covering became so loaded with snow and their feet so clogged that
they succumbed under the weight and perished. On that account they
were discarded by the monks.

In connection with the origin of the St. Bernard, M. Schumacher wrote
in a letter to Mr. J. C. Macdona, who was the first to introduce the
breed into Great Britain in any numbers: "According to the tradition
of the Holy Fathers of the Great Saint Bernard, their race descends
from the crossing of a bitch (a Bulldog species) of Denmark and a
Mastiff (Shepherd's Dog) of the Pyrenees. The descendants of the
crossing, who have inherited from the Danish dog its extraordinary
size and bodily strength, and from the Pyrenean Mastiff the
intelligence, the exquisite sense of smell, and, at the same time,
the faithfulness and sagacity which characterise them, have acquired
in the space of five centuries so glorious a notoriety throughout
Europe that they well merit the name of a distinct race for
themselves."

From the same authority we learn that it is something like six hundred
years since the St. Bernard came into existence. It was not, however,
till competitive exhibitions for dogs had been for some years
established that the St. Bernard gained a footing in Great Britain.
A few specimens had been imported from the Hospice before Mr. Cumming
Macdona (then the Rev. Cumming Macdona) introduced us to the
celebrated Tell, who, with others of the breed brought from
Switzerland, formed the foundation of his magnificent kennel at West
Kirby, in Cheshire. Albert Smith, whom some few that are now alive
will remember as an amusing lecturer, brought a pair from the Hospice
when returning from a visit to the Continent and made them take a
part in his attractive entertainment; but the associations of the