228 Modern Dogs. 



the purposes of bull-baiting, it being a popular 

 fallacy that " bull beef" was tenderer and more 

 palatable when cut from a bull that had been made 

 angry and worried by dogs. As a fact, in some 

 localities such meat was not allowed to be displayed 

 for sale without being labelled " bull beef," unless 

 the animal from which it came had been " baited " 

 prior to being slaughtered. In modern days the 

 bulldog is valued for amusement and for show 

 purposes, and when making his living on the 

 benches he is, in nine cases out of ten, kept in a 

 kennel along with other dogs of the same breed, 

 and seldom given the social advantages which fall 

 to the more fortunate St. Bernard, terrier, or collie. 

 Perhaps there may be a happier day for the British 

 bulldog in this particular, especially that he has now 

 a couple of well supported specialist clubs to look 

 after his welfare. 



One thing there always will be against the actual 

 popularity of the bulldog, and that is the great 

 difficulty there is in breeding first-rate specimens, 

 and, with very few exceptions, our best bitches are 

 wretched mothers, in some cases refusing to breed 

 at all, in others failing to suckle the puppies, and in 

 others the puppies often enough are born dead. In- 

 breeding, huge heads, and malformation of chest and 

 forelegs are no doubt responsible for this state of 



