The Great Dane. 181 



dogs on that occasion, and it was extraordinary how 

 the thirty-five and thirty-six inch animals dwindled 

 down, some of them nearly half a foot at a time. 



The tallest and heaviest dogs we made a careful 

 note of were Mr. Reginald Herbert's dog Leal, who 

 stood 33! inches at the shoulders, and weighed 

 i82lb. ; M. Riego's brindled dog, Cid Campeador, 

 who stood exactly 33^- inches, and his weight was 

 1 75lb. This couple were the tallest dogs of their 

 race I have ever known, and height is a great con- 

 sideration in the breed, the club's standard being 

 from 30 inches to 35 inches for a dog, and from 

 28 inches to 33 inches for a bitch. 



It would appear that, within the last eighty years 

 or so, considerable improvement must have been 

 made in the size and power of the Great Dane. 

 Sydenham Edwards, who wrote of him in 1803, said 

 he was usually about twenty-eight inches in height, 

 though, occasionally, he would be found thirty-one 

 inches. The same writer goes on to describe Him : 

 "Ears, usually cropped; eyes, in some, white, in 

 others yellow, or half white or yellow. A beautiful 

 variety, called the Harlequin Dane, has a finely 

 marked body, with large or small spots of black, grey, 

 liver colour, or sandy-red, upon a white ground. . . . 

 The grand figure, bold, muscular action, and elegant 

 carriage of the Dane, would recommend him to 



