THE DOGS OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 



3, body ; 4, stern ; 5, quality and coat ; and that to each of these were 

 allotted the following proportion of points, viz., head and neck, 30; legs 

 and feet, 24; body 20; stern, 16; quality and coat, 10 total, 100; the judge 

 (being provided with books for the purpose, with the number and age of 

 the entries duly written in) would only have to insert under each property 

 such a number as would mark the degree of approximation to perfection this 

 being represented by the maximum figure given at the head of each column. 



CLASS 27. 



Had such a plan been adopted and I can conceive nothing more simple or easy 

 to carry out the dogs A., B., and C. would have been placed in the order 5, 1, 

 and 2, whereas the awards were given in the order the dogs stand on the lists. 

 At present the judges make their notes opposite each entry, but they are so 

 indefinite that afterwards it is necessary that all the animals likely to take a prize 

 shall be compared together at the same time a far more tedious operation than 

 that which requires them to be carefully examined only once. I do not for 

 a moment assume that the numbers I have attached to each property are correctly 

 apportioned, or that I should have carried them out in practice exactly in the 

 manner I have indicated for the three pointers; I only contend that, supposing 

 the judges to be each furnished with a book containing definitions of a similar 

 nature for their guidance, they would have far less difficulty in deciding than 

 at present, while the public would be able to ascertain the reasons which guided 

 them, and would know what to expect in sending their animals to a show. It will 

 no doubt take some time to settle finally the relative value of the head as compared 

 with the locomotive organs, in the several breeds of dogs, for they vary in almost 

 all. Thus the pointer, however well formed in his back, chest, and shoulders, 

 is perfectly useless unless he has a head which will not only contain a good brain, 

 but also sensitive olfactory organs. So, also, with the feet and legs ; unless these 

 are capable of sustaining work equally with the back, chest, and shoulders, the 

 latter, however good, are thrown away. The National Dog Club, however, in 1869, 

 made the attempt, which, though it was somewhat hastily and carelessly carried out, 

 has served as a very useful foundation for subsequent labours in the same field. 

 Unfortunately, only a portion of the judges at their Islington show carried out 

 their code of points into practice, great difficulties being thrown in their way by the 

 paucity of attendants, and the distance between the benches and the field in which 



