FOR DOG LOVERS. * THERE are people who are dog
lovers and also doggy people who are lovers of horseflesh. These three books are devoted
to pet dogs, sporting breeds, hounds and foxhunting. The Dog Lover's Book, by Mr. Edwin Noble, is a pretty volume with an account of the chief breeds of dog and a chapter at the end on their wild kinsmen, from the dingo and jackal to the fox and the hyaena. Mr. Noble has also supplied a goodly number of coloured plates which are original and effective in design, though they often fail to give an impression of the real points and features of the dog. There are, besides, a great many clever little uncoloured cuts. The text is simple and anecdotic, with not a few historical statements which are open to question. There is nothing to show that it is written for children, yet passages like the following, on the St. Ber- nard dog, almost give that impression : " The country of Switzerland is divided from Italy and the south of France by a very high and extensive range of mountains, and travellers passing from one country to the other were formerly obliged to do so on foot and use certain passes or roadways over the mountains, of which the best known is the pass of St. Bernard." Then follows the familiar story of the dogs which "carried a small wooden flask, containing food and a cordial, strapped to their collars." At the end of the book are chapters on dog shows and on the care and ailments of dogs. Those who do not expect a learned and accurate treatise on the races of dogs will find this an easily read, well-printed, and pretty book.
An old classic, published first in 1848, in a new form, will give many an opportunity of reading, or re-reading, one of the best dog books that has ever been written. The Life of a Foxhound, by John Mills, is prettily illustrated in the new edition by J. A Shepherd. There are coloured plates and a profusion of uncoloured sketches in the wide margins. The talk of Trimbnsh and Ringwood, the hunting scenes and the old conventional picture of the country squire, have not lost their charm. It is sad that the old sporting books should have a charm that the present-day writer seems unable to imitate.
Lastly, we have a stout volume on foxhunting, reprinted
• (1) The Dog Lover's Book. Written and Illustrated by Edwin Noble, R.B.A. With a preface by Major Richardson. London : Wells Gardner and Co. [ISa. net.]—(2.) The life of a Foxhound. By John Mills. Illustrated by J. A. Shepherd. London : Hodder and Stoughton [7s. 6d. net.]---(3) Good Sport : seen with some Famous Packs, 18864910. By Cuthbert Bradley. With 10 full-page Illustrations, including 6 in colour, numerous text cuts, and a hunting note by the Rt. Hon. H. Chaplin, M.P. London George Boutledge and Sons. [12s. 6d. net.]
from the sporting press, by a well-known contributor. Good Sport: seen with some Famous Packs, covers the twenty-five years from 1885 to 1910. Some great days in the Shires are described and the coloured plates are pleasing bright pictures. Mr. Cuthbert Bradley writes in the familiar style of many journalists who chronicle the doings of packs of foxhounds; but we think in reprinting his articles the long pages of names of those observed at the meet might have been cut out. In any case, such errors as "Lord Leconsfield " and "Captain Penell Elmhirst " might have been avoided. There is plenty of good reading in the book, and boundmen will turn with interest to the chapters on Peterborough and some famous kennels. The subject of fox hunting is all through treated with an absence of humour and a dignified seriousness which add to the attractions of the book.
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