112 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



Waldin has won twice the first, and once the second prize, at the German 

 field trials. He has been painted in oil by Sperling, the celebrated German 

 artist, eminent for animal painting, of whose skill the accompanying illustration 

 is only a faint sample. 



. 



THE ENGLISH POINTER, 



Following close upon the Spanish Pointer appeared the 

 English Pointer, which is generally acknowledged to be the 

 result of a cross, either of the Spanish Pointer and the 

 Southern Hound, or Brach, or of the former and the Fox- 

 hound. The burden of authority seems to favor the latter 

 hypothesis. As field sports gradually became popular, and 

 the art of shooting on the wing more generally known, game 

 became somewhat scarcer and more wary, and the old 

 Spanish Pointer, with his slow, methodical ways and potter- 

 ing style, came into disfavor. More dash, speed, and range 

 were required, even at the sacrifice of a certain degree of 

 stability and stanchness, and sportsmen began to look 

 around for an infusion of blood that would add the desira- 

 ble qualities, with the least sacrifice of the old and valued 

 traits of character. 



Sydenham Edwards, speaking of the improved Pointer, 

 in 1800, thus writes : 



The sportsman has improved the breed by selecting the lightest and gayest 

 individuals, and by judicious crosses with the Foxhound, to procure courage 

 and fleetness. From the great attention thus paid, has resulted the present 

 elegant dog, of valuable and extensive properties, differing much from the 

 original parent, but with some diminution of his instinctive powers. He may 

 thus be described : Light, strong, well-formed, and very active; about twenty- 

 two inches high; head small and straight; lips and ears small, short, and thin; 

 coat short and smooth, commonly spotted or flecked upon a white ground, 

 sometimes wholly white; tail thin and wiry, except when crossed with the 

 Setter or Foxhound, then a little brushed. 



This dog possesses great gayety and courage, travels in a grand manner, 

 quarters his ground with rapidity, and scents with acuteness; gallops with his 

 haunches rather under him, his head and tail up; of strength to endure any 

 fatigue, and an invincible spirit. But with these qualifications he has concomi- 

 tant disadvantages. His high spirit and eagerness for the sport render him 

 intractable, and extremely difficult of education; his impatience in company 

 subjects him to a desire to be foremost in the points, and not give time for the 

 sportsman to come up to run in upon che game, particularly down wind; but 



