NON-SPORTING DOGS.
The Twentieth-Century Dog: Non-Sporting. By Herbert Compton. (Grant Richards. Is. 6d.)—The astonishing thing about most of the non-sporting breeds of dogs is their comparative youth as far as England is concerned. Many of the old Continental breeds had been kept to a type, but probably no one took them seriously till we introduced specimens into England, and, with our usual obstinacy, insisted on standardising points, and proceeded to take them more seriously than our women, and even our horses. Still, it seems to be impossible to fix any breed, and well-marked types are divided into rival camps. Ought the Schipperke to have a tail ? Are poodles naturally possessed of corded or curly coats? What is the real type ..)f the King Charles spaniel ? People are beginning to discover that the most careful selection fails to "stereotype" some breeds, each generation oscillating in one and then another direction. Some breeds have admittedly reached an almost perfect type of but slight variation,—the collie, for instance, and among sporting dogs the fox-terrier and the foxhound. But then the sporting breeds must comply with certain laws—speed and smartness, nose and lung capacity— whereas the pet dog is at the mercy of individual caprice. Mr. Compton has collected the opinion of five hundred experts, and though they agree fairly well, and appear satisfied with the Kennel Club's standards and scale of points, it is amusing to see the variety of opinions on, say, pugs, poodles, and Schipperkes. Nevertheless, with all these differences of opinion, the whole- hearted enthusiasm with which dog-lovers pursue their ideals is wholesome and encouraging, and their several judgments provide a most fascinating and handy series of references. The photo- graphs are excellent, and Reinagle's drawings of dogs a hundred years ago form most suggestive and compelling proofs of the extraordinary development of even the older breeds.
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