38 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



forehead long and narrow ; the eyes dark in colour, 

 large, but sunken, and showing the haw ; the 

 nostrils black and of a good size; the muzzle rough- 

 haired ; the li-ps full and hanging ; the ears large, 

 thin, pendulous, well-coated with coarse hair, but 

 without any tendency to feather. The neck should 

 be throaty, muscular, and of good length ; the chest 

 deeper than it is wide; the hack strong, long, and 

 straight; the rihs deep, rather loose, but strong; 

 shoulders powerful and well sloped ; elboivs well 

 let down ; legs straight as gun-barrels ; thighs 

 muscular. The feet have hitherto been allowed to 

 be large, well-webbed, with firm, hard soles, but 

 of late years hounds have been bred with the 

 cat-shaped feet of the fox-hound, with what advan- 

 tage it is perhaps too soon to speak decisively. 

 The stern should be carried in a sloping position, 

 and should be well coated with hair, growing less 

 towards the end, where there should be no suspicion 

 of a tuft or of '' feather." The coat is hard, dense, 

 wiry, not short; its colour may be of any of the 

 following shades and combinations.: grizzled-pied, 

 dull white and cream-tan, buff, brown or brown-tan, 

 black and tan, black and white, or black. Height 

 as much above twenty-two inches as possible. In 

 judging, where everything else is equal, it is safest 

 to favour height ; where a good head and poor stern 

 are in competition with a poor head and good stern 



