26 



DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS 



our pointers and setters has been brought about in even less 

 time. It seems Hkely, indeed, that it is the result of about 

 a hundred and fifty years of teachino-, combined with the 

 selection which so effectively works upon all our domes- 

 ticated creatures. It thus appears that this peculiar impress 



Pointer Retrieving a Fallen Bird 



Upon the habits of the hunting-dog is the result of some- 

 where near thirty generations of culture. 



Although, as has Ijeen often suggested, the pointing or 

 setting habit probably rests upon an original custom of paus- 

 ing for a moment before leaping upon their pre)', which was 

 possibly characteristic of the wild dog, it seems to me un- 

 likely that this is the case, for we do not find this habit of 

 creeping on the pre)^ among our more primitive forms of dogs 

 nor the wild allied species as a marked feature. All the 



