7 o DOMESTICATED DOGS. 



to say, about i\ to if times. Back ribs often defective, but this 

 point should be insisted on. 



Loin very muscular in both directions. 



Hind-quarters thick and breech wide; but stifles generally 

 straight. 



Elbows apt to turn out or in, as in most dwarfed breeds. This 

 should be carefully noticed in picking puppies. 



Legs and feet not of quite so much importance as in the larger 

 hounds, but still these points must not be neglected. 



The colours are the same as with the previously described 

 hounds. 



Coat soft and shining. 



Stern very thick at the root and tapering to a sharp point, 

 carried, of course, " hound-like " over the back. 



Symmetry very great, except as before remarked in the smallest 

 strains. 



The rough Welsh beagle is a reduced Welsh harrier in every 

 respect. 



VII.— THE OTTER-HOUND. 



Between a large Welsh harrier and an otter-hound no one but 

 an expert could detect any difference, which, after all, will be 

 found only to exist in the coat and feet, and then in a very slight 

 degree. From their constant exposure to the water it is necessary 

 that they should have some further protection than the mere 

 long open coat of the Welsh harrier, and no doubt, from selecting 

 those hounds which stood the water best, it has come to pass 

 that the otter-hound possesses a thick pily undercoat, which is, 

 moreover, of a very oily nature. If, therefore, a specimen of each 

 breed is immersed in water, the one will come out showing his 

 shape like a half-drowned hare, while the coat of the other stands 

 up and is only half wet. Again, in the feet there is a difference, 



