About the same period - a little later and a little earlier perhaps - that Mr. Adcock was proving unsuccessful in producing bulldogs as big and active as he desired, others were working away on a somewhat different line, and with greater success. These were, in addition to those already named who came earlier, Messrs. Bill Page, Frank Redmond, Rivers Wilson, and Billy Shaw, of London; Messrs. Peter Eden and John Henshall, of Manchester; Mr. W. H. Tyser, Mr. R. Fulton, Mr. T. Verrinder, Mr. H. Layton, Mr. A. Benjamin, Mr. J. W. Gurney, with Messrs. R. J. Lloyd Price, S. E. Shirley, G. Raper, J. W. Berrie, J. Ure, Dundee; H. Munro, Hull; R. J. Hartley, etc. At one time or another, and during a period extending over almost two generations, the British bulldog must be indebted to the above gentlemen for the position and excellence it holds at the present time.

Some of them were dealers, others were amateurs; but all worked with the same object in view, and, I should say, have attained their end. Jacob Lamphier at one time had the lead, and, at any rate, he made his mark by possessing two such good dogs as King Dick and Romanie, the latter purchased by Mr. Lloyd Price for £150 - an enormous sum then for a bulldog, as it is now. Unfortunately, Mr. Price was not so successful as he deserved, for, after winning first prize at Birmingham in 1865, on his journey to the next show poor Romanie was found smothered in the guard's van. F. Lamphier's Crib (brindled), Jesse Oswell's Dan (a white dog, particularly handsome for a bulldog), Mr. John Henshall's Duke (another white dog, bred by the Duke of Hamilton), Mr. R. Fulton's Falstaff, Mr. Lloyd Price's Michael the Archangel (another white dog, and historical in his way because eaten during the siege of Paris in 1871), Mr. Clement Butler's Stead, Mr. Henshall's Juno, Mr. F. Lamphier's Meg and Rush, Mr. G. A. Dawes' Maggie Lauder, Mr. Verrinder's Poll, were about the best specimens that flourished from twenty to twenty-five years ago, and there are few modern bulldogs, if any, which do not contain the strain of one or another of them.

Coming a little later, we find such good dogs as Mr. Sellon's Diogenes and Mischief, Mr. G. Raper's Rustic King and Rustic Model, Mr. J. H. Ellis's Grabber (who died at the good old age of twelve years as this is being written), Guido and Saleni, Mr. S. Woodiwiss's British Monarch and Dryad, Mr. P. Beresford Hope's Bedgebury Lion (who went to America, where he did not survive many months), M. J. B. Gheud's (Brussels) Leonidas, Mr. Benjamin's expatriated Britomartis, Mr. G. Fowler's Monkey Brand, Mr. Cassel's Facey Romford, Mr. Smith's Ruling Passion, Mr. Drew's Kitty Cole, Mr. J. Morris's (afterwards Mr. Sellon's) Queen Mab, the black and tan marked King Orry, Mr. W. G. Smartt's Punch, Mr. H. Pebody's Found It, and there may be others pretty nearly as good as some of the above, the names of which will be found in any show catalogue.

So much for some of the most notable dogs I have known, and, however incomplete the list may be, it is, at any rate, sufficient to prove that the British bulldog is not in any danger of becoming extinct, so far as this country is concerned. If further proof of the popularity of the bulldog be needed, such will be found in the carefully compiled volume of bulldog pedigrees, the editors of which - Messrs. Cyril Jackson and E. H. Bowers - tell us they have catalogued the names of about 6000 bulldogs. The difficulty of tracing the pedigrees of many of these may be inferred from the fact that the volume contains no fewer than sixty-five bulldogs that bear or have borne the well-known name of Crib. We may, indeed, be able to draw fresh crosses from the United States, for, of late, admirers of the race there have purchased some of our best specimens - including the bitch Britomartis and Bedgebury Lion and Leonidas.

A word must be said as to one or two matters relating to the variety which have caused considerable difference of opinion amongst admirers of the bulldog, and first and foremost comes the question of so-called "Dudley faces." Dogs that have flesh-coloured noses, with which light-coloured eyes and generally yellowish-looking countenances are often associated, are called "Dudley" because such animals originally came from that part of the Black Country known as Dudley, which is in Worcestershire. Personally, where a dog is otherwise good, I would not disqualify him for his Dudley markings; but I must confess to being in the minority whilst holding such an opinion. Then occasionally split-nosed or double-nosed bulldogs are met with, and where such is the case I would do no more than severely handicap the dog bearing the blemish. As a fact, I would far rather have a Dudley marked or split-nosed dog that could move well, than the most perfect bulldog in the world whose locomotion is about equal to the pace of a man with gout in both feet.

From time to time the bulldog has been used as a cross, with an idea of putting extra courage in other varieties of the dog which it was thought required pluck to a greater extent than they possessed in their purity. This has in part only proved successful, and I should say where it was tried in the case of greyhounds proved entirely unsatisfactory. With the terrier it has been more useful, resulting in the modern bull terrier - a handsome white dog, which for gameness, good nature, and adaptability as a companion has no superior.

As a sporting animal - i.e., as a vermin destroyer, and as a hunter after hares or rabbits - our bulldog is a failure. Not that he is quite without the use of the ordinary olfactory organs, for he can hunt the footsteps of his master pretty well as cleverly as any other dog, but they are not so fully developed as in the case of hounds, terriers, etc. Still, Charles St. John in his "Highland Sports" tells of a hunting bulldog that was once in his possession. As his is such an unusual story of an animal of this kind, I'will allow the author, who was always so reliable, to tell his tale in his own words.