BREAKING AND HANDLING. 175 



most uniformly present, is nevertheless entirely absent in 

 some individuals, and present to an abnormal degree in 

 others. 



The point is simply a preliminary pause during which 

 every faculty of the dog is keenly intent on accurately 

 locating the game preparatory to springing on it. There is 

 nothing cataleptic in the act, contrary to the often repeated 

 assertions that it is so. Neither the senses nor volition are 

 suspended, as can readily be perceived when an untrained dog 

 is pointing, or when the birds run from the point of a trained 

 dog; in either instance, every motion is indicative of con- 

 sciousnesss and an intelligent intent to capture. Every 

 sense is alert, and every muscle at its highest tension ready 

 for the spring. Nearly all experienced sportsmen have 

 seen a dog bound from his point with wonderful rapidity 

 and capture quails, or prairie chickens, or ruffed grouse, 

 such being his natural manner of obtaining a food sup- 

 ply. By duly repressing this natural inclination to spring, 

 and preserving the steadiness of the point, man subjects the 

 instinct in a useful manner to his own purposes; thus, while 

 primarily the instinct is hereditary and for the dog's special 

 benefit in gaining a food supply, it does not become a me- 

 chanical act when exercised for the benefiit of man. 

 However, there is a transitionary stage during training, 

 when the dog is insufficiently experienced in the purposes 

 of the gun, wherein he may prolong his point merely as a 

 matter of compulsion; yet the dog's perceptive and reflective 

 faculties are such that when his judgment and experience 

 are mature he intelligently and zealously applies his hunting 

 powers to assist the gun. Many intelligent acts on the part 

 of the dog, acts which have been observed by all sportsmen 

 of extensive experience, prove this beyond question. For 

 the information of those who may not have had an extensive 

 experience, a few of the acts which are commonly known 



