BREAKING AND HANDLING. 45 



Analogous inefficiency in other animals tends to refute it, 

 and these analogies are, strangely enough, usually cited to 

 sustain it, by confounding strength on the one hand with 

 endurance on the other. As a matter of strength alone, 

 the large, well-made dog is the superior, but for fleetness 

 and endurance combined, there is no comparison with the 

 others. Thus a large, well-built man is superior to a small 

 one in a personal encounter, but the statistics show that for 

 great endurance they are inferior particularly the army 

 statistics show that in long marches, where the highest 

 degree of endurance is required, the large men were 

 decidedly placed in a lower grade. In horses the largest 

 breeds have the greatest strength, but the racing horses are 

 not the largest breeds. Taking the individuals of a racing 

 strain as compared to each other, the fleetest animals are of 

 medium size or smaller, the large animals being soon disa- 

 bled if kept for speed even if they are speedy. Large dogs, 

 from their great bulk and weight have the further disadvan- 

 tage of being annoyingly inconvenient on hunting trips 

 where it is necessary to carry them in a wagon, one large 

 dog incommoding the occupants, and causing much discom- 

 fort. When traveling by rail they are difficult and laborious 

 to handle if in a crate, and in such they certainly should be 

 if the journey is at all long. 



The small dog, while usually being very active and pos- 

 sessing great powers of endurance, also has certain disad- 

 vantages incident to his size and weight. Owing to the 

 former they are extremely difficult to see when on point, if 

 in cover which is at all close. Ordinary sedge grass will 

 conceal them, the only visible sign of their presence being 

 the line of motion observable in the top of the grass in the 

 course the dog runs. It is difficult for them, owing to their 

 light weight, to gallop through heavy sedge, weeds, briers, 

 muddy ground, etc., and if the cover is mixed with briers, it 



