1 2 Varieties of the Dog. 



be found. A moderately slow dog will always appear to 

 have a better nose than a very fast one, and will put up 

 less game ; but, if too slow, he will lose a great many 

 points which are taken from him by his faster competitor. 

 Hence it follows that there is a medium in point of speed 

 which may be possessed by either breed, and a selection 

 need not be made on that account. The setter is, 

 however, acknowledged to be more difficult to break than 

 the pointer, and is apt to forget his lessons ; the pointer, 

 on the other hand, rarely forgets under an intelligent master. 

 Respecting the Irish Setter there is still more difference 

 of opinion as to the shade of colour than in regard to the 

 Gordon. By one party it is asserted that the well-bred 

 Irish setter must be of a deep pure blood-red, without the 

 slightest approach to black or mahogany-colour on the 

 back, ear, or stern. After the publication in the Field of 

 the article on this dog, in which this was laid down as the 

 attribute of the breed, Mr. Hungerford opened the con- 

 troversy by asserting that, according to his experience, 

 they might be either red or red and white, followed by the 

 late Mr. John Walker (the well-known judge at most of the 

 recent dog shows), who raised the question as to the ob- 

 jection to the black tinge, which was answered by Colonel 

 Whyte in the negative, and by Mr. Henry Blake Knox as 

 follows : " The coat should be rather coarse, for you want 

 him for hard work and hardships ; smooth or wavy, not 

 curly ; hair of moderate length on the upper parts of the 

 body ; the foot-half tawny, the tip-half deep senna, ap- 

 pearing as if stained with port wine (blood-red), but never 

 showing black on the ears, back, head, or tail ; the legs 

 and under parts, deep or pale tawny ; white should not 

 appear anywhere except in the centre of the forejijad and 

 the centre of the breast. I breed without any white at 

 all." Captain Hutchinson objects to the black stain, and 

 supports his opinion by adding some high authorities in 

 its favour. On the whole, therefore, it may be assumed 

 that the weight of evidence is against the dark stain. In 

 other respects Mr. Knox's description is so admirable 

 that I quote it in extenso : — " The ears should be long, 

 reaching at the end of the hair to nose, pendulous, and 



