24 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 



animal, but here ,a bird was selected, the choice falling on the 

 long, smooth, arid rounded neck of the drake. The resemblance 

 is not very striking, as the greyhound never displays anything 

 approaching to such a formation ; and, indeed, with the exception 

 of the camelopard, , there is no well-known quadruped whose 

 neck is at all like that of the drake. Very little, therefore, is 

 learnt by this simile ; and all that can be said is, that in a well- 

 formed greyhound the neck should be long, thin, and rounded 

 towards its junction with the head, as compared with its fellows ; 

 but to expect in reality a drake's neck is out of the question. 

 The length should be as nearly as may be the same as that of the 

 head, but it is difficult to measure either to half an inch ; two 

 persons seldom agree as to the exact point of demarcation between 

 the head and neck, and there is still greater difficulty in defining 

 the point of junction of the neck with the shoulders. 



The chest, shoulders, and forelegs must be considered together, 

 as they are all dependent on one another for their respective 

 actions. The chest must have a sufficient volume to contain the 

 lungs and heart in full development, since these organs are re- 

 'quired for staying power ; but this volume must be obtained in 

 depth rather than in width, because a very wide chest impedes 

 the play of the shoulders on the thereby necessarily rounded ribs, 

 and makes the gallop short, and the power of turning limited and 

 slow. Hence the breeder selects his sires and dams with the 

 chest of this formation, that is to say, moderately wide and deep, 

 without being so keel-shaped as to strike any slightly prominent 

 part of the ground, such as a large stone or heavy, rounded, and 

 hard clod of earth. The shoulder, arm, and leg constitute what is 

 called the fore-quarter, and it will be found that these generally 

 go together in shape. Thus, if the shoulder-blade is long and 

 placed obliquely (or at an angle of 45 degrees with the ground) 



