Useful Companions of Man. 63 
to breeding has developed both size and weight. “Sir 
Redvers,” when he was exported to America, stood 344 
inches at the shoulder, and his weight was upwards of 
200 pounds; and “Lord Bute,” stood 36 inches high, 
and weighed 220 pounds when he was just turned two 
years old. The leading animal of recent days is the 
rough coated bitch ‘“‘ Lady Mignon,” the property of Mr. 
Samuel Jagger, of Honley, near Huddersfield. Her 
career has been unexceptional, having secured no less than 
fifty-four first prizes, specials, and championship Birming- 
ham, in one year, the winner being under two years old. 
The Bulldog is indisputably of British origin, and 
has never been permanently introduced into any other 
country. His courage is so great that it has become 
proverbial, and, with the exception of the game cock, 
there is no other domestic animal at all coming up to 
him. Independently of this quality, there is much dif- 
ference of opinion as to the mental peculiarities of this 
breed. By some authorities the bulldog is stated to be 
quarrelsome and wantonly savage, so that he can never 
be made a safe companion ; while others allege that he is 
mild and gentle in disposition, never showing his teeth 
until he is induced to do so by some special cause. As 
usual in such cases, the truth lies between two extremes. 
The bulldog is no doubt dangerous when his blood is 
up, and even his master runs some risk in meddling with 
him then, but he may generally be controlled with perfect 
facility, and he is mild, fondling, and gentle in his manner 
as a general rule. Still, he is not capable of strong at- 
tachment, and he cannot be taught more than the com- 
monest forms of obedience. He is silent in his attacks, 
so that he does not make a good watch-dog. Formerly 
the breed was kept pure with great care, for the purpose 
of baiting the bull, in which his tendency to pin the most 
vulnerable point (the nose) made him invaluable, no other 
dog having either the same desire to go at the head in 
preference to all other parts, or the same unflinching hold 
of the grasp when once obtained. Bulldogs have had 
their legs cut off after pinning a bull, without letting go, 
and other equally horrible cruelties have been practised 
to show this peculiarity. In the present day, when bull- 
