and set on where the
arch of the back ends, thick where it joins the body, tapering to
a point, and not carried higher than the back. COAT--Close, hard,
short, and glossy. COLOUR--Pure white, coloured marking to disqualify.
CONDITION--Flesh and muscles to be hard and firm. WEIGHT--From 12
lb. to 20 lb.

CHAPTER XXX

THE BLACK AND TAN TERRIER

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.

Formerly there was but little regard paid to colour and markings,
and there was a considerably greater proportion of tan in the coat
than there is at the present day, while the fancy markings, such as
pencilled toes, thumb marks, and kissing spots were not cultivated.
The general outline of the dog, too, was less graceful and altogether
coarser.

During the first half of the nineteenth century the chief
accomplishment of this terrier was rat-killing. There are some
extraordinary accounts of his adroitness, as well as courage, in
destroying these vermin. The feats of a dog called Billy are recorded.
He was matched to destroy one hundred large rats in eight minutes
and a half. The rats were brought into the ring in bags, and as soon
as the number was complete Billy was put over the railing into their
midst. In six minutes and thirty-five seconds they were all destroyed.
In another match he killed the same number in six minutes and thirteen
seconds.

It was a popular terrier in Lancashire, and it was in this county
that the refining process in his shape and colouring was practised,
and where he came by the name of the Manchester Terrier.

Like the White English Terriers the Black and Tan has fallen on evil
days. It is not a popular dog among fanciers, and although many good
ones may be seen occasionally about the streets the breed suffers
from want of the care and attention that are incidental to the
breeding and rearing of dogs intended for competition at shows.

There are many who hold the opinion that one of the chief reasons
for the decadence in the popularity of the Black and Tan Terrier,
notwithstanding its many claims to favour, is to be found in the loss
of that very alert appearance which was a general characteristic
before the Ken