s Races des Chiens, in La Bibliotheque de l'Eleveur.]

We shall rapidly pass in review the different breeds of dogs that one
may chance to meet with in our dog shows, beginning with the largest.
It is again in mountainous countries that the largest dogs are raised,
and the character common to all of these is a very thick coat. The
largest of all, according to travelers, is the Thibetan dog. Buffon
tells of having seen one which, when seated, was five feet in height.
One brought back by the Prince of Wales from his voyage to the Indies
was taller in stature, stronger and more stocky than a large mastiff,
from which it differed, moreover, in its long and somewhat coarse
hair, which was black on the back and russet beneath, the thighs and
the tail being clothed with very long and silky hair.

In France, we have a beautiful mountain dog--the dog of the
Pyrenees--which is from 32 to 34 inches in height at the shoulders,
and has a very thick white coat, spotted above with pale yellow or
grayish fox color. It is very powerful, and is capable of
successfully defending property or flocks against bears and wolves.

The Alpine dog is the type of the mountain dog. It is of the same size
as the dog of the Pyrenees, and differs therefrom especially in its
coloring. It is white beneath, with a wide patch of orange red
covering the back and rump. The head and ears are of the same color,
with the addition of black on the edges; but the muzzle is white, and
a stripe of the same color advances upon the forehead nearly up to the
nape of the neck. The neck also is entirely white. There are two
varieties of the Alpine or St. Bernard dog, one having long hair and
the other shorter and very thick hair. We give in Fig. 1 a portrait of
Cano, a large St. Bernard belonging to Mr. Gaston Leonnard.

[Illustration: FIG. 1--LARGE ST. BERNARD DOG BELONGING TO MR. LEONARD.]

Although this breed originated at the celebrated convent of St.
Bernard, it no longer exists there in a state of purity, and in order
to find fine types of it we have to go to special breeders of
Switzerland and England. The famous Plinnlimon, which was bought for
$5,000 by an American two or three years ago, and about which there
was much talk in the papers, even the political ones, was born and
reared in England. It appears that it is necessary, too, to reduce the
number of life-saving acts that it is said are daily performed by the
St. Bernard dogs. This is no longer but a le