114 The Fox Terrier. 



may be given for a certain property, as it is of the general 

 excellence of the animal. One judge will say, " That dog 

 has a good head," and award 'the complement of points 

 accordingly ; another will say, " No, his head is not perfect, 

 it is too thick or too narrow (as the case may be) round the 

 skull," and he only awards three-fourths of the full number 

 of points, and so the thing goes on. The British public 

 like figures, and there is a show of learning about tables 

 which is, however, rather apt to lead people astray. 



A few years or so ago the editor of the Fox Terrier 

 Chronicle endeavoured to find out the ten best terriers 

 by the aid of his readers — an ingenious and interesting 

 device ; but even he and the instigators of his idea did not, 

 I fancy, find perfection in arriving at the result sought to 

 be achieved. Each reader of the journal in question was 

 allowed to give one vote each for the ten fox terriers he 

 thought to be the best. In the end forty-one papers were 

 duly filled in and signed. These included the names of 

 sixty-seven dogs, and at the head of all came the bitch 

 Dorcas, for whom thirty-seven individuals voted ; Mr. Luke 

 Turner's favourite, Spice, followed with thirty-five ; Mr. 

 Murchison's old bitch, Olive, being third on the list with 

 thirty-four. Then came Buffet, thirty-three ; Result, thirty- 

 one ; Richmond Jack, seventeen ; Lucifer, seventeen ; 

 Richmond Olive, sixteen ; Richmond Liqueur, sixteen ; 

 Nettle, fifteen ; and Belgrave Joe, fifteen. Such excellent 

 animals were behind these as Rachel, Rattler, Sutton Veda, 

 Brockenhurst Sting, Brockenhurst Joe, Jock, Nectar, Foiler, 

 The Belgravian, Tyrant, Fussy, Pincher, Bedlamite, Regent, 

 Grove Nettle, Hornet, and Bloom. Whilst Tartar, Chance, 

 Tyke, Nimrod (bred by the author), X. L., May, Sam, Old 

 Trap, Bellona, Hazlehurst's Patch, Diamond, to my idea, 



