250 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



rings through the clear air, is a grand, wild concert; now 

 faintly heard in low, distant murmurs as it comes floating 

 over the low hills, then louder, swelling, and finally burst- 

 ing in a grand chorus as they near you. Once heard, it 

 can never be forgotten. 



"Why is this dog called the Bloodhound?" many ask. 

 The name is a misnomer. He is not blood-thirsty, more than 

 any other dog; but it is owing to the peculiar instinct which 

 he probably acquired in tracking wounded game. 



Could a pack of Bloodhounds be trained so as to enter 

 into the spirit of the chase on the stage, could they be seen 

 in their excitement, heard in their full cry, what a madden- 

 ing encore they would receive. 



When we consider the marvelous attributes of the Bloodhound, it is diffi- 

 cult to understand how it could possibly have gone almost out of use, as it 

 evidently did. Probably this decadence began when he was no longer required 

 in border warfare. As a matter of course, the breed became scarce, and 

 was only kept up by old families who were loath to part from their ancient tra- 

 ditions, or who had deer parks and used Bloodhounds for tracking wounded 

 deer. Fortunately, dog shows came to the rescue, or the breed would probably 

 have, by this time, become extinct. 



I fear that dog shows, and their attendant changes of fashion, have done an 

 immense amount of harm to some of our most useful breeds; but luckily the 

 Bloodhound has been estimated most highly for his best and most character- 

 istic qualities, and the long, narrow, peaked head, always associated with 

 special scenting powers, and the long ears and immense dewlap, indicative of 

 voice, are much more common now than ever before. The chief alteration has 

 been in the lines denoting speed, and we now have a much faster Hound than 

 in the moss-trooping days; in fact, many Bloodhounds are quite as fast as 

 average Foxhounds. 



We have, however, been intensifying the type and formation indicative of 

 the special properties inherent in him, and I am satisfied that with a reasonable 

 amount of careful training we may obtain much more wonderful results in the 

 tracking of criminals than have ever been attained before. We have now few 

 Hounds trained to hunt the "clean boot ' i. e., merely the natural sctmt of a 

 man throuiih his boots and the very few Bloodhound owners who attempt 

 anything of this kind do not devote sufficient time to the pursuit to bring 

 their Hounds to even a moderate degree of excellence. 



I am convinced that the time has now come when we may hope to see this 

 matter taken up in a thoroughly intelligent manner; and if this is done, we 

 shall, in a few years, be quite unable to understand why the Bloodhound was 

 ever allowed to fall into disuse for this purpose. Each succeeding generation of 

 trained Hounds must become much more proficient than the last one; and when 

 they have come into general use, the deterrent effect on crime will be incalcula- 



