TOY D 0 GS.*
THIS book deals with every imaginable aspect of the toy dog, from the best method of combing the champion's ears before his appearance on the show bench to accounts and portraits of his most remote Chinese, Dutch, or even Greek ancestors. In fact, to the uninitiated, the delightful photographs of good pictures by Paolo Veronese, Van Mieris, Morland, Titian, &c., each showing a little lap-dog in the foreground, will be the most interesting feature in the book. They show, too, that the cult of tiny toy dogs is by no means "a sign of the times" and a proof of modern decadence, but that they were just as popular in England when the New World was first opening its wonders to the adventurous youth of Elizabeth's Court as they are to-day. Then it was that the " smallie hound " of Chaucer began to be considered an almost necessary adjunct to a lady's portrait, and the fashion grew and grew until we find that in the pictures of about 1660 the tiny creatures have assumed ear-rings and little jewelled collars, and lie back in their mistresses' arms with even more than their usual air of hauteur and superiority.
In the practical part of her book Mrs. Lytton very rightly deprecates the absurd and grotesque types of dog which are so frequently bred for show purposes. The only saving grace of the toy dog is beauty, and if this is sacrificed to "points," and the creature is moreover " semi-idiotic " and very delicate from the effects of inbreeding, it had better be drowned at birth. The accounts of Mrs. Lytton's own dogs, Champion Windfall,' Ben," Bunthorne,' and a host of puppies and lesser stars, are most amusing. Even the "darlings of the show-ring" have their human moments, and Mrs. Lytton's chief Blenheim spaniel, the winner of thirteen championships, can be as naughty and as playful as the most mongrel of mongrel terriers that ever delighted the heart of a schoolboy.
The hints as to the rearing of puppies are interesting, and show incidentally how difficult a task this is. The employ- ment of a cat as a foster-mother is recommended, but one wonders which of one's cat friends would deign to under- take the care of these helpless little aliens. Toy dog shows, according to Mrs. Lytton, are generally scenes of moral carnage ; and the sketches of irate ladies holding their despised `Ficlos ' under their arms, and telling the judge what they think of him and his sense of fairness, would deter most men from undertaking such an office.
Altogether the book, in spite of its restricted and by no means inspiring subject, is very efficient, and combines a practical handbook on showing, breeding, &c., with an interest- ing illustrated history of the various types. We wish all writers on sporting subjects were as thorough, as readable, as scholarly, and as full of literary charm. The book, indeed, is a proof of the value of heredity. We expect instinct of letters from Byron's great-granddaughter no matter what the subject, and here, at any rate, we are not disappointed.
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