen foul of those misguided enthusiasts whose 

 ambition it is to breed Terriers to live with Hounds. I have no 

 hesitation in positively stating that no Fox-terrier that ever was 

 bred could live with any decent pack of Foxhounds when really 

 carrying a head. When Hounds are dragging along on a cold scent, 

 or flashing down wind, friend Jack may be all there, but he will 

 soon be left behind when heads go up and sterns down. On the 

 other hand, the stout-built little Terrier of the days of yore is always 

 quick enough to follow on, and when Pug is marked to ground, will 

 generally appear on the scene, whilst Hounds and followers are 

 taking a breather, and before pollice inverto is the master's sign. 

 Again, I claim that for purposes of going to ground, and staying 

 there as long as required, I would back a 'well-balanced, sturdy 

 Terrier with good chest and ribs against any of the leggy, narrow, 

 and ' spiry' dogs of the show-bench of to-day." 



Now, as Mr. Harding Cox is writing of the Fox-terrier existing 

 at a period nearly contemporary with that when Mr. Scott penned 

 his lines, it renders the former's contribution all the more interesting. 

 The latter has already stated that probably the dog, fifty years 

 prior to 1876, was the equal of the Terrier of that time. The 

 ground, therefore, of the last century, so far as the dog under 

 discussion is concerned, is exceedingly well covered. 



Again, Mr. Harding Cox, writing elsewhere, says in connection 

 with the Fox-terrier that " narrow chests have been obtained at the 

 expense of depth and strength of rib, and consequently power of 

 loin and quarters. One nowadays seldom sees a well-ribbed, 

 square-quartered Fox-terrier. 1 ' That a great many of our Fox-terriers 

 are weak behind and cow-hocked may be proved by impartially 

 judging the material that any good show affords ; and such weakness 

 is particularly noticeable when the dog is moving. 



There is yet another Fox-terrier enthusiast whose practical 

 experience of a dog as a workman was, perhaps, second to none, 

 the Rev. John Russell, the founder of a very notable strain of Wire- 

 haired Fox-terriers. His dogs were, however, kept for a specific 

 purpose namely, as assistants to Hounds and were entered only 

 at fox. The author of the admirable memoir of the sporting parson 



