172 The Dog Book 



who wrote as follows: "This setter is not of the deep red I have described, 

 but — and this is of more importance — he is of the correct formation, conse- 

 quently he is a high ranger, quick in his turns, light in his gallop, with a 

 thorough command in action, enabling him to pull up and finish in style. 

 He is narrow in front, with a capital forehand, a fine lean head, a full hazel 

 eye, a large liver nose and nostrils, which expand when they catch the wind. 

 He has the long taper neck, the broad back, the ragged hips, the strong 

 hind-quarters, the firm small foot, the long muscular thighs of the genuine 

 Irish setter, suitable for the rough sporting of his native island, or the 

 Scotch mountains and granite boulders, and though not of that rich red 

 which you see on the thoroughbred chestnut, as, in the highest condition, 

 he takes his canter before the stand at Epsom on a May morning, in the sun, 

 or the stain of the red beech leaves in early autumn, or the burnt sienna- 

 like tint of an old Scotch fir, or of that deep red ochre sand which you come 

 upon fresh turned up in some Berkshire lane (and not one of these illustra- 

 tions gives a thorough notion of the Irish setter red, as I could desire to 

 give it), you have in him and his class the quality, the pace, endurance 

 and style which, to my mind, are to be obtained in few others of what I 

 consider the best dogs for the moor and the gun." 



Dr. Jarvis on His Specialty 



The name of Dr. William Jarvis of Claremont, N. H., is so associated 

 with the Irish setter in this country that to omit securing from him some 

 information or comments on the breed would have been an oversight akin 

 to the proverbial omission of the prince in " Hamlet." In response to a re- 

 quest for a contribution from his pen we received much more than we 

 had any reason to hope for, and with infinite satisfaction we find space for 

 his communication, full as it is of information and opinions based upon 

 intimate knowledge of his subject. 



"Perhaps no other breed of shooting dog has caused such a war of 

 words as to colour, form and quality. Some have asserted that the frame of 

 the Irish dog is modelled much like the best English specimens, and that 

 his coat is of the same texture, the only difference in the breeds being in 

 colour, while others say he has a coarser coat and is more bony and mus- 

 cular than his English cousin. There is no breed known that produces a 

 thoroughly typical specimen every time — I was about to write a perfect 



