Modern Dogs. 



than any that were kept three or four centuries ago, 

 they are not sufficiently small to do the work of a 

 ferret or of a mongoose. 



The original terrier was used as an assistant to 

 hounds and to destroy the rats and weasels and 

 foulmarts which infested the country, when it was 

 less highly cultivated than is the case at present. 

 One of the earliest representations of the terrier 

 is given in Strutt's " Sports and Pastimes," an 

 engraving from a fourteenth century MS., which 

 represents a dog, assisted by three men with 

 spades, engaged in unearthing a fox. The colour 

 of the dog is not ascertainable, nor can I make 

 sure that it has been underground, for the fox is 

 only in part out of the hole, and the terrier is 

 springing on to his prey from a little rising ground 

 immediately behind. Possibly a second terrier is 

 out of sight in the earth. Two of the hunters 

 are in the act of digging, whilst the third is 

 vigorously blowing a horn. It may be interesting 

 to state that in the original engraving this terrier 

 possesses a long, narrow head, not unlike that of 

 the greyhound in shape, his tail is long and uncut, 

 he is smooth-coated, and has erect ears. Elaine 

 in his " Rural Sports" reproduces the picture, and, 

 with a liberty that is quite inexcusable, converts 

 the terrier into a wire-haired or long-coated one, 



