The following description of the bulldog, was, after careful consideration, adopted as the standard type of excellence for the breed by the Bulldog Club, 1875 (of which I was then Hon. Secretary) together with a scale of marks at which the several points mentioned in the club standard are relatively valued, and form3 of judging and stud books. In adopting the principle of distributing 100 marks amongst the several points of the bulldog, the Bulldog Club has followed the example of the old National Dog Club, with whose valuation of the separate points of the bulldog (as given in "Stonehenge's " "Dogs of the British Isles ") the present scale is almost identical.

"In forming a critical judgment on the dog the 'general appearance ' (which is the impression the dog makes as a whole on the eye of the judge) should be first considered. Secondly should be noticed his size, shape, and make, or rather his proportions in the relation they bear to each other. No point should be so much in excess of the others as to destroy the general symmetry of the dog, or make him appear deformed, or interfere with his powers of motion, etc. Thirdly, his style, carriage, gait, temper, and his several points should be considered separately, in detail, due allowance being made for sex, the bitch not being as grand or as well developed as the dog.

"1. General Appearance. The general appearance of the bulldog is that of a smooth coated thick set dog, rather low in stature, about 18in. high at the shoulder, but broad, powerful, and compact. Its head strikingly massive, and very large in proportion to the dog's size. Its face extremely short, with nose almost between the eyes. Its muzzle very broad, blunt, truncated, and inclined upwards. Its body short and well knit; the limbs stout and muscular. Its hind quarters very high and strong, but rather lightly made in comparison with its massive fore parts. The dog conveys an impression of determination, strength, and activity, similar to that suggested by the appearance of a thick set Ayrshire or Highland bull.

"2. Skull. The head (or skull) should be very large - the larger the better - and in circumference should measure round in front of the ears at least the height of the dog at the shoulder. Viewed from the front, it should be very high from the corner of the lower jaw to the apex of the skull; it should also be broad and square. The cheeks should be well rounded, and extend sideways beyond the eyes. Viewed at the side, the head should be very high, and very short from its back to the point of the nose. The forehead should be flat, neither prominent, rounded, nor overhanging the face; and the skin upon it and about the head very loose, hanging in large folds or wrinkles.

"3. Stop. The temples or frontal bones should be very prominent, broad, square, and high, causing a groove between the eyes. This indentation is termed the ' Stop,' it should be both broad and deep, and extended up the middle of the forehead, dividing the head vertically, and be traceable at the top of the skull.

"4. Eyes. The eyes (seen from the front), should be situated low down in the skull, as far from the ears as possible. Their corners should be in a straight line at right angles with the stop, and quite in front of the head. They should be as wide apart as possible, provided their outer corners are within the outline of the cheeks. They should be quite round in shape, of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, and in colour should be as dark as possible, showing no white when looking directly forward.

"5. Ears. The ears should be set on high, i.e., the front inner edge of each ear should (as viewed from the front) join the outline of the skull at the top corner of such outline, so as to place them as wide apart and as high and far from the eyes as possible. In size they should be small and thin. The shape termed ' rose ear ' is the most correct. The ' rose ear' folds inwards at its back, the upper or front edge, curving over outwards and backwards, showing part of the inside of the burr.

"6. Face. The face, measured from the front of the cheek bone to the nose, should be as short as possible; its skin should be deeply and closely wrinkled. The muzzle should be short, broad, square, not pointed, turned upwards, and very deep from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth. The nose should be large, broad, and black; its top should be deeply set back, almost between the eyes. The distance from the inner corner of the eye (or from the centre of the stop between the eyes) to the extreme tip of the nose should not exceed the length from the tip of the nose to the edge of the under lip. The nostrils should be large, wide, and black, with a well defined straight line between them.

"7. Chop. The flews, called the 'chop,' should be thick, broad, pendent, and very deep, hanging completely over the lower jaw at the side3 (not in front). They should join the under lip in front and quite cover the teeth, which should not be seen when the mouth is closed.

