set, heavily ringleted, and from 18 to 24
inches long, according to size. MUZZLE AND JAW--The muzzle and jaw
should be long and strong. There should be a decided "stop," but not
so pronounced as to make the brows or forehead prominent. NECK--The
neck should be fairly long and very muscular. SHOULDERS--The shoulders
should be sloping. Most Irish Water Spaniels have bad, straight
shoulders, a defect which should be bred out. CHEST--The chest is
deep, and usually rather narrow, but should not be so narrow as to
constrict the heart and lungs. BACK AND LOINS--The back and loins
strong and arched. FORE-LEGS--The fore-legs straight and well boned.
Heavily feathered or ringleted all over. HIND-LEGS--The hind-legs
with hocks set very low, stifles rather straight, feathered all over,
except inside from the hocks down, which part should be covered with
short hair (a most distinctive point). FEET--The feet large and rather
spreading as is proper for a water dog, well clothed with hair.
STERN--The stern covered with the shortest of hair, except for the
first couple of inches next the buttocks, whiplike or stinglike (a
most important point), and carried low, not like a hound's. COAT--The
coat composed entirely of short crisp curls, not woolly like a
Poodle's, and very dense. If left to itself, this coat mats or cords,
but this is not permissible in show dogs. The hair on the muzzle and
forehead below the topknot is quite short and smooth, as well as that
on the stern. GENERAL APPEARANCE--Is not remarkable for symmetry,
but is quaint and intelligent looking. HEIGHT--The height should be
between 21 and 23 inches.

* * * * *

III. THE ENGLISH WATER SPANIEL.--In the Kennel Club's Register of
Breeds no place is allotted to this variety, all Water Spaniels other
than Irish being classed together. Despite this absence of official
recognition there is abundant evidence that a breed of Spaniels
legitimately entitled to the designation of English Water Spaniels
has been in existence for many years, in all probability a descendant
of the old "Water-Dogge," an animal closely resembling the French
"Barbet," the ancestor of the modern Poodle. They were even trimmed
at times much in the same way as a Poodle is nowadays, as Markham
gives precise directions for "the cutting or shearing him from the
nauill downeward or backeward." The opinion expressed by the writer
of _The Sportsman's Cabinet_, 1803, is that the breed