32 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 
Scotch deerhound is taken as the stock on which to graft greater 
size and power, and most probably this has been done, partly by 
the selection of very large specimens, and partly by crossing with 
the mastiff, or recently with the Great Dane. The result is, no 
doubt, the attainment of a small number of very fine animals, but - 
there is great difficulty in keeping up the breed, even for the short 
time during which it has existed, as is generally the case with 
manufactured strains. Some of my readers may, however, like to 
see what is to be said by the most ardent of the breeders of this 
new. strain, and I therefore insert a description published by 
Captain Graham in “The Country” of February 24, 1876, in 
extenso, a8 follows:— 
Tue IntsH WonrHounp, By Capr. Grorae A. GRAHAM. 
‘ 
To do full justice to this subject is almost impossible, owing to the fact that 
there has been a generally received impression amongst modern writers that 
this noble breed of dog is entirely extinct. That the breed in its “original 
integrity” has apparently disappeared cannot be disputed, yet there can be 
equally little doubt that so much of the true breed is forthcoming, both in the 
race still known in Ireland as the “Irish wolfhound” (to be met with, how- 
ever, in one or two places only) and in our modern deerhound, as to allow of 
the complete recovery of the breed in its pristine grandeur, with proper manage- 
ment, in judicious hands. It is a fact well known to all modern mastiff 
breeders who have thoroughly studied the history of their breed, that, until 
within the last thirty or forty years, mastiffs, as a pure race, had almost become 
extinct, Active measures were taken by various spirited individuals, which 
resulted in the complete recovery of the breed, in a form at least equal, if not 
superior, to what it was of yore. 
Why should not, then, such measures be taken to recover the more ancient, 
and certainly equally noble, race of Irish wolfhounds? It may be argued - 
that, the services of such a dog no longer being required for sport, his existence . 
is no longer to be desired ; but such an argument is not worthy of considera- | 
tion for a moment, for how many thousands of dogs are bred for which no _ 
work is provided, nor is any expected of them, added to which, the breed 
would be admirably suited to the requirements of our colonies. One after 
another the various breeds of dogs which had of late years more or less degene- *’ 
rated, as, for instance, mastitis, fox-terriers, pugs, St. Bernards, collies, have 7 
become “the rage,” and, in consequence, a vast improvement is observable in 
the numerous specimens shown from time to time. Let us, then, hope that 
steps may be taken to restore to us such a magnificent animal as the Irish 
wolfhound. 
That we have in the deerhound the modern representative of the old Irish 
