38 



" 7. Hounds, which hunt in packs by scent, and kill their game. 

 Examples, the Foxhound, the Harrier, etc. 



"8. Crossed breeds for sporting purposes. Example, the Re- 

 triever." 



House-dogs are characterized by " muzzle more or less shortened ; 

 skull high ; frontal sinuses considerable ; condyle of the lower jaw 

 extending above the line of the upper cheek teeth. Cranium 

 smaller in this group than in the first or second, in consequence of 

 its peculiar formation." This class is made up of, 



" 9. Watch-dogs, which have no propensity to hunt ; but are 

 solely employed in the defence of man or his property. Examples, 

 the Mastiff, the Bulldog, the Pug-dog, etc." 



This classification, though based upon natural laws, presents 

 some anomalies, notably in the case of the greyhound, which will 

 hunt in packs as well as singly, and would use his nose if he was 

 not taught to depend upon sight alone. Also in the dogs showing 

 " inclination to chase and point birds" but which will also chase 

 and point rabbits or hares, unless restrained by education. 



It is not the province of this work to discuss dogs generally, 

 but to take up only those which are used in sporting. Nor all of 

 these indeed, as many branches of field sports are followed abroad, 

 which are not pursued here. We shall therefore devote our atten- 

 tion to setters, pointers, spaniels, retrievers, and those breeds of 

 hounds in common use, taking for our standard the English types, 

 as they are universally conceded to be better than those native to 

 this country, owing to the greater attention which has been given 

 to their breeding and development. 



THE POINTING INSTINCT. 



What is called the "pointing instinct," common to the setter 

 and pointer, is probably an acquired faculty, resulting from the 

 use and consequent education which we have spoken of as instru- 

 mental in the formation of breeds. Certain writers have accounted 

 for it upon the theory that wild animals steal up to their prey and 

 crouch to gather energy for a spring, and man, finding this crouch 



