PREFACE 



The author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to 

 Berthold Laufer, for the use of his authoritative and in- 

 valuable work on " Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty," 

 published by the East Asiatic Committee of the American 

 Museum of Natural History. This work has been much used 

 and quoted. " Toy Dogs and their Ancestors," by the Hon. 

 Mrs. Neville Lytton, has also been freely consulted. Acknow- 

 ledgments are also due to the numerous authors of the works 

 cited in the notes. 



It is possible that the records of the Chinese Imperial 

 Palace will, if they become available, throw further light upon 

 the origin and history of the Pekingese type of dog. They 

 may also explain how much of its quality the British spaniel 

 breed owes to Chinese ancestors. That the English pug is 

 descended from the Chinese dog may be considered as settled. 

 It appears not unlikely that the King Charles spaniel is 

 descended from a short-headed Chinese race. More light is 

 required on the history of the Tibetan and Japanese races, 

 but the outline of their development is now clear. 



It is hoped that the information gained may prove, by 

 indicating something of the age of the Pekingese race and 

 the reasons for its special characteristics, to be of some 

 assistance to the experiments which have, for some years, been 

 carried out at University College, London, with Pekingese 

 dogs, in connexion with Mendelism. There appears to be no 

 doubt that a distinct breed of white non-albino Pekingese, 

 though now extinct, has existed in the Imperial Palace. 



The Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, or Mongol scholar may 

 find small points for debate in some of the translations. It 

 has not been possible to secure the checking of them all 

 by high authorities, but the sense certainly represents a 

 close approximation to the original meaning. Special care 

 has been taken to secure good authority for all quotations and 

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