262 THE DALMATIAN 



barrel hoops (which would indicate want of speed) ; 

 the back powerful; loin strong, muscular, and 

 slightly arched. 



LEGS AND FEET are of great importance. The 

 forelegs should be perfectly straight, strong, and 

 heavy in bone ; elbows close to the body ; fore- 

 feet round, compact, and well arched, toes cat -footed, 

 and round, tough, elastic pads. In the hindlegs the 

 muscles should be clean, though well-defined, the 

 hocks well let down. 



NAILS. In the black-spotted variety black and 

 white ; in the liver -spotted variety brown and white. 



THE TAIL should not be too long, but should 

 be strong at the insertion, gradually tapering towards 

 the end and free from coarseness. It should not 

 be inserted too low down, but carried with a slight 

 curve upwards, and never curled. It should be 

 spotted, the more profusely the better. 



THE COAT should be short, hard, dense, and fine, 

 sleek and glossy in appearance, but neither woolly 

 nor silky. 



COLOUR AND MARKINGS. These are most impor- 

 tant points. The ground colour in both varieties 

 should be pure white, very decided, and not inter- 

 mixed. The colour of the spots in the black -spotted 

 variety should be black, the deeper and richer the 

 black the better ; in the liver-spotted variety they 

 should be brown. The spots should not intermingle, 

 but be as round and well-defined as possible, the more 

 distinct the better ; in size they should vary from 

 that of a sixpence to that of a florin. The spots on 

 the head, face, ears, legs, tail, and extremities should 

 be smaller than those of the body. 



SIZE. Dogs, 55 Ib. ; bitches, 35 lb. 



