64 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 
degree. From their constant exposure to the water it is necessdry 
that they should have some further protection than the mere long 
open coat of the Welsh harrier, and no doubt, from selecting those 
hounds which stood the water best, it has come to pass that the 
otter-hound possesses a thick pily undercoat, which is, moreover, 
of a very oily nature. If, therefore, a specimen of each breed ig 
immersed in water, the one will come cut showing his shape like 
a half-drowned hare, while the coat of the other stands up and is 
only half wet. Again, in the feet there is a difference, owing also 
LWELLS, 
“ BELLMAN,” an Otter-Hound ; Pedigree unknown. 
to the Master’s selection of the best swimmers. A round cat-like 
foot is not here the desideratum, since the work is chiefly in the 
water, but an open one with plenty of web, spreading, when on 
the ground, in a way which would horrify the huntsman of the 
Quorn or the Pytchly. In all other respects the otter-hound 
is, like the Welsh harrier, a true descendant of the old Southern 
hound, and, like him, he dwells on a scent with the greatest gusto. 
In temper, also, he is very irritable, having so strong a, tendency 
