There was every variety of lap-dog, and among them the tiniest little Italian greyhound,--not more than eight inches long. This last was like a porcelain toy dog, and looked brittle, as if its thin legs would snap if much handled. I did not think it a pretty pet; it seemed too fragile to play with. [Illustration: A BLACK AND WHITE POINTER.] A very different creature was a Siberian greyhound, about four feet and a half tall, with long, wolf-shaped nose, and covered with bluish, short, curly hair. The pet dogs called "pugs" had short, black noses, turned up in about as much of a curl as their tails. Their faces were sooty-black, and shone as if polished with a brush. They curled up their black lips, showing two small, very white teeth, with the tip of a pink tongue hanging out of the mouth, the most comical, and at the same time, the ugliest little beasts one ever saw. [Illustration: AN IRISH SETTER.] They were straddled upon showy velvet cushions, with their fore-paws wide apart, and their round, black eyes looking straight at you, snarling all the time, but not changing their position, being too fat and lazy to move. All the black-and-tan terriers had their ears so cut as to make them very sharp and pointed. There were beautiful spaniels of all shades, and little Maltese terriers. One of these was a perfect beauty. Its hair was like spun glass, of a bluish, pinkish gray, snow-white in the partings. When it trotted about, it looked like an opal, or a piece of live Venetian glass. Its name ought to have been "Jewel," for it looked like one. The King Charles spaniels were very like lovely English blondes, with their golden-brown ears hanging like long curls on each side of their innocent, milk-white faces. They had soft, hazel eyes, of melting tenderness, like those of the prettiest little girl-baby. Most of these lay upon handsomely embroidered cushions, with the dog's name neatly worked in front. One fairy-like specimen had the name "Pixie" worked in silver letters on a sky-blue velvet ground. Another tiny creature looked like a snow-white ball of floss silk, rolled up in a basket of quilted blue satin. Ladies' maids were seated in chairs beside these dainty pets, with ivory-handled brushes and tortoise-shell combs, to arrange their curls; for many of them wore each a little top-knot curl, tied with a scarlet, pink, or blue ribbon, as best became the wearer's complexion. I could think of nothing but a dancing-school exhibition or a children's ball, where nurse-maids sit by their charges, to keep their pretty finery in order. So choice were some of these doggies that they were covered with glass cases, open at the top. [Illustration: HEAD OF BLOODHOUND.]