134 Modern Dogs. 



straight hair is the softer and finer. There should 

 be some amount of longish hair on the legs, too, 

 right down to the toes, and when there is a defi- 

 ciency in the coat in this respect, one may be pretty 

 certain that some crossed strain is in the blood of 

 the animal so handicapped. In attempting to 

 produce straight coats, modern breeders have gone 

 to extremes, and, according to their nature, pro- 

 duced fine ones, of a texture like silk almost ; 

 these are, again, likely to be thin, and quite inade- 

 quate to keep out the water and -cold. Seldom 

 do we see a wire-haired terrier with so close and 

 hard a jacket as some of the otter hounds possess,. 

 or even owned by the best hard-haired Irish and 

 Scottish terriers. Straighter they may be, but 

 harder never, and what, indeed, is straightness but 

 a useless beauty mark ? 



In the kennels of the Kendal Otter Hounds there 

 was a black and tan hound called Ragman, who- 

 ran nine seasons, who possessed the best water and 

 weather resisting coat 1 ever saw on any dog. 

 Without being long enough to assist him as a bench 

 hound, it was simply perfect for the purpose for 

 which it is required protection from weather and 

 water. Take down the ribs, along the back, under 

 the belly, on the head, anywhere, it was all there, 

 hard as bristles, a little softer and closer underneath 



