492 THE BOOK OF THE Doc. 



dogs. But before giving up the dogs, he made the experiment of crossing them with his 

 Newfoundlands, and not in a few years, but after a long time, succeeded in producing the 

 present breed of Leonbergs. In all the important Continental shows they carried off the 

 greatest honours. At the last great exhibition in Berlin the Leonbergs were awarded twelve 

 prizes. In the Zoological Garden, in Paris, we find a grand specimen with the inscription on 

 his cage, " Marko II., chien de Leonberg." 



This communication drew a letter from a well-known German judge of high position, in 

 which he wrote : 



"Reading in Mr. C. Goas's letter that in all the important Continental shows the Leonbergs 

 carried off the greatest honours, and have taken at the last great exhibition of dogs at Berlin 

 twelve prizes, I feel obliged as member of the Berlin Club, and as having been one of the judges 

 at the last Berlin Show, to state that this is an error. Some years ago there had been a 

 show at Berlin of a rather suspicious character, and Leonbergs did win prizes at that show ; 

 I don't know, but I think they did; but at the last Berlin Show, arranged by the Berlin 

 Club, there was no class for Leonberg dogs, and they are excluded since the Hamburg show 

 of 1876 as a class from all our leading shows, as well as from the shows which take 

 place every year in Holland, for the single reason that the Leonbergs are not recognised 

 here as a distinct breed. I know very well that Mr. Essig is of the opinion that there 

 are no St. Bernards any more in existence, and that all dogs shown under this name are 

 his breed. I don't think it is at all the question, if Mr. Essig did breed fine dogs under the 

 name of Leonbergs or not, but simply if they deserve the name of a ' new breed.' Mr. Essig 

 has himself not fixed the points of the breed; they represent a great variety of shape, 

 colour, and texture, and Mr. Essig only tells us that his breed is the result of a cross 

 between the St. Bernard, the Newfoundland, the Pyrenean dog, &c. There is no doubt 

 that a great many valuable breeds have been created by crossing different breeds as, for 

 instance, the Retriever, the Bull-terrier, and even the Pointer ; but the points of these breeds 

 have been fixed, and they are inherited by the offspring. This is essential, and for 

 sake of the purity of blood we must protest that any cross should have the right to be 

 called a ' new breed,' as long as the points of the breed are not fixed, and as long as 

 the proof is not given of the purity of blood, by the fact that the parents transfer as 

 inheritance the same appearance, framed by certain points, to their offspring. Neither the 

 one or the other conditio sine qua non is to be found among the Leonberg dogs bred by 

 Mr. Essig, and called by him after the name of the town where they arc born." 



For our own part we unhesitatingly agree with the above remarks, and cannot regard the 

 Leonberg as anything but a gigantic mongrel, who has been brought into existence merely 

 on account of the rage for big dogs which has long been felt. The illustration which we 

 publish gives a very fair idea of what the Leonberg dog really is like, and that is, in our 

 opinion, an indifferent St. Bernard, by which it is to be hoped that lovers of the dog will not 

 be led away. 



