THE BULLDOG 19 



is of most importance, as the various points of the dog should 

 be symmetrical and well balanced, no one point being in excess 

 of the others so as to destroy the impression of determination, 

 strength, and activity which is conveyed by the typical speci- 

 men. His body should be thickset, rather low in stature, but 

 broad, powerful, and compact. The head should be strik- 

 ingly massive and large in proportion to the dog's size. It 

 cannot be too large so long as it is square ; that is, it must not 

 be wider than it is deep. The larger the head in circumference, 

 caused by the prominent cheeks, the greater the quantity 

 of muscle to hold the jaws together. The head should be of 

 great depth from the occiput to the base of the lower jaw, and 

 should not in any way be wedge-shaped, dome-shaped, or 

 peaked. In circumference the skull should measure in front 

 of the ears at least the height of the dog at the shoulders. The 

 cheeks should be well rounded, extend sideways beyond the 

 eyes, and be well furnished with muscle. Length of skull 

 that is, the distance between the eye and the ear is very 

 desirable. The forehead should be flat, and the skin upon it 

 and about the head very loose, hanging in large wrinkles. The 

 temples, or frontal bones, should be very prominent, broad, 

 square and high, causing a wide and deep groove known as 

 the " stop " between the eyes, and should extend up the middle 

 of the forehead, dividing the head vertically, being traceable 

 at the top of the skull. The expression " well broken up " 

 is used where this stop and furrow are well marked, and if 

 there is the attendant looseness of skin the animal's expression 

 is well finished. 



The face, when measured from the front of the cheek-bone 

 to the nose, should be short, and its skin should be deeply and 

 closely wrinkled. Excessive shortness of face is not natural, 

 and can only be obtained by the sacrifice of the " chop." 

 Such shortness of face makes the dog appear smaller in head 

 and less formidable than he otherwise would be. Formerly 

 this shortness of face was artificially obtained by the use of 

 the "jack," an atrocious form of torture, by which an iron 



