THE MALTESE 577 



coat, and that it should be seldom, if ever, applied. What is 

 recommended instead is to beat up a couple of eggs in water with 

 the chill taken off, adding thereto a tinge of washing blue, and to 

 wash them in this, rinsing out the coat afterwards with lukewarm 

 water, and thoroughly drying the dog before a fire. It is claimed 

 for this treatment that it adds to rather than detracts from the 

 lustre of the coat, and avoids any chance of affecting the eyes, 

 which in this variety are naturally susceptible to irritation. 



The coat, particularly when at all long, should be gone over 

 every day with a hair brush having moderately long bristles, parting 

 the hair from between the eyes, the head, and the back, down to the 

 root of the tail, and brushing it down the sides as straight as possible ; 

 then the legs and tail should be dealt with. Any matting or tangle 

 should be carefully avoided. 



The writer's wife spent much of her early life in Malta, and 

 always had some of these little dogs as pets, and her experience is 

 that they are devotedly attached to their owners, bright, lively 

 companions, very keen as house' dogs, and possessed of much 

 intelligence. As one who has kept Terriers for a lifetime, and had 

 much to do with most known varieties, the writer does not hesitate 

 to class Maltese amongst the Terriers. One he has at the present 

 time is a determined opponent of all cats, even those of his house- 

 hold ; these, however, have become so used to dogs of many kinds 

 that they are not afraid of any, and treat her attacks with calm 

 indifference, merely giving her a sound box on the ear when her 

 attentions are too troublesome. 



Among the earliest and most successful of exhibitors of this 

 variety was Mr. R. Mandeville, who for a considerable time held 

 undisputed sway. The last time his celebrated Fido competed 

 was at the Crystal Palace Show, 1878, when the judge placed 

 him second to Lady Giffard's Hugh, and before Lord Clyde, a 

 decision which it is stated Mr. Mandeville expressly endorsed. 

 Hugh and Lord Clyde were brothers, being out of Madge, who 

 was by Mandeville's Fido ; and their sire, Prince, was by his Old 

 Fido ; indeed, most of the Maltese Terriers of any note then shown 

 were, more or less purely, of Mandeville's strain. 



Breeders of this variety have been until lately few in number. 

 Mr. J. Jacobs, Maltese Cottage, Headington Quarry, Oxon, has 

 been for nearly half a century one of the principal breeders. On 

 the show-bench the late Lady Giffard's exquisite little pets, Hugh, 

 Lord Clyde, Rob Roy, Pixie, Mopsey III., Blanche, etc. each 

 more charming than the other usually proved invincible wherever 

 they were shown, and nearly all of them claimed Mr. Jacobs as 

 breeder. 



Amongst the most successful breeders and exhibitors of later 

 years have been the late Mrs. Bligh Monck, Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. 



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