26 



DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



our pointers and setters has been brought about in even less 

 time. It seems likely, indeed, that it is the result of about 

 a hundred and fifty years of teaching, combined with the 

 selection which so effectively works upon all our domes- 

 ticated creatures. It thus appears that this peculiar impress 



Pointer Retrieving a Fallen Bird 



upon the habits of the hunting-dog is the result of some- 

 where near thirty generations of culture. 



Although, as has been often suggested, the pointing or 

 setting habit probably rests upon an original custom of paus- 

 ing for a moment before leaping upon their prey, which was 

 possibly characteristic of the wild clog, it seems to me un- 

 likely that this is the case, for we do not find this habit of 

 creeping on the prey among our more primitive forms of dogs 

 nor the wild allied species as a marked feature. All the 



