A Don's ORIGIN.
'That bright, neat, foxy little terrier the Corgi, of South Welsh origin, whose coming was prophesied some months ago in this place, has enjoyed a very sudden and general vogue since his appearance at ('ruff's dog show last week. Ills fume has gone forth even to the Americas. An older, but still moderately new •dog. the golden retriever, continues to increase in popu- larity, and with its spread has rearisen the older controversy over its origin. The true Russian retriever, very rarely seen in England, is of much the same colour (though it has some differences of build) and it is now denied that the two have any direct relationship. It appears to be proved, historically, that the first of the golden retrievers (of which Lord Harcourt was one of the earliest breeders) was a sport from the black retriever. Yellow is undoubtedly a primitive colour for dogs ; witness the dingo, a wild dog though probably not native to Australia. It is, however, quite possible that these English sports arc a throw back to a time when the Russian retriever was first brought to England. and not improbably covered wit h our own dogs. The only Russian retrievers I know have a quiet docility very negative of the golden retriever, which is to the black, temperamentally, very much what the White \Vest Highland is to the dark race from which it sported."
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