SPOTTED AND STRIPED MAMMALS 



51 



Probably this is only a preliminary step to piebalding, which is so 

 common in Dogs. It is conceivable that if this attraction of black 

 spots for each other increased, we should soon get the piebald 

 colouring of the Fox-terrier 

 and other breeds. 



At Worthing I saw a 

 curious hybrid between a 

 Bloodhound and a Dalmatian 

 Dog — at least, its owner so 

 stated. Its legs were white 

 with well-defined tan spots ; 

 its back and flanks were white 

 and thickly spotted with 

 black ; and those on the flanks 

 were grouped in threes and 

 fours, not unlike the consoli- 

 dated rosettes on the abdomen 

 of the Jaguar and Leopard ; 

 while its head was white, 

 spotted with tan. It showed 

 a curious persistence of spot- 

 ting ; but where the tan colour 

 of the Bloodhound came in, 

 the spotting of this Dalmatian hybrid became tan-coloured ! 



Then in the streets of London I saw another Dog of the 

 Dalmatian breed. A large number of the dorsal spots amalgamated 

 into a large black patch ; half its face was spotted as usual, and the 

 other half wholly black. 



On another occasion I met two Dogs of this same breed, pro- 

 bably brothers. One was almost wholly black, with some re- 

 maining white inter-spots, and half its tail was spotted with black ; 



Fig. 32. — Blotched Danish Boarhound, from 

 a photograph by Messrs. Dixon and Son. 



