THE POINTER 
difficult of education; his impatience in company made him wish to be 
foremost in the points, the shooter being given but little time to come 
up, and he was inclined to run in, especially down wind. These failings 
were gradually eliminated, and it is a thousand pities that so useful a 
dog should be among those which are on the down grade. A good pointer, 
such as the late Sir John Shelley’s Sancho — immortalized in one of the 
finest pictures of a gundog in existence — is a model of beauty, his de- 
lightful — almost “ airy ” — movement, his perfect range and dead stop 
at game, his perseverance and rapid turn to catch the wind of the body 
scent, and his attitude when he knows he is right, compel the admiration 
of all true lovers of the dog, and one cannot wonder at his popularity 
before what may be called the battue era. Old sportsmen retain delight- 
ful memories of days spent on stubble, fallow, and in the root fields behind 
a well-matched brace of pointers, and comparatively few present-day 
dogs have anything but elementary knowledge of that which provided 
the best of sport, in the pleasantest conditions, for our forefathers. There 
is nothing in gundog work so thrilling as the sight of pointers or setters 
quartering their ground, systematically and thoroughly to the direction 
of a capable handler. The pity of it all is that such a sight is getting rarer 
every year. 
The standard of points of the breed as drawn up by “ Stonehenge ” 
stands good, though one rarely sees the noble dog Mr J. H. Walsh must 
have had in his mind during his work of compilation. The head should 
be of good size, wider across the ear than in the setter, with the forehead 
rising well at the brows, though showing a decided stop. A full develop- 
ment of the occipital crest is indispensable, and the upper surface 
should be in two slightly rounded flats, with a furrow between. The nose 
should be long and broad, with widely-opened nostrils. The end must 
be moist, and, in health, cold to the touch. It should be black or very dark 
brown in all but the lemon and whites; in them it may be a deep flesh 
colour. It should be cut square and not pointed. Ears should be moderately 
long and thin, not folded like those of the hound, but lying flat and close 
to the cheeks, set on low, without any tendency to prick. Eyes soft, and 
of medium size; colour brown, varying in shade with that of the coat. 
Lips well developed and frothing when in work, but not pendant or flue- 
like. The neck should be arched towards the head, long and round, without 
any approach to dewlap or throatiness. It should come out with a graceful 
sweep from the shoulder blades. The shoulders and chest are dependent 
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