Except in the matter of size, the general appearance and qualifications of the Miniature Black and Tan Terrier should be as nearly like the larger breed as possible, for the standard of points applies to both varieties, excepting that erect, or what are commonly known as tulip ears, of semi-erect carriage, are permissible in the miniatures.

The officially recognised weight for the toy variety is given as "under seven pounds," but none of the most prominent present-day winners reach anything like that weight; some in fact are little more than half of it, and the great majority are between 4 lb. and 5 lb. Probably the most popular specimens of the miniature Black and Tan at the present time are Mr. Whaley's Glenartney Sport and Mr. Richmond's Merry Atom. Merry Atom is only 4-1/2 lb. in weight, and he is beautifully proportioned, with a fine, long head, a small, dark eye, small ears, and the true type of body.

His markings of deep black and rich tan are good, and his coat is entirely free from the bare patches which so often mar the appearance of these toys, giving the suggestion of delicacy. The Miniature Black and Tan is certainly not a robust dog, and he has lost much of the terrier boisterousness of character by reason of being pampered and coddled; but it is a fallacy to suppose that he is necessarily delicate.

He requires to be kept warm, but exercise is better for him than eiderdown quilts and silken cushions, and judicious feeding will protect him from the skin diseases to which he is believed to be liable.

Under proper treatment he is no more delicate than any other toy dog, and his engaging manners and cleanliness of habit ought to place him among the most favoured of lady's pets and lapdogs. It is to be hoped that the efforts now being made by the Black and Tan Terrier Club will be beneficial to the increased popularity of this diminutive breed.

The most elegant, graceful, and refined of all dogs are the tiny Italian Greyhounds. Their exquisitely delicate lines, their supple movements and beautiful attitudes, their soft large eyes, their charming colouring, their gentle and loving nature, and their scrupulous cleanliness of habit--all these qualities justify the admiration bestowed upon them as drawing-room pets.

They are fragile, it is true--fragile as eggshell china--not to be handled roughly. But their constitution is not necessarily delicate, and many have been known to live to extreme old age. Miss Mackenzie's Jack, one of the most beautiful of the breed ever known, lived to see his seventeenth birthday, and even then was strong and healthy.

Their fragility is more apparent than real, and if they are not exposed to cold or damp, they require less pampering than they usually receive. This cause has been a frequent source of constitutional weakness, and it was deplorably a fault in the Italian Greyhounds of half a century ago. One cannot be quite certain as to the derivation of the Italian Greyhound. Its physical appearance naturally suggests a descent from the Gazehound of the ancients, with the added conjecture that it was purposely dwarfed for the convenience of being nursed in the lap.

Greek art presents many examples of a very small dog of Greyhound type, and there is a probability that the diminutive breed was a familiar ornament in the atrium of most Roman villas. In Pompeii a dwarfed Greyhound was certainly kept as a domestic pet, and there is therefore some justification for the belief that the Italian prefix is not misplaced.

In very early times the Italian Greyhound was appreciated. Vandyck, Kneller, and Watteau frequently introduced the graceful figures of these dogs as accessories in their portraits of the Court beauties of their times, and many such portraits may be noticed in the galleries of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court. Mary, Queen of Scots is supposed to have been fond of the breed, as more surely were Charles I. and Queen Anne. Some of the best of their kind were in the possession of Queen Victoria at Windsor and Balmoral, where Sir Edwin Landseer transferred their graceful forms to canvas.

Among the more prominent owners of the present time are the Baroness Campbell von Laurentz, whose Rosemead Laura and Una are of superlative merit alike in outline, colour, style, length of head, and grace of action; Mrs. Florence Scarlett, whose Svelta, Saltarello, and Sola are almost equally perfect; Mrs. Matthews, the owner of Ch. Signor, our smallest and most elegant show dog; and Mr. Charlwood, who has exhibited many admirable specimens, among them Sussex Queen and Sussex Princess.