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.

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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 originated from a cross between the large water dog and the Springing Spaniel, and this is probably correct, though Youatt, a notable authority, thinks that the cross was with an English Setter.  Possibly some strains may have been established in this way, and not differ very much in make and shape from those obtained from the cross with the Spaniel, as it is well known that Setters and Spaniels have a common origin.

In general appearance the dog resembles somewhat closely the Springer, except that he may be somewhat higher on the leg, and that his coat should consist of crisp, tight curls, almost like Astrakhan fur, everywhere except on his face, where it should be short.  There should be no topknot like that of the Irish Water Spaniel.

IV.  THE CLUMBER SPANIEL is in high favour in the Spaniel world, both with shooting men and exhibitors, and the breed well deserves from both points of view the position which it occupies in the public esteem.  No other variety is better equipped mentally and physically for the work it is called upon to do in aid of the gun; and few, certainly none of the Spaniels, surpass or even equal it in appearance.