106 ALL ABOUT DOGS 



venture to make some quotations from an excellent and 

 interesting article of his on the subject, as being the 

 highest authority procurable : " The form of the old 

 Irish Wolfhound should be that of a tall, heavy Scotch 

 Deerhound, much more massive, and very majestic 

 looking, active and fast, perhaps less so than our 

 present breed of Deerhounds ; neck thick in comparison 

 to his form, and very muscular, body and frame 

 lengthy. Head, long but narrow, coming to a com- 

 parative point towards the nose, which is rather large ; 

 and head gradually getting broader from the same 

 evenly up to the back of the skull, not sharp up to the 

 eyes and then suddenly broad and humpy. Coat, 

 rough, hard and long all over the body, head, legs and 

 tail. Hair on head, long, but rather softer than on 

 body, standing out boldly over eyes, beard under jaws, 

 very marked and wiry. Colours: black, grey, brindle, 

 red, and fawn, though white dogs were esteemed in 

 former times. Ears, small in proportion to size of 

 head, and erect, as in Smooth Greyhounds. If dark in 

 colour, to be preferred. The tail, should be carried with 

 an upward curve only, and not be curled as is the 

 case with many Greyhounds. Size. We may safely 

 deduce that the height of these dogs varied from thirty- 

 two to thirty-four inches, and even thirty-five in the 

 dogs, and from twenty-nine to thirty-one in the bitches. 

 The other dimensions would naturally be about as fol- 

 lows for well shaped and true formed dogs. Girth of 

 chest. Dogs thirty-eight to forty- four inches ; bitches 

 thirty-two to thirty-four inches. Weight. Dogs one- 

 hundred and fifteen to one hundred and forty pounds ; 



