the back ends; thick where it joins the body, tapering to a point,
and not carried higher than the back. COAT--The coat should be close,
smooth, short and glossy. COLOUR--The coat should be jet black and
rich mahogany tan, distributed over the body as follows: On the head
the muzzle is tanned to the nose, which with the nasal bone is jet
black. There is also a bright spot on each cheek and above each eye;
the underjaw and throat are tanned, and the hair inside the ears is
the same colour; the fore-legs tanned up to the knee, with black lines
(pencil marks) up each toe, and a black mark (thumb mark) above the
foot; inside the hind-legs tanned, but divided with black at the hock
joints; and under the tail also tanned; and so is the vent, but only
sufficiently to be easily covered by the tail; also slightly tanned
on each side of the chest. Tan outside the hind-legs--commonly called
breeching--is a serious defect. In all cases the black should not
run into the tan, nor _vice versa_, but the division between the two
colours should be well defined. WEIGHT--For toys not exceeding 7 lb.;
for the large breed from 10 to 20 lb. is most desirable.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE BULL-TERRIER

The Bull-terrier is now a gentlemanly and respectably owned dog,
wearing an immaculate white coat and a burnished silver collar; he
has dealings with aristocracy, and is no longer contemned for keeping
bad company. But a generation or two ago he was commonly the associate
of rogues and vagabonds, skulking at the heels of such members of
society as Mr. William Sikes, whom he accompanied at night on darksome
business to keep watch outside while Bill was within, cracking the
crib. In those days the dog's ears were closely cropped, not for the
sake of embellishment, but as a measure of protection against the
fangs of his opponent in the pit when money was laid upon the result
of a well-fought fight to the death. For fighting was the acknowledged
vocation of his order, and he was bred and trained to the work. He
knew something of rats, too, and many of his kind were famed in the
land for their prowess in this direction. Jimmy Shaw's Jacko could
finish off sixty rats in three minutes, and on one occasion made a
record by killing a thousand in a trifle over an hour and a half.

The breed is sufficiently modern to leave no doubt as to its
derivation. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century attention
was being directed to the improvement of terr