20 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



beds. All this could not fail to injure the favorite 

 races. They became sickly, capricious, feeble, 

 and melancholy. Some little amelioration of 

 their state came about when King Charles I 

 conceived an affection for small black and 



Gi'.RMAX I,<)N(,-H aii;i;d Hixtix(; Dog 



hound, raised chiefly in the north and northwest 

 of Germany, ought to be considered more as 

 beaters of game, or coursers. Hunting having 

 been much changed and modified in the lapse 

 of ages, these dogs are to-da)- in the background 

 of the large race we are now considering. 



Pet dogs. " Have \vf)men no children that 

 they caress those beasts 'i " asked a Roman 

 emperor, on observing the excessive care 

 gi\'en by women to little 

 dogs ; whence we may 

 conclude that the habit of 

 havuig pet dogs is as old 

 as cix'ilization, ]")erha])s 

 older. Ladies especially, 

 in all kuids, had such 

 dogs, and it is not siu'- 

 prising that those whf) 

 had the time ]:)etted and 

 spoiled the little beasts, 

 which slept not onl\' in 

 the laps of their mis- 

 tresses but e\'en in their ("iiu,i>ki:x ch' Ciia 



Blexhei.m Spaniel 



Phot<i J. T. Xewman, Berkhampstead 



brown spaniels, and the court, as well as all the 

 nobility, followed his princely example. The 

 great artist Van Dyck painted them on his 

 canvas, and other painters took good care to 

 place one beside the great personages who 

 patronized them. 



The King Charles spaniel still exists, and 

 was soon followed by the Prince Charles and 

 the Blenheim spaniels. These three species 

 differ chiefly in color. The first is black and 

 tan, with no white on him ; the second should 

 be white, with black and brown markings ; the 

 third, named Blenheim, from the residence and 

 famous victor}' of the 

 Duke of Marlborough, 

 is reddish, with white 

 spots. A fourth species, 

 the ruby spaniel, wholly 

 red, completes the quar- 

 tet of this pretty little 

 tribe whose ajDple-shaped 

 heads, short snub noses, 

 and whole body structure 

 plainly indicate innu- 

 merable crossings. The 

 spaniels of to-day are cer- 

 Li;s I {Will Dy,i;) tainly agreeable pleasure 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



