Dr. Lockhart states that “there are two kinds of Pug in China: one, a small black-and-white, long-legged, pug-nosed, prominent-eyed Dog; the other, long-backed, short-legged, long-haired, tawny-coloured, with pug-nose and prominent eyes. Sometimes in these Dogs the eyes are so prominent that I have known a Dog have one of his eyes snapped off by another Dog in play. The preference for vegetable food is a fact, but I think it is a result of education, as most of them will take animal food; this is usually kept from them, so that their growth and organisation may be kept down. The Sleeve Dog is a degenerated, long-legged variety of Pug, rigidly kept on low diet, and never allowed to run about on the ground. They are kept very much on the top of a kang, or stove bed-place, and not allowed to run about on the ground, as it is supposed that if they run on the ground they will derive strength from the ground, and be able to grow large. Their food is much restricted, and consists chiefly of boiled rice.”

POODLES. (One-eighth Natural Size.)

THE WATER-SPANIEL

is larger than any of the Spaniels already mentioned: it is also a stronger Dog, and has closely-curled hair, and ears proportionally much shorter than in the preceding breeds. It is used in shooting, having first to find the game, and then, when a bird falls, to bring it to its master without mangling. It is one of the most docile and intelligent of Dogs, and has numerous tales told of it, both in prose and poetry. Among the latter we may mention Cowper’s well-known piece “The Water Lily.”

THE POODLE

is a Dog of Continental origin, and is well known by its thick, generally white, curly hair, which conceals its face and covers its body like a mat. In France, and sometimes, alas! in England, people try to improve the breed by shaving off the hair from the hinder half of the body, with the exception of the tip of the tail, thus making the wretched animal a spectacle to men and angels. Some misguided people go even further than this, and dye the hair of various colours—making, perhaps, a magenta body and a yellow tail, or some other equally tasteful and appropriate combination.

ST. BERNARD DOGS.

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