pose to speak. Nobody must suspect me of 

 wishing to wrong cats and others if I reserve 

 them for a later section. 

 *% I read the other day in my favourite even- 

 ing paper a notice of a booklet purporting to 

 give an account of a variety of dog hitherto, 

 it appeared, little known in England. I learnt 

 that this dog was distantly related to the New- 

 foundland, that he was brown in colour, that 

 his head was of certain dimensions, that his 

 eyes were of a yellowish tint, that he stood so 

 many inches at the shoulder, together with 

 various notes as to the shape and size of his 

 body and limbs. Beyond that there was noth- 

 ing nothing about his little tricks of manner 

 and bearing, nothing about his bark, his cour- 

 tesy, his genius for friendship and devotion 

 nothing, in short, about any of the glorious 

 qualities that make up a dog's soul and endear 

 him to his human colleague. It was a show- 

 bench article, much like the lists of points with 

 their percentages of value which are issued by 

 the various clubs formed to guard the physical 

 8 



