To "Vert" as a sportsman we have already alluded in the preface to his article on Foxhounds, and we need only say here that his large experience of Dachshunds entitles his opinions on the breed to be considered authoritative. He writes:

MR. F. BARCLAY HANBURY'S DACHSHUND "FRITZ." Imported by Mr. Schuller from the Royal Kennels, Stuttgart.

"So much has been said and written on this breed of dogs during the few years that they have had a place in the prize schedules of our shows, that in treating the subject we shall endeavour to unsay some of the nonsense that has from time to time been put forth by some of those journals whose pages are opened to the discussion of canine matters, in one of which a certain amusing correspondent, in a playful moment, tells his readers that the ears of the dachshund cannot be too long. Another says the body cannot be too long. Then we read that the legs cannot be too short or too crooked, with such impossible measurements as could only be found in the fertile brain of the writer. At shows we have had our special attention drawn to the veriest mongrels, and been held by the button by enthusiastic owners, and had glaring defects pointed out as characteristics of the pure breed; but being unable to draw on our credulity to that extent, we have had to fall back on our stock of charity, and call to mind that even Solomon was young once in his lifetime.

There is no breed of dogs that the English have been so tardy in taking to as the dachshund, Satan and Feldmann being the only representatives of the breed on the Birmingham show bench for several years; and certainly we had one judge that had the courage to grapple which this little hound when he did make an attempt to emerge from his obscurity, and we have seen the best dachshund that has yet been exhibited passed over by a couple of "all-round " judges of high standing at an important show, one of those Solons arguing that he was a beagle otter hound, and the other that he was a turnspit, neither of them being aware that the turnspit was little different from a moderate crooked-legged pug of the present time, and that it would be impossible to confine a long-backed twenty pound dog in one of those small cages in which the little prisoner had to ply his calling. We have no wish to speculate on the early history of this breed, as, like other cases, it would be a mere leap in the dark from the same source as before alluded to.

We have been seriously told that the breed came originally from France, and that once on a time, when the French army invaded Germany and were capturing towns and provinces, the German nobles, by way of retaliation, invaded France and carried off all the dachshunds; but, as we do not find this theory supported by any authority that we have consulted, possibly the writer of the story may be entitled to the invention also.

"The dachshund is a short-coated, long-backed dog, on very short legs, of about 201b. weight, and should not be less than 181b., the bitches being 31b. or 41b. less than the dogs. They must be self-coloured, although a little white on the breast or toes should not be a disqualification, as these beauty spots will crop out now and then in any breed of dogs.

"The colour most in fashion just now is the fallow red and black and tan, but we have very good specimens of various shades of red, more or less smutty, as well as the brown with tawny markings, some of which are very handsome. In black and tan we do not demand pencilled toes, as in the terrier, although, if good in every other respect, we should consider it an acquisition; but we prefer such as nearest approach the standard of excellence, and care little for shades of colour, so that it be any of these above-named. The head, when of the proper type, greatly resembles that of the bloodhound. The ears also are long and pendulous, and in a 201b. dog should measure from 4½in. to 5in. each, and from tip to tip over the cranium, when hanging down in their natural position, from 13in. to 14in.; the length from the eye to the end of the nose should be over 3in., 3½in. being a good length for a dog of 201b. weight; girth of muzzle from 8in. to 8½in., which should finish square, and not snipey or spigot-nosed, and the flews should be fairly developed; the eyes should be very lustrous and mild in expression, varying in colour with that of the coat; the teeth should be very strong and perfectly sound, as a dog with a diseased mouth is of little use for work, is very objectionable as a companion, and is quite unfit for the stud in this or any other breed of dogs; the neck should be rather long, and very muscular.

We have a brood bitch from one of the best kennels in Germany, in which the dewlap is very strongly pronounced; but this and the conical head are but rarely met with as yet. The chest should be broad, with the brisket point well up to the throat; the shoulders should be very loose, giving the chest an appearance of hanging between them; they should be well covered with muscle, with plenty of loose skin about them. The fore legs are one of the great peculiarities of the breed; these are very large in bone for the size of the dog, and very crooked, being turned out at the eldows and in at the knees; the knees, however, should not 'knuckle,' or stand forward over the ankles, as we frequently see in very crooked-legged dogs, which render them more clumsy and less powerful. The feet should be very large, and armed with strong claws, and should be well splayed outwards to enable him to clear his way in the burrow. Terrier-like fore feet cannot be tolerated in the dachshund, as great speed is not required, the great essentials being a good nose, for tracking; a conformation of body that will admit of his entering the badger earth, and adapting himself to his situation; and a Hon heart and power to grapple with the quarry, in the earth or the open; and these are no small requirements.