DOGS 481 



that the dogs of pure blood are far superior. In the 

 matter of beauty the dropper has no standing. 



In any event, it is admitted that after the first cross 

 the dropper deteriorates physically and as a worker. 

 In any generation he does not breed true to any fixed 

 type. Perhaps he may have all the externals of the 

 setter or of the pointer, or he may show modified char- 

 acteristics of both. For instance, a pointer coat may 

 be accompanied by a rudimentary flag on the tail, or 

 the latter may have a bushiness foreign to true pointer 

 type. This cross is never attempted or approved by 

 careful breeders, and is repugnant to all true sportsmen. 

 As a rule, the dropper is the result of ignorance in 

 breeding matters, or of cheap pot-hunting proclivi- 

 ties, or he is a makeshift of indigence. 



The origin of the setter is unknown. As a matter 

 of conjecture, it is held by certain writers that his 

 origin is in a spaniel ancestry. There is much of 

 plausibility in the arguments advanced to sustain the 

 assumption. In many respects, some breeds of spaniels 

 and setters bear a striking physical resemblance. They 

 possess many instincts in common, though differing in 

 some important particulars as to methods of pursuit. 

 Some spaniels at times display rudimentary attempts 

 to point, while on the other hand there are many set- 

 ters which display a natural inclination to flush birds 

 without pointing them at all, or with but a mere pre- 

 tense of pointing them. Nevertheless, the evidence ad- 

 duced in support of a spaniel origin is too fragmentary 

 and too speculative to furnish actual proof; and, more- 



