OF PUPPIES. 



97 



^infrequently happened that a part of the litter has produced 

 nearly thorough-bred pointers, while the remainder have 

 proved well-bred setters 



Among- the various phenomena that the reproductive pro- 

 cess present, breeding back, as it is termed among- sports- 

 men, is not the least curious. It would appear from these 

 cases, as thoug-h a family character was originally imprinted 

 on the generative organs, or that the ova or germs of the 

 future race were formed after one common hereditary mould ; 

 for it is often observed not only among dogs, but among 

 other domestic animals, and even in man also, that their pro- 

 geny bear a greater resemblance to the grand-dam or grand- 

 father than to their immediate parents. It is evident that 

 this is more likely to happen where a common character has 

 been preserved during successive generations, or, in turf 

 language, where the blood has been kept pure ; which is 

 nothing more than an established variety, being acted on in 

 its successive generations by the owner, in the direction of 

 the sexual intercourse, the selection of food, discipline of qua- 

 lities, and regulation of habits. 



It may, however, be necessary to remark, that, in a philo- 

 sophical point of view, we have no such thing as a pure 

 breed among any of our domestic animals. Our most boasted 

 specimens are either altogether degenerates*, or produced 



* A more close examination of the subject will shew not only that our 

 most highly prized animals are degeJierates, but that many of them are mon- 

 strosities. Degeneracy, among naturalists, is a departure from originality 

 and a state of nature ; thus, philosophically, wild animals only can be con- 

 sidered as perfect. But man, to gratify his artificial wants, has cultivated 

 forms and properties in them which, however they may prove beneficial to 

 himself, render the animals subjected to such alterations unfitted for the 

 purposes they were originally destined for. What would become of some 

 of our cultivated breeds of dogs, were they turned loose in a wild country ? 

 Could a pack of pugs hunt down the antelope ? The high-bred greyhound's 

 speed and vision united would fail in the same circumstances, deprived, as he 

 would find himself by cultivation, of the means of following his prey through 

 its various windings by scenting his course. The pointer might standj and 



