THE DOG. 51 



peilers of the machine, and on their proper development the speed 

 and power of the dog depend. The loin should be very slightly 

 arched and full of muscle, which should run well over the back 

 ribs ; the hips should be wide, with a tendency even to ruggedness, 

 and the quarters should droop very slightly from them. These last 

 must be full of firm muscle, and the stifles should be well bent and 

 carried widely apart, HO as to allow the hind legs to be brought well 

 forward in the gallop, instituting a form of action which does not 

 tire. 



"Legs, elbows, and hocks (value 12). These chiefly bony parts, 

 though merely the levers by which the muscles act, must be strong 

 enough to bear the strain given them ; and this must act in the 

 straight line of progression. Substance of bone is therefore de- 

 manded, not only in the shanks but in the joints, the knees and 

 hocks being especially required to be bony. The elbows should be 

 well let down, giving a long upper arm, and should not be turned 

 in or out ; the latter being, however, the lesser fault of the two, as 

 the confined elbow limits the action considerably. The reverse is 

 the case with the hocks, which may be turned in rather than out ; 

 the former being generally accompanied with that wideness of 

 stifles which I have already insisted on. Both hind and fore pas- 

 terns should be short, nearly upright, and full of bone. 



" The feet (value 8) are all-important ; for however fast and 

 strong the action may be, if the feet are not well shaped and their 

 horny covering hard, the dog will soon become footsore when at 

 work, and will then refuse to leave his master's heels, however high 

 his courage may be. Breeders have long disputed the comparatively 

 good qualities of the round cat-like foot and the long one resembling 

 that of the hare. In the pointer my own opinion is in favor of 

 the cat-foot, with the toes well arched and close together. This is 

 the desideratum of the M. F. H., and I think stands work better 

 than the hare-foot, in which the toes are not arched but still lie 

 close together. In the setter the greater amount of hair to a certain 

 extent condones the inherent weakness of the hare-foot ; but in the 

 pointer no such superiority can be claimed. The main point, how- 



