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THE AFRICAN BLOODHOUND. 85 
of the forest, where the larger species form themselves 
dens in the close and thick underwood, while the smaller 
burrow in the earth for shelter. Their lengthened muzzle 
and the great extent to which all the cavities connected 
with the nose are dilated, are admirably fitted for giving 
to the organ of smell the fullest developement of which 
it is capable. It is the perfection of this organ, com- 
bined with the general lightness and muscularity of their 
frame and the firm agility of their elongated limbs, which 
renders many of the species such excellent hunters, by 
enabling them to scent their prey at an immense and. 
sometimes almost incredible distance, and to run it down 
in the chase with indefatigable swiftness and unrelaxing 
pertinacity. 
The very terms of the specific character by which 
Linneus attempted to distinguish the domesticated from 
the other dogs, “ the tail curved upwards (towards the 
left),’ may be regarded as affording in themselves a 
sufficient proof of the difficulty of the task, when so 
great a naturalist, after taking a complete review of all 
the particulars of their organization, was compelled to 
rest contented with a distinction drawn from so trifling 
and apparently insignificant a remark. It would in fact 
appear to be absolutely impossible to offer in any form 
of words whatever a character sufficiently comprehensive 
to combine the almost infinite varieties of this Protean 
race, and at the same time to separate them from those 
other races from which they are generally believed to be 
specifically distinct. To this observation of Linnzus 
almost the sole addition that has been made by later 
zoologists consists in a remark of M. Desmarest, that 
whenever a spot of white is found upon any part of the 
