THE KENNEL CLUB. 



545 



1874. The volume contains over six hun- 

 dred pages, and is certainly a most admirable 

 production. It comprises the pedigrees of 

 4,027 dogs, arranged under forty classes. 

 Considering the difficulties which must 

 necessarily attend the preparation of an 

 entirely new work of such magnitude, it 

 is remarkably accurate. Under successive 

 editors the work has been published annually, 

 and now extends to thirty-four volumes, 

 and within its scope and intention it is a 

 work of extreme value. 



In connection with the publication of 

 the first volume of the Stud Book, the 

 committee of the club arranged for the 

 publication of a classification of breeds. 

 These numbered forty, divided into 

 " sporting " and " non-sporting " sections. 

 This arrangement continued until 1884, 

 when the divisions were abandoned, and 

 remained in abeyance until 1902. The 

 new breeds added to the register since 

 1873 are about forty in number ; one 

 or two breeds that appeared on the first 

 register have been subjected to re- 

 arrangement or their nomenclature has 

 been altered, but the changes have been 

 principally in the direction of the addition 

 of new breeds or varieties, mostly of foreign 

 origin. It is noticeable that in the first 

 classification neither Irish Wolfhounds nor 

 Poodles, amongst other breeds which have 

 since become extremely popular, find a 

 place. Previous to 1877, although champion 

 classes for dogs were certainly provided at 

 shows, they appear to have been under no 

 definite regulations, nor did the rules pro- 

 vide for the title of " Champion." In that 

 year, however, a resolution was passed at 

 a general meeting of the members that the 

 title should not be assumed until a dog had 

 won three prizes ; but it was not until 

 1880 that the rules contained an enactment 

 that no dog should be entitled to be called 

 a champion that had not won four first 

 prizes at shows registered in the Stud 

 Book, one of the four being in a champion 

 class. The subject was a frequent matter 

 of legislation. The title " Championship 

 prize " was found to be misleading, and it 

 was finally abolished in 1900, the designa- 



69 



tion "Challenge certificate" being substi- 

 tuted, three such certificates won under 

 three different judges entitling a dog to 

 be called a champion. The year 1880 

 was one of the most eventful in the annals 

 of the club, for it was during this year 

 that the system of registration for dogs 

 was adopted. A system which, strange 

 as it may now appear, at first met with a 

 storm of opposition, not only from inter- 

 ested breeders and exhibitors, but from 

 influential and usually well-informed organs 

 of the press. 



In April of this same year The Kennel 

 Gazette was published for the first time ; 

 originally the Gazette was intended as a 

 private enterprise of Mr. Shirley's, and 

 although intimately connected with the 

 club, and containing much official informa- 

 tion, it was not the official organ. Its 

 value as a means of intercommunication 

 between the club and its members, and the 

 general public, was, however, so obvious, 

 that in 1881, in accordance with the 

 generally expressed opinion of the members 

 that it was desirable that The Kennel 

 Gazette should belong to the Kennel Club 

 as its official organ, Mr. Shirley generously 

 handed it over to the members. 



In September, 1896, the committee had 

 under consideration a letter which had 

 been received from Lady Auckland, in 

 which she suggested that facilities should 

 be offered to ladies to become members of 

 the Kennel Club. A sub-committee was 

 appointed to consider the question, who 

 subsequently presented a report recom- 

 mending the formation of a Ladies' Branch, 

 and in July, 1899, the first committee was 

 elected, with Her Grace the Duchess of 

 Newcastle as Chairman. 



In 1901, the Council of Representatives 

 was instituted, a body consisting of repre- 

 sentatives of registered associations, clubs, 

 and societies, who each year are invited 

 by the committee of the Kennel Club to 

 elect delegates to represent them on the 

 Council. The Council has proved a valued 

 auxiliary of the Kennel Club, as repre- 

 senting the views and wishes of the various 

 specialist clubs and societies upon matters 



