POINTS OF THE CHINESE PEKINGESE TYPE 



giving a rounded or somewhat hooked expression, the name 

 " sheep-nose " is applied. If very pointed at the tip, with the 

 side lobes somewhat depressed, the dog is said to be tortoise- 

 nosed. The nose must, of course, be black-tipped. There is 

 doubt as to whether this is the case with the tongue, for though 

 the tongue of the Chinese chow-dog must be " like as if he 

 had been drinking ink," this does not appear to be essential in 

 the " Pekingese." The encouragement which this point does 

 obtain is said to be due to the opinion held by Chinese 

 breeders in Peking that dogs with spotted or black tongues 

 are more easily saleable to Europeans. The tongue of a 

 well-bred dog should, from birth, have a tendency to project 

 a little to the right or left of the mouth. This point is fre- 

 quently illustrated in the " Dog Books," and though dis- 

 couraged by the late Empress Dowager, is much valued by the 

 majority of Chinese. It may be mentioned that the Lamaist 

 ' hou " a mythical animal very similar to the lion is 

 represented with an inordinately long tongue, the possession 

 of a similar characteristic being also one of the thirty-two 

 Superior Marks of Buddha. The tongues of Chinese dogs 

 are often rendered permanently long by forcible stretching 

 during puppyhood. In this case, the tongue projects in the 

 middle of the mouth. This is considered a bad point. A 

 very long tongue is sometimes the result of pneumonia, and 

 the Chinese refer to it as a " strangled ghost " (" Tiao Sze 

 Kwei "), on account of the fact that in Chinese plays the 

 masks used to represent the ghosts of the garotted or hanged 

 are made with protruding tongues of extraordinary length. 



An interesting phenomenon is the fairly frequent appearance 

 of very large-sized dogs, nearly always with fine head-de- 

 velopment. This is said to be encouraged by over-feeding ; 

 but the occurrences appear to be throw-backs to large-sized 

 ancestral stock. If of male sex, these are never used for 



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