BREEDING HOUNDS. 13 



the study of animals we consider nothing but their 

 organic structure, we often fail to ascertain a suf- 

 ficient cause for their peculiar modes of action, and 

 for the way in which they perform the various parts 

 assigned to them in life. The organization of all dogs 

 is very nearly the same, yet their destination is far from 

 similar ; the lot of one is cast in the thickest woodlands; 

 while the life of the other is spent in an open country, 

 the powers of speed being much oftener put to the 

 test than the more refined organs of the nose. A 

 difference in the powers and the dispositions of animals 

 must arise from the force of education, as well as from 

 the effects of reproduction. It is an old and trite 

 saying, but nevertheless true, that " like begets like," 

 and in no instance is it more applicable than in the 

 breeding of hounds, if the vices or even colours fail 

 to show themselves in the first, they are frequently 

 perceptible in three or even four generations after ; 

 still by degrees their natures become changed, and 

 after a certain number of years, under the management 

 of a judicious breeder, the pack which was charac- 

 terized by its impetuosity, wildness, and skirting, 

 becomes no less celebrated for its capabilities in 

 hunting, and its steadiness in work. We might 

 go one step further, and even say that the organic 

 structure of animals might be changed. In the 

 natural history of the dog it has been stated, that all 

 that tribe descended from the shepherd's-dog ; and 

 that from various causes after their removal to other 

 countries, they became, some greyhounds, some mastiffs, 

 some spaniels, &c. ; many of the fox-hounds of the 

 present day, resemble greyhounds, much more than 



