512 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



also more courageous and pugnacious than the females. There 

 can he little doubt that these characters have been gained, partly- 

 through sexual selection, owing to a long series of victories by 

 the stronger and more courageous males over the weaker, and 

 partly through the inherited effects of use. It is probable that 

 the successive variations in strength, size, and courage, whether 

 due to mere variability or to the effects of use, by the accumula- 

 tion of which male quadrupeds have acquired these characteristic 

 qualities, occurred rather late in life, and were consequently to a 

 large extent limited in their transmission to the same sex. 



From these considerations I was anxious to obtain information 

 as to the Scotch deerhound, the sexes of which differ more in 

 size than those of any other breed (though bloodhounds differ 

 considerably), or than in any wild canine species known to me. 

 Accordingly, I applied to Mr. Cupples, well-known for his suc- 

 cess with this breed, who has weighed and measured many of 

 his own dogs, and who has with great kindness collected for me 

 the following facts from various sources. Fine male dogs, meas- 

 ured at the shoulder, range from 28 inches, which is low, to 33, 

 or even 34 inches in height; and in weight from 80 pounds, which 

 is light, to 120 pounds, or even more. The females range in 

 height from 23 to 27, or even to 28 inches; and in weight from 

 50 to 70, or even 80 pounds.'' Mr. Cupples concludes that from 

 95 to 100 pounds for the male, and 70 for the female, would be a 

 safe average; but there is reason to believe that formerly both 

 sexes attained a greater weight. Mr. Cupples has weighed pup- 

 pies when a fortnight old; in one litter the average weight of 

 four males exceeded that of two females by six and a half ounces; 

 in another litter the average weight of four males exceeded that 

 of one female by less than one ounce; the same males when 

 three weeks old, exceeded the female by seven and a half ounces, 

 and at the age of six weeks by nearly fourteen ounces. Mr. 

 Wright of Yeldersley House, in a letter to Mr. Cupples, says: "1 

 "have taken notes on the sizes and weights of puppies of many 

 "litters, and as far as my experience goes, dog-puppies as a rule 

 "differ very little from bitches till they arrive at about five or six 

 "months old; and then the dogs begin to increase, gaining upon 

 "the bitches both in weight and size. At birth, and for several 

 "weeks afterwards, a bitch-puppy will occasionally be larger than 

 "any of the dogs, but they are invariably beaten by them later." 



28 See, also, Richardson's 'Manual on the Dog,' p. 59. Much valuable 

 information on the Scottish deer-hound is given by Mr. McNeill, who 

 first called attention to the inequality in size between the sexes, in 

 Scrope's 'Art of Deer Stalking.' I hope that Mr. Cupples will keep 

 to his intention of publishing a full account and history of this 

 famous breed. 



