98 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 
Body.—The back should be short and well ribbed up, the loins 
strong, good depth, and moderate width of chest. The shoulders 
should be long, sloping, and well set back. The hind-quarters 
should be strong, thighs muscular, and of good length, with the 
hocks moderately straight, well let down, and fair amount of bone. 
The stern should be set on moderately high, but not too gaily 
carried. 
Legs and Feet.—The legs should be straight and muscular, pos- 
sessing fair amount of bone, with upright and powerful pasterns. 
The feet should be small, round, and cat-like. 
Coat.—The coat should be wiry, hard, very close, and abundant. 
Colour.—The colour should be black, or grizzle and tan, free from 
black pencilling on toes. 
Size.—The height at shoulder should be 15 in. for dogs, bitches 
proportionately less. Twenty lbs. shall be considered a fair 
average weight in working condition, but this may vary a pound 
or so either way. 2 
XVI.—THE SKYE TERRIER, 
Few breeds have excited more controversy during the last 
twenty years than the Skye terrier. In the year 1860 I judged 
the terriers at Birmingham, and in a Scotch class, for which none 
of that breed were exhibited, I gave the first prize to a very 
beautiful white dog of the Hon. W. W. Vernon’s, and the second 
to a dog imported by Major Irving, with a coat as curly and 
woolly as any Southdown sheep. Hereupon a controversy arose 
at the dinner-table, Major Irving alleging that his dog actually 
came from Skye, whereas Mr. Vernon did not claim more than 
a descent from the island several generations back. My decision 
was mainly founded on the woolly coat, which I believed then, and 
am since supported in that belief, to be by no means typical, but 
rather the contrary : while viewing the breed as toys, there can be 
no question that the straight and shining coat of the modern strain 
is far more beautiful than the woolly, matted coat of Major Irving’s 
protégé. In the South of England, and notably in London, the 
former had long been considered to be the correct one, and I had 
seen many splendid specimens imported from Skye possessing it 
in a marked degree, Hence I acted on my previous opinions, and 
