black, white, liver, and red or yellow self-coloured
setters are common. The Irish setter is red without trace of black, but
occasionally flecked with white. The Gordon setter, the chief Scottish
variety, is a heavier animal with coarser hair, black-and-tan in colour.
The Russian setter has a woolly and matted coat.

The retriever is a large dog used for retrieving game on land, as a
water spaniel is used for the same purpose in water. The breed is almost
certainly derived from water-spaniels, with a strong admixture of
Newfoundland blood. The colour is black or tan, and the hair of the
face, body and tail is close and curly, although wavy-coated strains
exist.

The Newfoundland is simply an enormous spaniel, and shows its origin by
the facility with which it takes to water and the readiness with which
it mates with spaniels and setters. It has developed a definite instinct
to save human beings from drowning, this probably being an evolution of
the retrieving instinct of the original spaniels. The true Newfoundland
is a very large dog and may reach 31 in. in height at the shoulder. The
coat is shaggy and oily, and is preferred with as little white as
possible, but the general black coloration may have rusty shades. The
eyes and ears are relatively small, and the forehead white and
dome-shaped, giving the face the well-known appearance of benignity and
intelligence. Although these dogs were originally brought to Great
Britain from Newfoundland and are still bred in the latter country,
greater size, perfection and intelligence have been attained in England,
where Newfoundlands for many years have been the most popular large
dogs. They are easily taught to retrieve on land or water, and their
strength, intelligence and fidelity make them specially suitable as
watchdogs or guardians. The Landseer Newfoundland is a black and white
variety brought into notice by Sir Edwin Landseer, but the exact
ancestry of which is unknown. The Labrador Newfoundland is a smaller
black variety with a less massive head. It occurs both in Newfoundland
and England, and has been used largely in producing crosses, being
almost certainly one parent of the retriever.

The St Bernard is a large breed taking its name from the monastery of
Mount St Bernard in the Alps, and remarkable for high intelligence and
use in rescuing travellers from the snow. The origin of the breed is
unknown, but undoubtedly it is closely related to spaniels. The St
Berna