THE KENNEL CLUB. 
1874. The volume contains over six hun- 
dred pages, and is certainly a most admirable 
production. It comprises the pedigrees of 
4,027 dogs, arranged under forty classes. 
Considering the difficulties which must 
necessarily attend the preparation of an 
entirely new work of such magnitude, it 
is remarkably accurate. Under successive 
editors the work has been published annually, 
and now extends to thirty-four volumes, 
and within its scope and intention it is a 
work of extreme value. 
In connection with the publication of 
the first volume of the Stud Book, the 
committee of the club arranged for the 
publication of a classification of breeds. 
These numbered forty, divided into 
“sporting”? and “‘non-sporting ” sections. 
This arrangement continued until 1884, 
when the divisions were abandoned, and 
remained in abeyance until 1902. The 
new breeds added to the register since 
1873, are about forty in number; one 
or two breeds that appeared on the first 
register have been subjected to re- 
arrangement or their nomenclature has 
been altered, but the changes have been 
principally in the direction of the addition 
of new breeds or varieties, mostly of foreign 
origin. It is noticeable that in the first 
classification neither Irish Wolfhounds nor 
Poodles, amongst other breeds which have 
since become extremely popular, find a 
place. Previous to 1877, although champion 
classes for dogs were certainly provided at 
shows, they appear to have been under no 
definite regulations, nor did the rules pro- 
vide for the title of “‘ Champion.” In that 
year, however, a resolution was passed at 
a general meeting of the members that the 
title should not be assumed until a dog had 
won three prizes; but it was not until 
1880 that the rules contained an enactment 
that no dog should be entitled to be called 
a champion that had not won four first 
prizes at shows registered in the Stud 
Book, one of the four being in a champion 
class. The subject was a frequent matter 
of legislation. The title ‘‘ Championship 
prize’ was found to be misleading, and it 
was finally abolished in 1900, the designa- 
69 
(a9 
545 
tion ‘“‘Challenge certificate” being substi- 
tuted, three such certificates won under 
three different judges entitling a dog to 
be called a champion. The year 1880 
was one of the most eventful in the annals 
of the club, for it was during this year 
that the system of registration for dogs 
was adopted. A system which, strange 
as it may now appear, at first met with a 
storm of opposition, not only from inter- 
ested breeders and exhibitors, but from 
influential and usually well-informed organs 
of the press. 
In April of this same year The Kennel 
Gazette was published for the first time ; 
originally the Gazette was intended as a 
private enterprise of Mr. Shirley’s, and 
although intimately connected with the 
club, and containing much official informa- 
tion, it was not the official organ. Its 
value as a means of intercommunication 
between the club and its members, and the 
general public, was, however, so obvious, 
that in 1881, in accordance with the 
generally expressed opinion of the members 
that it was desirable that The Kennel 
Gazette should belong to the Kennel Club 
as its official organ, Mr. Shirley generously 
handed it over to the members. 
In September, 1896, the committee had 
under consideration a letter which had 
been received from Lady Auckland, in 
which she suggested that facilities should 
be offered to ladies to become members of 
the Kennel Club. A sub-committee was 
appointed to consider the question, who 
subsequently presented a report recom- 
mending the formation of a Ladies’ Branch, 
and in July, 1899, the first committee was 
elected, with Her Grace the Duchess of 
Newcastle as Chairman. 
In rgo1, the Council of Representatives 
was instituted, a body consisting of repre- 
sentatives of registered associations, clubs, 
and societies, who each year are invited 
by the committee of the Kennel Club to 
elect delegates to represent them on the 
Council. The Council has proved a valued 
auxiliary of the Kennel Club, as repre- 
senting the views and wishes of the various 
specialist clubs and societies upon matters 
