UPLAND SHOOTING. 
323 
The Setter is too well known in this country to require a 
particular description, it may be well, however, to call the 
attention to some of those points, which peculiarly indicate 
purity of breed; the first of these is undoubtedly the nature of 
his coat, which, in the finest and purest strain, is long, sleek 
and wavy, but not curly, even upon the crest and ears—a ten¬ 
dency to curl indicating an admixture of the Water Spaniel—it 
should be as soft, and almost as fine and glossy as floss silk, and 
on his stem and along the back of his legs should expand into 
a fringe known technically as the feathering, often of many 
inches in extent. The head should be broad between the eyes, 
with a high bony process or ridge at the hinder extremity of 
the skull, between the ears, which is by many sportsmen thought 
to indicate the degree of the animal’s olfactory powers. There 
should be rather a deep indenture between the eyes; the nose 
should be long rather than broad, and somewhat tapering, with 
soft, moist, well-expanded nostrils, and above all things, a 
black nose and palate, with a full, liquid, dark and singularly 
expressive eye. The best breed is not very tall or bulky, and 
the great, heavy-shouldered, coarse, square-headed, club-tailed, 
fleecy brutes which are generally called Setters, in this country, 
are probably the result of some such cross as that recommended 
by Mr. Tolfrey, on the original Setter stock. 
The best and most useful dog is of medium height, very deep- 
chested and high-withered, what we should call in a horse, 
well coupled, or closely ribbed up, and very strong and broad 
across the loins. The legs should be straight, and the longer to 
the knee and hock joints, and the shorter thence to the pasterns 
the better. The feet should be hard, round, and cat-like, and 
well provided with ball and toe tufts, which are of great effi¬ 
cacy in protecting the feet from becoming sore, either from wet 
and ice, or from hard, stony, or stubby ground. Their action, 
when in movement, is very lithe and graceful, the stem is carried 
high, and constantly feathered, and it is a good sign if the head 
is likewise carried high, and if the dog snuff the air when scent¬ 
ing his game, rather than stoop his nose to the ground, and 
