54 ALL ABOUT DOGS 



muscular development, a trifle heavier in his head, 

 shorter in his stern, rather deeper in his ' brisket/ more 

 bony and muscular than the English Setter, with a re- 

 markably gay temperament. ' Always busy/ he is quite 

 the beau ideal of a sportsman's favourite, but he has his 

 failings. He is more frequently ' gunshy/ more often 

 the victim of distemper, than the English, and, occa- 

 sionally, so headstrong as to be totally irreclaimable, 

 these may be the faults of education, and generally are 

 so, but undeniably they are more often the results of 

 inbreeding or injudicious crossing. 



" The Irish Setter. — The head of the Irish Setter 

 should be long, narrow, yet wide in the forehead, 

 arched or peaked cranium behind. A short, bullet 

 head, a wide flat one, or one running to a point at the 

 snout, are very common, and very bad. The lips should 

 be deep or moderately so. The ears should be long, 

 reaching at the end of the hair, to the nose, pendulous 

 and as if lying in a fold, set well back and low on the 

 head ; they should never be set high, short in length, 

 or half diamond shaped, their feather should be mod- 

 erate. The eyes of rich hazel or rich brown, well set, 

 full, kind, sensible and loving, the iris mahogany 

 colour, should never be gooseberry, black, or prominent 

 and staring. The nose mahogany, dark flesh, or black- 

 ish mahogany, never black or pink. Even dark flesh is 

 not so much admired, though it may be with a good 

 clear hazel eye. The whiskers should be red. The 

 forelegs straight, moderately feathered, the feet close 

 and small, not round like a hounds, or splayed. The 



