248 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



gaily in a gentle curve, but should not be raised beyond a 

 right-angle with the back. 



The symmetry (value 10) of the Bloodhound, as regarded 

 from an artistic point of view, should be examined care- 

 fully, and valued in proportion to the degree in which it is 

 developed. 



People generally have a mistaken idea about the Blood- 

 hound. They look upon him as a vicious animal one that 

 will tear you to pieces the moment he gets to you. This is 

 not the case. A pure English Bloodhound is the most gen- 

 tle dog in the world. If he is laid on the trail of a man, 

 and overtakes him, all the man has to do is to stop and he 

 will not be harmed. When you have once won the esteem 

 of a Bloodhound, he is your friend forever. To illustrate 

 their gentleness, I will relate an incident: A short time 

 ago the Duchess of Ripple was lying by the grate in my 

 house. My little boy became convinced that her ears were 

 too long, and getting a pair of shears, he got astride of her 

 and began trimming them. All the Duchess did was to 

 howl. She offered the lad no violence, and did not even try 

 to run away. When I got there, I found the boy with the 

 shears in one hand and the bleeding ear in the other. 

 Nothing could have induced her to injure him. 



The most striking characteristic of the Bloodhound is 

 his wonderful scenting power. The Duchess will follow a 

 trail and be several rods away from it. She will run par- 

 allel with it at great speed. If she loses a trail, she will 

 make a circuit until she strikes it again, and away she will 

 go. Bloodhounds could be trained to do great police duty. 

 Put one of them on the trail of a thief, and he would not be 

 long in locating the culprit. I sold one to a man in Detroit. 

 One night the man' s horse got out of the barn and disap- 

 peared. Hours afterwaxd the dog was put on the trail, fol- 

 lowed it for eight miles, finally found the horse in a pasture 

 and picked it out from among many other horses. 



The Bloodhound is in every sense a gentleman's dog. 

 When you have once won his esteem, you may depend upon 



