BREAKING AND HANDLING. 173 



The common explanation of the origin of the pointing 

 instinct is, that when the setter was a spaniel or an improved 

 spaniel, which is simply a conjecture, he was hunted on 

 partridges and forced to lie close to the ground when he 

 recognized the scent of them, whereupon a net was drawn 

 or thrown over both the dog and the covey, which latter 

 was patiently submissive and conveniently near to the dog 

 in a favorable place for the net to cover both, and thus the 

 birds were captured. No attempt is made to explain why 

 the dog hunted the partridges instinctively, that part being 

 a matter of course. As arms improved and greater skill was 

 coincidentally developed in their use, sportsmen becoming 

 expert wing shots, there was no occasion for the setter to lie 

 down when he scented the birds, hence he stood up to his 

 points, whereupon pointing, which previously was a matter 

 of education, spontaneously became an instinct at least, 

 so say the historians. 



Instincts are invariably for the benefit of the individual 

 himself, or the perpetuation of the species, they being sub- 

 servient to self-preservation. That, therefore, a dog should 

 point a bird instinctively for a man to shoot at, is one of the 

 many beliefs that exist and are perpetuated on the flimsiest 

 of assumptions. 



The pointing instinct is known to have existed in the 

 pointer so far in the past as there is any history or tradition 

 of the breed. It was particularly strong in the old Spanish 

 pointer, yet no theory is advanced in respect to its origin 

 in him. 



It is more reasonable to suppose, and the supposition is 

 supported by analogous characteristics in other animals, that 

 pointers and setters had the hunting and pointing instincts 

 implanted in them by nature as a means to secure a food 

 supply than that they became permanently fixed by an im- 

 perfect education conducted by a few skillful trainers and a 



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