"The dog has so frequently been represented on canvas that it would be idle to refuse a description of it in a work professing to treat of the dog in all his varieties." So commences the paragraph on this breed in the second edition of "Stonehenge," and so far, it appears to me, such paragraph is strictly accurate. There are only thirteen additional lines in the work alluded to in which to describe the appearance and give the history of this most ancient race of dogs, and I think you will confess that the information therein contained fairly merits the term "meagre".

It is useless to speculate upon the origin of this breed, beyond submitting that it must have come into existence after the Flood at any rate; for otherwise certain long-nosed, loose, and limber animals yclept mastiffs by a Devonian gentleman not unknown to fame would clearly never have maintained their existence. That the Great Dane is sufficiently ancient to " boast the claims of long descent" all the books that I have found bear ample testimony, whilst old paintings, both English and foreign, but more especially the latter, show beyond all dispute that he has remained true to type for a thousand years, more or less; and not only in outward form is this so, for a. personal knowledge of these dogs, commencing on the Continent in 1856, has demonstrated the fact that they retain the marvellous courage and power which warranted their use in the arena and as war dogs by the ancients. These dogs have been for some hundreds of years in the possession of the nobility of this country, and are so still.

A splendid painting (date fifteenth century, I think) of the head of a dog of this breed can be seen in the Spencer collection at South Kensington, and helps to prove the assertions I make; and there can be no doubt a class for these dogs will shortly be made at our own large shows, as is the case in Paris and other large Continental shows, for the qualities of this breed only require to be known to be valued. Enormous in size, sensitive in nose, of great speed, unyielding in tenacity and courage, and full of intelligence, there is no dog that can so well sustain the part of the dog of the hunter of large game, the guardian of the camp, the keeper's night dog, the companion of long and lonely journeys on horse or on foot; and when judiciously used as a cross, the result for some of the purposes named is even more useful. Surely such a dog deserves more than the sixteen lines "Stonehenge" favours him with. The following, which I copy from the Monograph of the Mastiffs by H. D. Richardson, will to a great extent bear out the statements I make.

Richardson (writing in about 1846 or 1847) says:

This is, I think, the largest dog in existence, and it is likewise decidedly the most serviceable as a destroyer of the wolf and the boar. In this country he is but seldom seen in a state of purity; and. is, in any case, seldom recognised as what he really is. The Dane rarely stands less than 30in. in height at the shoulder, and usually more. His head is broad at the temples, and the parietal bones diverge much, thus marking him to be a true mastiff; but, by a singular discrepancy, his muzzle is lengthened more than even that of an ordinary hound, and the lips are not pendulous, or at least very slightly so; his coat, when thoroughbred, is rather short and fine; the tail is fine and tapering; the neck long; the ears small and carried back, but these are invariably taken off when the dog is a whelp. The finest dog of this breed I ever saw was the celebrated Hector, the property of his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch. Hector stood 32in. at the shoulder, and when I saw him was about eighteen years old, and his legs had begun to give way, and his back to fall in; so that, I should say, when a young dog, he stood at least an inch and a half higher, or 33 1/2in., a height equal to that of many Shetland ponies.

As many persons contradicted my assertion as to Hector's being the true Saxon boar dog, the same that used to be kept in the royal establishments of that country, I took the liberty of writing to his Grace on the subject, and was kindly favoured with the following reply: " Sir, - I received your letter on the 31st (yesterday). The dog Hector mentioned by you was bought by my brother from a student at Dresden.. Of his pedigree I know nothing, but understand the breed is used to hunt the wild boar. His height I do not recollect, but he was the tallest dog I ever saw. He must have been upwards of twenty years of age when he died, as he was supposed to be eight years old when my brother bought him. - Your obedient servant, Buccleuch".

I had likewise the honour of a letter from his Grace's secretary, who very kindly took the pains to have the stuffed remains of poor Hector measured for me. In that state he measured but 29in. to the shoulder; this is, however, by no means much for a dog- to shrink, especially when death takes place at so advanced an age.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert has a very fine dog of this description, named Vulcan; and Mr. Maynard kindly furnished me with a description of him, from which I should be disposed to regard him as being of a mixed race - between the great rough boar dog mentioned in last chapter, and the dog at present under consideration. His height is 30iu. The colour of the Duke of Buccleuch's dog was a light slate ground, with large brown blotches distributed here and there; that of his Royal Highness's dog is a mixture of smoky grey and black, pretty equally distributed. The hair is close, and inclined to be wiry, judging from a specimen sent me by Mr. Maynard. Mr. Hague, distiller, of Bonnington, near Edinburgh, had a very beautiful dog of this description, colour a light fawn, with markings of a deeper tint. The muzzle of these dogs presents a remarkable peculiarity, appearing as if suddenly brought to a termination by a chop of a hatchet, so abruptly does it become blunt. There are few dogs possessed of such determination as this.

Shortly after Hector was brought to Scotland, he selected and pursued a stag, singled him from the herd, and ran him through the domains until he overtook him in the middle of the river Est, where he killed him.

In further proof of the gigantic size of this dog, a writer in a sporting magazine - Capt. Medwin - says, speaking of a tremendous wolf which fell before his rifle: " Monster as he was, there are dogs in the town of Heidelberg who would have proved more than a match for him or any wolf. This part of Germany possesses a breed much in esteem among the students of the University, larger, more muscular, and fiercer than any with which I am acquainted; and in saying this I do not forget the dogs of the Pyrenees, St. Bernard, Greece, or Lapland. Our mastiffs, now becoming rarer every day, are to them what a cat is to a tiger." I have taken considerable interest in these dogs, ever since I first saw one at Heidelberg some twenty years ago, and have ever been on the watch to find and secure a really good specimen. In 1863 there were, I think, five exhibited at the Cremorne show, and amongst them a magnificent specimen shown by Capt. Palmer, and called Sam, a print of whom, cut from one of the illustrated papers, I had until quite recently. His fault was his colour, being brindle and white. There was also at that time in London a very handsome brindled dog of this breed, but he did not appear to have that amount of " go " in him that distinguishes it.

There have been a great many shown since then, but all of them deficient in size, or in some other vital point; of these Nero was a remarkably good dog but for that defect. At the last Kennel Club Show there were, I think, five, including my own dog, and some of them were exceedingly good, particularly the almost too beautiful blue bitch shown by Lady Charles Innes Ker. At the Cremorne show there were no dachshunds exhibited, and five Danes. Now the former form large and interesting classes. At the last Paris show the class for Grand Danois contained, I think, twenty-two entries, and a splendid class it was. Surely it is time we English amateurs took this splendid and useful breed in hand, and do for it what we have done for many another which was never half so well worth the trouble.

There is to me considerable pleasure to be derived from a belief that I am in possession of a dog who is capable of doing something more than hold his own with any dog of any other breed; and I doubt not a desire to be in a similar position operates upon the minds of other Englishmen, and that it can be gratified at the sacrifice of some little trouble and expense, and will, I have no doubt. Should "Stonehenge" deem it necessary that this breed should meet with some consideration at his hands in the new edition of his work on dogs, I shall, in the interests of those who admire them, be very happy to give him further information, illustrations, and extracts; or, should he be unable to find a better, and is desirous of personally studying the physical and mental attributes of a dog of this breed, my dog Satan is at his disposal for as long as he thinks proper to keep him.

[In spite of Mr. Adcock's urgent pleading for this breed, I cannot consider it as one of " The Dogs of the British Islands." - "Stonehenge."]