We shall rapidly pass in review the different breeds of dogs that one may chance to meet with in our dog shows, beginning with the largest.  It is again in mountainous countries that the largest dogs are raised, and the character common to all of these is a very thick coat.  The largest of all, according to travelers, is the Thibetan dog.  Buffon tells of having seen one which, when seated, was five feet in height.  One brought back by the Prince of Wales from his voyage to the Indies was taller in stature, stronger and more stocky than a large mastiff, from which it differed, moreover, in its long and somewhat coarse hair, which was black on the back and russet beneath, the thighs and the tail being clothed with very long and silky hair.

In France, we have a beautiful mountain dog—­the dog of the Pyrenees—­which is from 32 to 34 inches in height at the shoulders, and has a very thick white coat, spotted above with pale yellow or grayish fox color.  It is very powerful, and is capable of successfully defending property or flocks against bears and wolves.

The Alpine dog is the type of the mountain dog.  It is of the same size as the dog of the Pyrenees, and differs therefrom especially in its coloring.  It is white beneath, with a wide patch of orange red covering the back and rump.  The head and ears are of the same color, with the addition of black on the edges; but the muzzle is white, and a stripe of the same color advances upon the forehead nearly up to the nape of the neck.  The neck also is entirely white.  There are two varieties of the Alpine or St. Bernard dog, one having long hair and the other shorter and very thick hair.  We give in Fig. 1 a portrait of Cano, a large St. Bernard belonging to Mr. Gaston Leonnard.

[Illustration:  FIG. 1—­LARGE ST. BERNARD DOG BELONGING TO MR. LEONARD.]

Although this breed originated at the celebrated convent of St. Bernard, it no longer exists there in a state of purity, and in order to find fine types of it we have to go to special breeders of Switzerland and England.  The famous Plinnlimon, which was bought for $5,000 by an American two or three years ago, and about which there was much talk in the papers, even the political ones, was born and reared in England.  It appears that it is necessary, too, to reduce the number of life-saving acts that it is said are daily performed by the St. Bernard dogs.  This is no longer but a legend.  There was, it is true, a St. Bernard named Barry, now exhibited in a stuffed state in the Berne Museum, which accomplished wonders in the way of saving life, but this was an exception, and the reputation of this animal has extended to all others of its kind.  These latter are simply watch dogs kept by the monks for their own safety, and which do not go at all by themselves alone to search for travelers that have lost their way in the snow.

The Newfoundland dog, which differs from the preceding in its wholly black or black and white coat, was, it appears, also of mountain origin.  According to certain authors, it is indigenous to Norway, and was carried to Newfoundland by the Norwegian explorers who discovered the island.  Adapted to their new existence, they have become excellent water dogs, good swimmers, and better life savers by far than the majority of their congeners.