Well! of all dogs, it stands confessed, Your English bulldogs are the best! I say it and will set my hand to it; Cambden records it, and I'll stand to it.

The outline of Rosa, in the well-known print of "Crib and Rosa," is considered to represent perfection in the shape, make, and size of the ideal type of the bulldog. The only exception that has ever been taken is, that it has been alleged to be deficient in wrinkles about the head and neck, and also in substance of bone in the limbs. This, however, -does not alter the fact of its being a correct representation of the true type of the old-fashioned bulldog. Some allowance should be made for her sex - never as grand and well developed as dogs - and her position in the drawing.

We are indebted to Mr. T. W. Wood for the faithful portrait of Capt. Holdsworth's Sir Anthony, one of the best bulldogs of his day. He took first prize in the open class at the Crystal Palace, 1874. He was by Crib ex Meg, Crib by Duke 11. ex Rush, by King George ex Blossom;

Meg, by Old King Dick ex Old Nell, by Old Dan. As Sir Anthony has since unfortunately met with a fatal accident, a second engraving of another very good, though not such a perfect, specimen is given. Mr. Donkin's Byron - of whom, in its report of the Bulldog Club's third show, where Byron won second prize - the "Live Stock Journal" said, on May 16, 1879, " He is a red dog, broad in muzzle, with good legs and chest, and excellent feet;" and "The Country" said, "He is a good all round dog, with no faults, but no superlative qualities." Byron is a red smut, 451bs., by Gibbon's Dan ex Rose, by Tiger ex Bush; Tiger by Crib.

Amongst the public stud dogs of the present day, the following, though not each faultless, are considered to approach and fairly represent the true type described and sought to be preserved and perfected: Mr. Raper's Tiger (full brother to Sir Anthony), Mr. Shirley's Sancho Panza, Mr. Pearl's Duke, Mr. Benjamin's Smasher, Mr. Shaw's Sepoy, Mr.Verinder's Slenderman, Mr. Ball's Lord Nelson, Capt. Holdsworth's Doon Brae, Mr. Webb's Faust, and especially Mr. Donkin's Byron and Mr. Raper's Richard Cceur de Lion, for their possession of the broad lower jaw, with the six front teeth in an even row - the chief bulldog point to be produced and transmitted, and in which too many of Crib's descendants show a deplorable deficiency, very different from the bulldogs like the old Boniface strain bred about twenty years ago by such breeders as Messrs. Brent, H. Brown, Barker, Scott, Stockdale, Wickens, and Bivers-Wilson. A new aspirant for supreme honours has lately put in an appearance in the person of Monarch, bred by Mr. Berrie, which is reported as more admirable than any bulldog of the present day.

It is, however, rumoured that even he will be forced to abdicate in his turn in favour of Conqueror, a puppy of extraordinary promise, bred by Mr. James Collins, from Slenderman ex Nell Gwynne.

Breeders should remember, before deciding upon the sire, that correct form and pedigree on the female side are quite as necessary for successful breeding as on the male side, and that the numbers of prizes won by the parents are no guide to judicious mating.

By Mr. Dalziel's desire I append certain measurements of a few specimens of both sexes of the breed (all I could procure in the short time at my command), in order to show the average proportions of the true bred bulldog. I consider the measurements given in the specimen page of Stud Book (at the end hereof) most suitable, but those used suffice to show the proportion that the largeness of the skull and muzzle and the shortness of the face - which are the principal points of the true breed - should bear to the size, i.e., the weight of the animal. Any great increase in size above 501b. must be the result of impure breeding with foreign crosses, and, although giving larger measurements, they are found, on comparison with the increased size, to be unaccompanied with the corresponding increase desired (but rather a decrease) in the proper proportions. For instance, a bulldog 461b. measuring 20in. round skull, and a dog 901b. measuring 22in. round skull, of totally different types, but both awarded prizes as bulldogs, proves the necessity of judging all dogs together by "general appearance," irrespective of weight.

MR. B. H. DONKIN'S BULLDOG "BYRON." Sire Mr. Gibbon's Dan out of Rose, by Tiger out of Ruth; Tiger by Crib.

Comparative Table Of Measurements (In Inches)

* Taken from Field, of September 29,1873.