OUR PRESENT BREEDS OP POX-HOUNDS. 33 



bony, and lean ; foot round, high knuckled, and 

 well clawed, with a hind sole. The general com- 

 position of his body so just and even, that no level 

 may distinguish whether his fore part or hinder 

 be the higher. Lastly, this hound has the most 

 powerful scent, and delights most in blood, with a 

 natural inclination to hunt dry-foot.'^ 



Taking this rather prolix description of the Tal- 

 bot into consideration, it is no very wide stretch 

 of the imagination to suppose the large coarse fox- 

 hound descended from this original with a mixture 

 of the wolf-dog or rough-haired greyhound; in 

 fact, I should think the very first cross would as- 

 suredly be, to all appearance, intents, and purposes, 

 the very dog we call a fox-hound of the larger 

 species. 



When wolves abounded in this country, there 

 were, no doubt, two varieties of dog employed 

 in their destruction, if not more ; the wolf-dog, a 

 large fierce animal, which would run by nose as 

 well as sight, most likely a cross between the 

 blood-hound or mastiff", and greyhound ; and the 

 rough-coated deer-hound, still to be found in Scot- 

 land, and among the wild hills of Wales, pre- 

 serving the original characteristics of great power, 

 speed, and courage ; and from these, in all proba- 

 bility, are descended our present breeds of fox- 



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