THE ITALIAN GREYHOUND 21 



that it should be as small as possible and fragile in ap- 

 pearance, and should not exceed eight or nine pounds in 

 weight ; the skull prominent ; head fine, long, and flat ; 

 jaw very lean, the eyes fairly large, the ears like those of 

 the greyhound proper; the coat never very thick, but 

 fine and soft, the colour variable ; blue, white, and fawn 

 are all favourites. 



The Scotch Greyhound 



This is a I'ough dog and the breed is nearly extinct ; it 

 is larger in every way than the English greyhound, but is 

 not nearly so fast. The hair is rough. Itis very intelligent. 



The eye should be dark, bright, round, and full, 

 with a soft, languishing, timid, fawn-like look; the ears 

 small and thin, soft and falling, the lower half thrown 

 slant-wise backwards and showing the interior of the 

 ear sideways ; teeth white, level, and strong ; the chest 

 deep and wide, but not too round ; the shoulders deep, 

 broad, and obliquely placed ; neck long, slender, and 

 arched, and gracefully curved to the shoulder ; the fore- 

 arm straight, with plenty of bone and muscle ; the hind 

 leg straight, loins strong and hard, the back well let 

 into the shoulders, with a strong ridge of muscle standing 

 up above the ribs on either side of the backbone ; the 

 feet well knuckled up and cat-like, with good pads and 

 strong nails ; tail of fair length, thin, and carried with a 

 graceful sweep. 



Greyhounds are of divers colours. Some say the grey- 

 hounds pied with black and white are the most swift, but 

 there are good ones of all colours — white, red, red and fawn, 

 blue and white, blue, blue-ticked, red-ticked, and brindle. 



Froissart, the great historian, relates a story of a grey- 

 hound belonging to King Richard II. when he was a 

 prisoner in the Oastle of Kent. I will give the anecdote 

 in the words of the chronicler : — 



' It was informed me King Richard had a greyhound 

 called Math, who always waited upon the King, and would 



