290 SETTER DOGS. 
That such a similarity should exist is an absolute necessity, inasmuch as the more 
powerful nature will inevitably expel the weaker, unless there is something in common 
between their characters, which will enable the higher being to convey its meaning to 
the lower, and the lower to receive obediently the mandates of the higher. As the two 
natures become more assimilated, they produce a corresponding effect in the outer form, 
and the resemblance extends to form and feature as well as to character. We notice the 
same effect to be produced among human beings when they are much thrown together, 
and a similar though not so evident a phenomenon takes place between the man and the 
brute. 
The very form of the Dog tells its character as clearly as the human countenance 
betrays the disposition of the spirit which moulds its lines. It is most truly said by 
Bailey, in that mine of golden poetry, “ Festus ”:— 
“ All animals are living hierogly phs,— 
The dashing Dog and stealthy-stepping cat, 
Hawk, bull, and all that breathe, mean something more 
To the true eye than their shapes show; for all 
Were made in love, and made to be beloved.” 
SETTER DOGS.—Canis familiaris. 
As the pointers derive their name from their habits of standing still and pointing at 
any game which they may discover, so the SprrpRS have earned their title from their 
custom of “setting” or crouching when they perceive their game. In the olden days of 
sporting, the Setter used always to drop as soon as it found the game, but at the present 
day the animal is in so far the imitator of the pointer, that it remains erect while 
markine down its came, 
