Another breed, which has made gigantic strides in public favour of late years, is the Pomeranian, which may be best described, as a miniature copy of the Rough-coated Collie, as it resembles it in nearly every respect, except the carriage of ears and tail, the former being pricked and carried bolt upright, and the latter curled over the side and back of the body. The colours are very varied, starting with white, black, brown, blue, almost every shade of those colours can be met with, besides parti-colours, and the sizes run from nearly thirty pounds to three pounds in weight. Other things being equal, the smaller the size, the more valuable they are, and high class specimens frequently change hands at prices ranging from £10 to £200, so that it has lately been one of the most profitable breeds to produce, as good specimens have been commanding fair prices, and plenty of buyers were found for anything out of the common at almost any price. Browns have been greatly in favour, latterly even more so than blacks, and next to them come whites, but hitherto, there has been a difficulty in obtaining very small whites, and if this is overcome (and many of the leading breeders are doing their best), I think the toy whites will be greatly sought after; some of the little blacks and browns are very beautiful, and I have known very long figures, £100 and over, refused for them by their owners! Being very lively, cheerful and affectionate, and exceedingly sharp and active as guards, this breed is admirably adapted as a pet or companion, and they make very sharp house dogs.

It is not desirable to chain them up, as the rubbing of the collar and chain is almost certain to interfere with the set of the crest and frill which in this breed (as in Collies), form such attractive features in their appearance. Pomeranians are seemingly popular with all classes, from Royalty downward. Her Majesty the Queen has a large kennel of them at Windsor, which I had the honour of an invitation to inspect, and can testify to the great interest taken in the breed, and the number of specimens kept, with every care and consideration shown for their happiness and comfort. Her Majesty's collection, when I saw them, some time since, consisted almost entirely of what I should call "off colours" that is, not white, black, brown or blue, but shades and mixtures of those and other colours, some exceedingly pretty, and although somewhat larger in size, being mostly "small-medium," and not so fine in head as many of the dogs now shown, are so good in other respects, that they have often successfully competed with well-known specimens, when Her Majesty has entered any at the Royal Agricultural Hall and Crystal Palace Shows. A great many are also kept by persons in the higher, middle and lower ranks of life, both in this country and the continent of Europe (where, no doubt, the breed originated), and it is a common occurrence, when a popular judge is officiating at one of the larger shows, to see over fifty entries of Pomeranians in the various classes.

I have frequently had one hundred, and sometimes even more entries to judge, at the larger shows, and a puzzling job to undertake, on a dull day, in a failing light, is to tackle a class of from twenty to twenty-five black specimens, and try to find out the respective merits of each when there are probably ten or a dozen really good ones amongst the lot, though, to an outsider, they all look much alike. Small, good specimens fetch very long prices, and the breed is exceedingly popular.

WHITE POMERANIAN CH. "K0NIC of ROZELLE" MISS HAMILTON OWNER.

POMERANIAN "MARCO" HM.QUEEN VICTORIA OWNER.

The illustrations of this variety are Miss Hamilton's White Dog, the most successful winner of his colour ever shown, H. M., the Queen's Red Dog, a beautiful specimen of the colour and the constant companion of Her Gracious Majesty; Mr. J. Duckworth's Fawn Dog, one of the best headed and coated specimens shown for some time; Miss A. de Pass's Toy Brown, a most perfect and charming specimen, who has taken more prizes than any of her size and colour.

The points are as follows: In general build, and coat more especially, the Pomeranians should somewhat resemble the Rough-coated Collie, with the difference that his head should be shorter, ears smaller and carried perfectly erect; and his tail curled up from the root tightly over his back, or lying flat on his back. He must be a compact little dog, well proportioned in build, standing on straight limbs, and possessing a profuse coat of long and perfectly straight silky or glossy hair all over his body, forming a mane, round his neck, of longer hair, with the forelegs feathered, and the thighs more heavily feathered. He must be sharp and intelligent in expression, and exhibit great activity and buoyancy of disposition, and should not exceed twenty pounds in weight, the smaller specimens being preferable. At the larger shows they are generally divided into over eight pounds and under eight pounds. Colours, white, black, brown, blue and sable, and any combination of those colours. At the present time there is a feeling rather in favour of the shades of brown, but there are many very beautiful specimens of all the colours mentioned above.

PAWN POMERANIAN CH. "BRILLIANT" J. DUCKWORTH OWNER .

SMALL POMERANIAN CHAMPION of CHAMPlONS and PRIMIER "TINA" MISS ADA DE PASS OWNER.