the weight was generally about 45 lbs., whilst the body was broad,
muscular, and compact, as is shown in Scott's well-known engraving
of "Crib and Rosa."

When bull-baiting was prohibited by law the sportsmen of the period
turned their attention to dog-fighting, and for this pastime the
Bulldogs were specially trained. The chief centres in London where
these exhibitions took place were the Westminster Pit, the Bear Garden
at Bankside, and the Old Conduit Fields in Bayswater. In order to
obtain greater quickness of movement many of the Bulldogs were crossed
with a terrier, although some fanciers relied on the pure breed. It
is recorded that Lord Camelford's Bulldog Belcher fought one hundred
and four battles without once suffering defeat.

The decline of bull-baiting and dog-fighting after the passing of
the Bill prohibiting these sports was responsible for a lack of
interest in perpetuating the breed of Bulldogs. Even in 1824 it was
said to be degenerating, and gentlemen who had previously been the
chief breeders gradually deserted the fancy. At one time it was stated
that Wasp, Child, and Billy, who were of the Duke of Hamilton's
strain, were the only remaining Bulldogs in existence, and that upon
their decease the Bulldog would become extinct--a prophecy which all
Bulldog lovers happily find incorrect.

The specimens alive in 1817, as seen in prints of that period, were
not so cloddy as those met with at the present day. Still, the outline
of Rosa in the engraving of Crib and Rosa, is considered to represent
perfection in the shape, make, and size of the ideal type of Bulldog.
The only objections which have been taken are that the bitch is
deficient in wrinkles about the head and neck, and in substance of