"8. Mouth. The jaws, more especially the lower, should be broad, massive, and square, not in any way pinched or pointed, the canine teeth, or tusks, wide apart. The lower jaw should project considerably in front of the upper, and turn up. It should be very broad and square, and have the six small front teeth between the canines in an even row. The teeth should be large and strong.

"9. Neck and Chest. The neck should be moderate in length, rather short than long, very thick, deep, and strong. It should be well arched at the back, with much loose, thick, and wrinkled skin hanging about the throat, forming a double dewlap on each side from the lower jaw to the chest. The chest should be very wide laterally, round, prominent, and deep, making the dog appear very broad and short-legged in front.

"10. Shoulders. The shoulders should be broad, slanting, deep, and very powerful.

"11. Body. The barrel should be capacious, round, and deep. It should be very deep from the top of the shoulders to its lowest part, where it joins the chest, and be well let down between the fore legs. It should be large in diameter, and round behind the fore legs (not flat-sided, the ribs being well rounded). The body should be well ribbed up behind, with the belly tucked up, and not pendulous.

"12. Back. The back should be short, broad, and strong, very broad at the shoulders and comparatively narrow at the loins. There should be a slight fall in the back close behind the shoulders (its lowest part), whence the spine should rise to the loins (the top of which should be higher than the top of the shoulder), thence curving again more suddenly to the tail, forming an arch - (a distinctive characteristic of the breed) - termed ' roach back,' or, more correctly, ' wheel back.'

"13. Tail. The tail, termed the 'stern,' should be set on low, jut out rather straight, and then turn downwards, the end pointing horizontally. It should be quite round in its whole length, smooth, and devoid of fringe or coarse hair. It should be moderate in length - rather short than long - thick at the root, and tapering rather quickly to a fine point. It should have a downward carriage (not having a decided upward curve at the end or being screwed or deformed), and the dog should, from its shape and position, not be able to raise it over his back.

"14. Fore Legs. The fore legs should be very stout and strong, set wide apart, thick, muscular, and straight, with well-developed calves, presenting a rather bowed outline, but the bones of the legs should be large and straight, not bandy or curved. They should be rather short in proportion to the hind legs, but not so short as to make the back appear long, or to detract from the dog's activity and so cripple him. The elbows should be low and stand well away from the ribs. The ankles, or pasterns, should be short, straight, and strong. The fore feet should be straight, and turn very slightly inwards; they should be of medium size, and moderately round. The toes short, compact, and thick, being well split up, making the knuckles prominent and high.

"15. Hind Legs. The hind legs should be large and muscular, and longer in proportion than the fore legs, so as to elevate the loins. The hocks should be very slightly bent and well let down, so as to be long and muscular from the loins to the point of the hock. The lower part of the leg should be short, straight, and strong. The stifles should be round, and turn slightly outwards away from the body. The hocks are thereby made to approach each other, and the hind feet to turn outwards. The latter, like the fore feet, should be round and compact, with the toes short, well split up and the knuckles prominent. From his formation, the dog has a peculiar heavy, slouching, and constrained gait, appearing to walk with short quick steps on the tips of his toes, his hind feet not be lifted high, but appearing to skim the ground, and often running with the one shoulder rather advanced, similar to the manner of a horse in cantering.

"16. Size. The most desirable size for the bulldog, and at which excellence is mostly attained, is about 501b.

"17. Coat and Colour. The coat should be fine in texture, short, close, and smooth (hard only from its shortness and closeness, not wiry or woolly). The colour should be whole or smut, that is, a whole colour with a black mask or muzzle. It should be brilliant and pure of its sort. As 'a good horse cannot be of a bad colour,' the same may be said of the dog if perfect in other points. The colours, in their order of merit, if bright and pure, are, first smuts, and whole brindles, reds, white, with their varieties, as whole fawns, fallows, etc.; second, pied and mixed colours. Black, which was once most esteemed, is now considered undesirable."