THE DALMATIAN. 



97 



pads. In the hind legs the muscles should be 

 clean, though well-defined ; the hocks well let 

 down. 



11. Nails. The nails in the black - spotted 

 variety should be black and white, in the liver- 

 spotted variety brown and white. 



12. Tail. The tail should not be too long, strong 

 at the insertion, and gradually tapering towards 

 the end, free from coarseness. It should not be 

 inserted too low down, but carried with a slight 

 curve upwards, and never curled. It should be 

 spotted, the more profusely the better. 



13. Coat. The coat should be short, hard, dense 

 and fine, sleek and glossy in appearance, but neither 

 woolly nor silky. 



14. Colour and Markings. These are most im- 

 portant points. The ground colour in both varieties 

 should be pure white, very decided, and not inter- 

 mixed. The colour of the spots of the black- 

 spotted variety should be black, the deeper and 

 richer the black the better ; in the liver-spotted 



variety they should be brown. The spots should 

 not intermingle, but be as round and well-defined 

 as possible, the more distinct the better ; in size 

 they should be from that of a sixpence to a florin. 

 The spots on head, face, ears, legs, tail, and ex- 

 tremities to be smaller than those on the body. 

 15. Weight. Dogs, 55 Ibs. ; bitches, 50 Ibs. 



Standard of Excellence. 



Head and eyes 10 



Ears 5 



Neck and shoulders 10 



Body, back, chest, and loins . . 10 



Legs and feet 15 



Coat 5 



Colour and markings .... 30 



Tail 5 



Size and symmetry, etc. . . . 10 



Total . . 100 



RUGBY BESS O' THE BARN 



BY RUGBY BUCKSHOT CH. RUGBY BRUNETTE. 



BRED AND OWNED BY MRS. H. WILSON BEDWELL. 



