Chap. I. THEIR PARENTAGE. 43 



respect to this latter dog, Youatt, 83 who is generally cautious 

 in his statements, says that the greyhound within the last 

 fifty years, that is before the commencement of the present 

 century, " assumed a somewhat different character from that 

 which he once possessed. He is now distinguished by a 

 beautiful symmetry of form, of which he could not once 

 boast, and he has even superior speed to that which he 

 formerly exhibited. He is no longer used to struggle with 

 deer, but contends with his fellows over a shorter and 

 speedier course." An able writer 84 believes that our English 

 greyhounds are the descendants, progressively improved, of the 

 large rough greyhounds which existed in Scotland so early 

 as the third century. A cross at some former period with 

 the Italian greyhound has been suspected ; but this seems 

 hardly probable, considering the feebleness of this latter 

 breed. Lord Orford, as is well known, crossed his famous 

 greyhounds, which failed in courage, with a bulldog — this 

 breed being chosen from being erroneously supposed to be 

 deficient in the power of scent ; " after the sixth or seventh 

 generation," says Youatt, " there was not a vestige left of 

 the form of the bulldog, but his courage and indomitable 

 perseverance remained." 



Youatt infers, from a comparison of an old picture of King- 

 Charles's spaniels with the living dog, that " the breed of the 

 present day is materially altered for the worse :" the muzzle 

 has become shorter, the forehead more prominent, and the eyes 

 larger ; the changes in this case have probably been due to 

 simple selection. The setter, as this author remarks in another 

 place, " is evidently the large spaniel improved to his present 

 peculiar size and beauty, and taught another way of marking 

 his game. If the form of the dog were not sufficiently satis- 

 factory on this point, we might have recourse to history : " 

 he then refers to a document dated 1685 bearing on this 

 subject, and adds that the pure Irish setter shows no signs 

 of a cross with the pointer, which some authors suspect 

 has been the case with the English setter. The bulldog is an 



83 'The Dog,' 1845, pp. 31, 35; 84 In the « Encyclop. of Rural 



with respect to King Charles's spaniel, Sports,' p. 557. 

 p. 45 ; for the setter, p. 90. 



