It was not until dog shows had been some years established that a class was made for St. Bernards; this was first done at the show held March, 1863, in the Ashburnham Hall, Cremorne, first and second prizes being won by dogs with no written pedigree, but both bred by the monks of St. Bernard; these were the Rev. A. N. Bate's Monk and Mr. W. H. Stone's Monk, bred in this country from two dogs imported from St. Bernard Hospital when puppies. Shortly after this the Rev. J. Cumming Macdona, whose importation of Tell was the foundation of the grandest team of St. Bernards that has existed in this country, with the exception of the present Shefford Kennels, gave a considerable impetus to the St. Bernard fancy, and to that gentleman, above all others, I believe the St.. Bernard owes its great popularity to-day, for his lavish expenditure of time, money, and skill in importing and breeding did more than anything else to establish the breed in public favour. In fact it only wanted good specimens of these magnificent and colossal dogs to be shown to an appreciative British public to secure them a lasting home here, and this Mr. Macdona did both in his imported specimens and those bred by himself, and I can assure those who read this that it was a very grand sight to see six or eight of those noble animals scampering over the sands and breasting the waves round Hilbre Island like some gigantic sea dogs.

Of other importers of good dogs I must specially mention Mr. J. H. Mur-chison, who brought Thor into this country, a dog the sire of more present winners than any other. He has proved a great boon to breeders. Among those of his get I may mention the Rev. G. A. Sneyd's Hector, Mr. F. Gresham's Shah and Dagmar, Mr. M'Killop's Simplon, Mr. Armitage's Oscar, Mr. Du Maurier's Chang - all of the very first rank. Thor and also Miss Hales's Jura and many other good ones brought over here were bred byM. Schumacher, of Berne, whose name is most prominent in England as a Continental breeder.

It is almost needless to observe that there are two varieties recognised, the rough and the smooth-coated, but these are so closely allied, and differing in no other point, that rough and smooth whelps may appear in the same litter, a notable example of which was Mr. Gresham' s champion smooth-coated dog The Shah and his late rough-coated bitch Dagmar, by Thor, out of Abbess.

The general appearance of the St. Bernard is very pleasing, which effect is no doubt enhanced by his picturesque markings, for although I think colour is too often overrated in summing up the aggregate points of a dog, its effect on our first impressions is telling; but, independent of colour and markings, the dog's colossal size and symmetrical shape, together with his fine intelligent head, gives him a commanding and majestic appearance. The most common faults are, as in the mastiff, slackness of loin, not being well coupled, as he should be, with strong sinews connecting the ribs and hind quarters, and a tendency to cow-hooks, which gives an awkward gait. Mr. Macdona, in Webb's book, says: "The gait or carriage of the dog much resembles the march of the lion," an opinion which I cannot from my own observation controvert, all the lions I have seen being prevented from marching in anything like a dignified fashion by the limits of their cages, but judging from the construction of 'the two animals, I am inclined to think the reverend gentleman drew on his "inner consciousness" for the illustration, and that the king of •brutes does not march with anything like the noble bearing I lately saw displayed by eight of the pick of the Shefford Kennels as they filed along a Bedfordshire-lane for my delectation.

In judging St. Bernards, I think symmetry, which is essential to good action and endurance, of the first consideration, and to which size alone should give way; but the latter point is, in a companion dog, kept for his commanding appearance, not to be lost sight of; for a big good one is better than a little good one, but a slouching gait destroys his pretensions to high rank and gives him a vulgar look, for which gigantic size does not compensate.

In temper the St. Bernard is, as a rule, gentle and manageable, but this, as in all breeds, depends much on his human masters and on individuality, but even a naturally bad-tempered dog may be improved by judicious treatment.

There is one fault to which I have reason to believe they are as a breed naturally prone - namely, a penchant for raw mutton, which they are apt to indulge in a lawless manner unbecoming dogs living in civilised society. This taste they do not object to vary by making a meal of "a kid of the goats," and I advise those rearing St. Bernards to keep a watchful eye, and check with a firm hand the first disposition to meddle with flocks and herds they see exhibited in their young dogs.

The following points of the St. Bernard, so admirably drawn up by "Stonehenge," I have copied verbatim from his article in his new issue of "The Dogs of the British Islands," for, I think it is most desirable that a standard should be recognised by which these dogs should be judged, and the points have nowhere else been described with such completeness and lucidity.

There are a few points only in which I cannot quite concur, and to which I will refer, although many may consider it presumptuous to differ from instead of sitting at the feet of the Gamaliel of canine lore.

First, as to the line up the poll. "Stonehenge," after describing the dress and badge of the Benedictine monks, says: " A dog marked with white in the same manner is supposed to be peculiarly consecrated to his work," and adds, "There is no rational objection to the value apportioned to this point." I, on the other hand, think there is more than one rational objection to it: First, as he gives ten positive points for this line up the poll and five more for colour, distributed as he describes it,, a self-coloured dog like Mr. Du Maurier's magnificent dog Chang or Dr. Russell's grand young bitch Muren would be debited with fifteen negative points, or a difference of thirty points less than one marked after this arbitrary fashion, and to my mind this is eminently unjust. On this rule Meuthon would never have won a prize, and in that case the rule would have done good, but by it Chang, Muren, and many other good ones would be debarred from winning.