173 MANUAL FOE YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



away, should help him in a state of nature to get his supper, 

 is inconceivable ; but that because one dog on scenting 

 game assumes this strange position, his friend who is hunt- 

 ing in company with him, instead— as one naturally would 

 suppose him likely to do — of rushing to share the fun and 

 partake of the spoils^ should dp the, like, is far more won- 

 derful ; as, where it does not naturally exist, it is infinitely 

 more difficult to teach. 



Naturalists have classified dogs under three principal, 

 general divisions ; veloces, the swift ; feroces, the savage ; 

 and sagaces, the intelligent ; of which the greyhound, the 

 bull-dog, and the spaniel are respectively the types. To 

 the latter species belong all the dogs which hunt by nose, 

 having as their anatomical character, according to Blaine, 

 " the head very moderately elongated ; parietal bones not 

 approaching each other above the temples, but diverging 

 and swelling out, so as to enlarge the forehead, and the 

 cerebral cavity. This group includes some of the most 

 useful and intelligent dogs." 



The anatomical distinction first named is probably the 

 cause, as well as the sign, of the superiority of this variety 

 of dogs, as it gives room for the capacity of brain, which, 

 whether in man or the inferior animal, invariably indicate? 

 and produces superiority of intellect. 



In all the spaniels proper, the eye is full, liquid, and 

 speaking ; the nose well developed, with large and open 

 nostrils ; the coat silky, soft, and in some cases much waved, 

 and almost curly. The colors of the various families of 

 this variety are almost innumerable, varying from pure 

 black, white and yellow, tan, liver and orange, to ring- 



