Page:The power of the dog.djvu/126

 other place frequented in its season by members of the great world, and there you will see him in force, escorting his beloved mistress with all the assurance in the world. So gay and irresponsible is his action that you might well describe him as the butterfly of the canine race. No doubt the demand from the general public, regarded from the point of view of the expert, is not wholly without its drawbacks, for the patent reason that, in the efforts to cope with this demand breeders are not always particular about keeping up the level. Having this fact in mind it is encouraging to think there are not more bad ones about.

If Darwin had been living the story of the Pomeranian would have furnished him with some admirable illustrations of the variations that man is capable of producing in the canidæ within the space of a comparatively few years. Half a century ago the dogs that were imported into this country were mainly white, weighing twenty pounds or more. If we enquired into their origin the conclusion would be forced upon us that they were of sub-Arctic extraction, the resemblance to the dogs of the colder regions rendering any other conclusion impossible. We note the similarity in coat, the foxy-shaped head, the tightly-curled tail, and the erect ears.

One has not to be very old to recall the gradual reduction in size, going side by side with the introduction of new and beautiful colours, which are mostly of great brilliance and purity. There