196 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
is commonly known as a double nose; and, in my opin- 
ion, and that, I believe, of most real judges of the ani- 
mal, an exceedingly ugly characteristic, amounting nearly 
toa deformity. This double nose consists in a deep cut 
or furrow between the. nostrils, causing them to a casual 
observer, and on a slight inspection, to appear disunited. 
In the French pointers, which are for the most part 
coarsely-bred, ill-made and worthless animals, this mark, 
owing to the superabundance in them of Spanish blood, is 
general ; and it is surprising to me that Mr. Youatt should 
describe it as “ materially interfering with their acuteness 
of smell.” 
This, however, is not the error which I propose here 
to correct, but the converse of this; which I have found, 
in all countries, particularly among uneducated or partially 
educated sportsmen, to be a prevalent idea—that this 
double nose is an indication of, and as it were a guarantee 
for, the existence of an unusually good nose in the animal 
so marked. This external furrow can, I conceive—and I 
am borne out in my opinion by the judgment of Dr. Lewis 
of Philadelphia, celebrated alike for his medical and 
sportsmanly abilities—have no effect or influence one way 
or other on the scenting capabilities of the animal, being 
wholly unconnected with the internal olfactory apparatus..: 
_ How the idea should have originated, it is simple 
enough to see—the old Spanish pointer is, beyond dispute, 
an animal of superior powers of scent, and he is often 
double-nosed. Hence came the superstition that the supe- 
rior scent is due to the ugly furrow between the nostrils, 
though it might have been as well ascribed to the slack 
