36 HUNTING DOGS. 



hound, the great grandfather of the typical night 

 hunter under consideration, began to assume a 

 fixed type and receive recognition. 



"A popular error'' writes another authority, 

 ^into which many writers have fallen is to asso- 

 ciate the fox hound with any one or two breeds 

 of hounds for his common ancestry, for the fact 

 is that both the English and American fox hound 

 is a composite animal, descended from many dif- 

 ferent varieties of hounds which have existed in 

 the past.'' 



There are a number of breeds of hounds in 

 France to-day that cannot be intelligently traced 

 to any peculiar origin and there have been a 

 greater variety of hounds in the past, whicli have 

 found the way into the kingdom by different 

 roads. 



It will never be known exactly what hunting 

 qualities the hounds of our crude forefathers pos- 

 sessed or with wliat melody of tongue, accuracy 

 of scent, or fleetness of foot they pursued game, 

 which consisted, with now and then an excep- 

 tion, of the stag, wild boar and wolf, until the 

 gradual advance of civilization drove the larger 

 animals from denuded forest and left the cun- 

 ning fox as the logical object of especial attention 

 to huntsmen, who liave spared neither time nor 

 expense to accomplish his death legitimately for 

 nearly two centuries. 



