THE NEWFOUNDLAND 39 



Innumerable are the accounts of Newfoundlands having 

 proved their devotion to their owners, and of the many lives 

 saved by them in river and sea ; and when Sir Edwin Landseer 

 selected one of the breed as the subject of his picture entitled, 

 " A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society," he was 

 justified not only by the sentiment attaching to this re- 

 markable race of dogs, but also by the deeds by which New- 

 foundlands have made good their claim to such great distinc- 

 tion, and the popular recognition of this, no doubt, in some 

 degree added to the great esteem in which this painting has 

 always been held. 



The picture was painted in 1838, and, as almost everyone 

 knows, represents a white and black Newfoundland. The 

 dog portrayed was typical of the breed, and after a lapse 

 of over seventy years, the painting has now the added value 

 of enabling us to make a comparison with specimens of the 

 breed as it exists to-day. Such a comparison will show that 

 among the best dogs now living are some which might have 

 been the model for this picture. It is true that in the interval 

 the white and black Newfoundlands have been coarser, 

 heavier, higher on the legs, with an expression denoting 

 excitability quite foreign to the true breed, but these de- 

 partures from Newfoundland character are passing away 

 it is to be hoped for good. The breed is rapidly returning 

 to the type which Landseer's picture represents a dog of 

 great beauty, dignity, and benevolence of character, showing 

 in its eyes an almost human pathos. 



Some twenty-five to thirty years ago there was considerable 

 discussion among owners of Newfoundlands in this country 

 as to the proper colour of the true breed, and there were 

 many persons who claimed, as some still claim, that the black 

 variety is the only true variety, and that the white and black 

 colouring indicates a cross-breed. Again Landseer's picture 

 is of value, because, in the first place, we may be almost 

 certain that he would have selected for such a picture a 

 typical dog of the breed, and, secondly, because the picture 



