Rough and smooth St Bernards - digital painting by Alma Wad based on a 19th century vintage illustration of Fuertes, Louis Agassiz.Courtesy of the Internet Archive Book Images . "The St. Bernard won both his name and his fame in the Swiss Alps, where for many years the monks of the Hospice St. Bernard have used dogs to assist them in saving the lives of travelers lost in the snow. One of these dogs, Barry. saved 40 people and was killed by the 41st, who mistook him for a wolf."St. Bernards, either smooth or rough coated The old-time working hospice dog had none of the grandeur of this more modern successor to his name, which has been compounded rather recently of several other dogs. The perfect St. Bernard is a very large, very strong-. straight-backed, strong-legged, and heavily organized dog.What is not mentioned in most brief accounts of this dog is the tremendously impressive voice in which he speaks. Probably no other dog has such a deep bass voice, nor such a volume of it. The deep personal affection with which St. Bernard owners invariably invest their com-panions is the best expression of the character of these great, dignified and rather somber dogs, which inspire no fear, even in little children, and which return the stranger's gaze with a look of calm, steady, and indulgent tolerance, and endure the advances of the unacquainted with a patience and dignity that speak worlds for their gracious and enduring disposition. The book of dogs; an intimate study of mankind's best friend" (1919)