THE AMERICAN 

 HUNTING DOG 



CHAPTER I 



HISTOEICAL NOTES ON THE HUNTING DOG 



The dog dates back to geological times. In the 

 Pleistocene we have a great dog, twelve feet long, 

 distinct from the wolf of that period, whose skele- 

 ton has come down to ns nearly intact. While 

 dogs, wolves and foxes are closely allied, the in- 

 terbreeding of wolves and dogs alone is well au- 

 thenticated. There is no well established account 

 of any crossing of foxes and dogs, though I have 

 seen several small dogs in the South that looked 

 so exactly like foxes that one could almost believe 

 the negro 's story that a true cross had been made. 

 It seems more improbable than a cross of wolf and 

 dog, for the bonal structure around the eye of 

 the fox differs materially from that of the wolf 

 and dog, and it is a question whether the pro- 

 toplasmic cells would unite. 



The principal specific difference between the 

 fox species and the wolves and dogs is in the pupil 



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