Pets

This dog, one would think, ought, by the dignified title which he bears, to be considered a representative national terrier, forming a fourth in the distinctively British quartette whose other members are the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh Terriers. Possibly in the early days when Pearson and Roocroft bred him to perfection it was hoped and intended that he should become a breed typical of England.

No doubt has been cast upon the belief that the small, white, silky Canis Melitaeus is the most ancient of all the lap dogs of the Western world. It was a favourite in the time of Phidias; it was an especial pet of the great ladies of Imperial Rome. It appears to have come originally from the Adriatic island of Melita rather than from the Mediterranean Malta, although this supposition cannot be verified.

The Otterhound is a descendant of the old Southern Hound, and there is reason to believe that all hounds hunting their quarry by nose had a similar source. Why the breed was first called the Southern Hound, or when his use became practical in Great Britain, must be subjects of conjecture; but that there was a hound good enough to hold a line for many hours is accredited in history that goes very far back into past centuries.

The Black and Tan, or Manchester, Terrier as we know him to-day is a comparatively new variety, and he is not to be confounded with the original terrier with tan and black colouring which was referred to by Dr. Caius in the sixteenth century, and which was at that time used for going to ground and driving out badgers and foxes.