Few breeds of British dogs have passed through more troublous times than the Bull-terrier, whose advancement in public favour has been delayed by unknown circumstances. Indeed, it may almost be said that had not the faithful few who have championed its cause through thick and thin possessed a good deal of the indomitable pluck associated with the variety, it would long since have succumbed. In the first place, it must be remembered that the breed has had to live down a very evil reputation - a relic of those days when rat-pit competitions, dog-fights, and badger-baits were common, and regarded as sport not only by the low and the degraded, but by those, for instance, whose higher education was being cared for by their Alma Mater. What Oxford sporting undergrad. of half a century or so ago had not heard of Luker's Bull-terriers, or Brakespeare's tubbed badger that had to run the gauntlet of every Bull and other Terrier with sufficient pluck to "face the music" and whose owner could rake up the necessary piece of silver for the "entry"? Or, again, what undergrad. of that period having what was then considered as the true sporting tendencies had not heard of the famous exploits of the riverside Bull-terrier Salter's Dan, a big white-and-fawn, that was about as keen as mustard and a terror on rats and such-like vermin provided by the St. Aldate's and other purveyors for the delectation of undergrads. who "fancied their dogs a bit"? Still more degrading and cruel were the dog-fights that took place in many parts of the country between matched Bull-terriers.

Then followed a somewhat better time for the Bull-terrier - namely, the dog-show era, when the fallow smut, the brindle, and even the patched dog gradually gave way to the smart, white, active dog that we know to-day. The evolution of the all-white dog with his lengthier head and generally smarter framework we owe to the late Mr. James Hinks, of Birmingham, whose sons still maintain the repute for the breed that their father had gained. The troubles of the Bull-terrier fancier did not, however, end with the dawning of the dog-show era and the necessarily considerable increase in the number of fanciers that followed. Being a fighting dog, the ears of the Bull-terrier were subjected to cropping - a process of mutilation that was performed at such a period and in such a way as to be alike brutal and inhuman. This process was continued until comparatively recent times (1895), when it received its death-blow from the Kennel Club. Never by any stretch of the imagination to be called a popular dog, the cropping prohibition tended to make it still less in favour for a few years. However, on every hand now there are signs, and unmistakable ones, that the breed has taken a new lease of life. This is evidenced by the greater number of followers and by the real demand for first-class specimens at remunerative prices. This is matter for congratulation, for as a house-dog and companion a really well-trained Bull-terrier takes a lot of beating; while as a personal guard there is no breed anything approaching it in size that can compare with it.

The Bull-terrier is one of the comparatively few varieties about whose origin there is no mystery. He is mainly Bulldog and Terrier, and it is quite easy to see how, given one of the "patched " dogs that found favour with Bull-terrier fanciers in the old days, and crossing it judiciously with the White English Terrier, Mr. James Hinks succeeded in producing the milk-white variety that we know to-day, and that is more popular in America than with us, despite the fact that our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic have also a Boston Terrier that those who have seen it and are well capable of forming an opinion declare is nothing more nor less than the old fighting Bull-terrier with perhaps slight modifications. In speaking of the constituents from which the Bull-terrier was evolved, only the chief ones have been specifically mentioned - Bulldog and Terrier. Yet there can be little doubt that some of the larger specimens, at any rate, show unmistakable Pointer and Dalmatian blood; while others, again, partake of the Greyhound or the Whippet - and even up to the present day "whippety" is a common expression amongst Bull-terrier breeders for specimens showing affinity to the last-named varieties.

Badger-baiting was common in London about the beginning of the last century, and led up to such disgraceful scenes by drawing the riff-raff of the town together, that the magistrates exerted their power to put an end to the business. This baiting, or drawing, of the badger was a mere worrying of the poor beast in a confined space, and under conditions essentially unfair to him, with dog after dog, until he was torn and exhausted, and was a totally different thing from hunting the badger in his native stronghold.

It may be noted that these degrading practices followed the suppression of bull-baiting in the ring, and naturally so ; for the authorities, in suppressing a practice the public had used as an amusement for centuries, failed to provide opportunities for pleasures of a higher and more rational order, "People mutht be amuthed," as the lisping showman in "Hard Times,"sapiently observed; and the powers that be in this country have scarcely even yet realised the important fact.

Badger-hunting is quite entitled to be called legitimate sport. It is best conducted at night by the light of the moon, when the object is to bag the badger. Late in the evening the badger, which is of retiring and secluded habits, leaves his home to hunt for provender, and in his absence a sack is placed in the entrance to his earth, the mouth kept open by means of a withy bent into a circular form. The dogs are then sent to scour the country round, with the consequence of alarming the badger, which, seeking safety in his stronghold, finds himself trapped at the entrance, the bag being speedily closed, with the "grey" inside, by the party who have been waiting his return.