58 Modern Dogs. 



no necessity to seek for reinforcements from the 

 home of the breed. Not so, however, with the 

 smooth, which until recently have been more 

 neglected, and only came into special favour when 

 a powerful contingent was a few years ago sent 

 over from Switzerland, from which almost all the 

 best that we now possess have been produced. 

 It is a notable fact that, although many first-class 

 smooth-coated St. Bernards have been imported to 

 this country, there is not a single instance of a 

 rough specimen of really high quality ever having 

 been purchased from breeders on the Continent. 



" Notwithstanding the giant strides that have been 

 made in the improvement of the rough-coated St. 

 Bernard, as far as height is concerned it is a debate- 

 able point whether it has not been obtained at the 

 expense of other more desirable properties. Great 

 height without proportionate massiveness of build 

 is generally accompanied by a weak constitution. 

 To this may be attributed the number of " cripples" 

 that are to be seen on the show bench ; the very 

 tall dogs are all, without exception, narrow and weak 

 in their hind quarters. It is a point in favour of a 

 horse to go well from you, which means that it 

 has wide hips and well let-down quarters ; the same 

 applies to St. Bernards, and, until they can be bred 

 with all points in proportion, the extreme height is 



