CANINE MORALS AND MANNERS. 185 



By this artifice, which had never been taught them by man, 

 the pack when hunting for themselves would doubtless often se- 

 cure a meal, preceded by the delight of killing, without the weari- 

 some process of tiring out a hare. 



Now it appears to me that this habit of the leader of the pack 

 — a habit which, from its similarity to what has been observed in 

 the case of such widely separated Canidce as the dingo, wolf, and 

 hyena dog, is one that is traceable to very remote wild ancestors 

 — is the basis of that peculiar talent in the pointer or setter which 

 adds to the piquancy of a day's shooting and to the weight of 

 the bag. 



Let us endeavor to look at the part played by a pointer in the 

 light of cynomorphic theory. 



" Ponto " goes out with his pack (often a very scratch one), his 

 comrades walking on two legs instead of four like ordinary dogs, 

 and carrying their tails, or organs of a somewhat similar aspect, 

 over their shoulders. The pack separate and advance in line, he 

 being appointed to explore in the van and to search the turnips 

 or rape for a tell-tale whiff of the scent of game. The covey is 

 detected, but, being a co-operative and loyal dog, he does not 

 rush in and try to catch for himself. He therefore stands and 

 waits for his partners to perform their share of the stratagem. 

 All that he has to do is to show them in an unmistakable manner 

 that there is quarry worth having in front of his nose. The pack 

 advance, he generally taking careful note of their approach, the 

 covey rises, the " tails " of the bipedal dogs explode, and Ponto is 

 rewarded by holding in his mouth a palpitating mass of feathers, 

 with perhaps the stimulating flavor of blood, and by a public 

 intimation that the community or pack approve of his conduct 

 and esteem him, what he dearly loves to be thought, " a good 

 dog." 



When we come to consider the very long period during which 

 dogs have been domesticated and under the influence of deliberate 

 selection, it is surprising to find how much in their behavior they 

 resemble their wild brethren. The rule seems to hold good here 

 as elsewhere, that the outward form is much more plastic to the 

 influence of environment than the character and mental habits 

 which are dependent upon the nervous system. Thus, although 

 the deer-hound and pug are so different in external appearance 

 that it is difficult to believe that they are related, yet if we watch 

 them we find that their mental and moral qualities are of a simi- 

 lar cast. The fine gray wolf in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's 

 Park, and the performing wolves recently exhibited in London, 

 when in a good humor, had precisely the same methods of ex- 

 pressing pleasure as the domestic dogs, and would wag their tails 

 and gambol about in a manner which made one doubt for the 



