4 THE ORIGIN OF THE DOG 



and from them have undoubtedly descended our 

 English Bloodhounds ; while the white hounds were 

 probably the progenitors of the Talbot, which, with 

 the Bloodhound, must be regarded as the parent 

 stock of our present Foxhounds and Harriers. In 

 later chapters upon Hounds I shall endeavour, to 

 amplify this subject. 



The love of man for his dog is not surprising. 

 As Maeterlinck has so beautifully expressed it, of all 

 the animal creation the dog alone has really broken 

 down the barriers standing between him and mankind . 

 We use the horse and the cow, but it is rarely that 

 we make friends of them. The dog, however, is on 

 an entirely different footing. Whether he first 

 attached himself to man, or primeval man obtained 

 him and trained him to his own uses, is now im- 

 material ; the dog is our faithful friend and loving 

 companion, and he has shown to many generations 

 of Englishmen sport which would have been denied 

 to them without his aid. In these later years we 

 have made him minister to our vanity by winning 

 prizes for us at dog shows ; but he still remains of 

 the same nature, ready to protect us, and our devoted 

 slave in spite of rebuffs and ill-treatment. 



