THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



29 



When one walks down the street with a great 

 Dane, about half the people one meets refer to 

 him as a bloodhound. This mistake is largely 

 due to the fact that the managers of the nu- 

 merous "Uncle Tom's Cabin" shows traveling 

 about the country usually select great Danes 

 instead of bloodhounds as the dogs required 

 in the play. They do this because the Danes 

 are much bigger and more spectacular, and 

 therefore attract more attention when led 

 through the streets of a town before the per- 

 formance. They also are easily excited into 

 the spirit of the act, whereas the kind, senti- 

 mental, and heavy bloodhounds would walk 

 through the part without the slightest thrill to ^ 

 themselves or to the palpitating audience. 



THE BLOODHOUND 



(For illustration^ see page 30) 



The bloodhound is a dog of only medium 

 size and, in spite of his name and reputation, 

 is gentle and affectionate. 



According to some authorities, these dogs 

 were brought to England by William the Con- 

 queror ; according to others, they were brought 

 by pilgrims from the Holy Land. 



They are often spoken of as "black St. Hu- 

 berts," but there were white ones and red ones 

 also, and it is quite possible that our modern 

 bloodhounds are a blend of the three. They 

 probably derive their name from the fact that 

 originally they were used to track animals 

 which were wounded and bleeding, though they 

 have long been associated chiefly with the 

 tracking of men, and for the last hundred years 

 or more, particularly with the trailing of crim- 

 inals. 



The English bloodhound is simply the ex- 

 treme development of those characteristics 

 which typify the hound : long, low-hung cars, 

 loose skin, long muzzle, and somber expression 

 find in him their greatest degree of perfection. 



In fact, the skin of the head and face is so 

 loose and ample that it falls into deep folds 

 and wrinkles ; the weight of the ears pulls it 

 into furrows, and the lower eyelid falls away 

 from the eye, disclosing a deep haw. The ears, 

 of thin, fine leather, are so long as to trail 

 when the nose is down. 



The head is well domed, the occipital point 

 is very prominent, the flews and dewlap reach 

 excessive development, only equaled in the St. 

 Bernard. 



The bloodhound should stand 23 to 27 inches 

 and weigh from 80 to 95 or 100 pounds. He 

 should be black and tan, in strict conformity 

 with the standard as shown in the picture, or 

 all deep tan. The more primitive coloring, the 

 black and tan, is generally preferred. The tail 

 is not carried quite so gaily as in the case of 

 foxhounds and beagles. Any appreciable 

 amount of white betrays impurity of strain. In 

 disposition he is the gentlest of gentle hounds, 

 though his rather fearsome name has earned 

 him an unjust notoriety with those who do not 

 know much about dogs. 



Only a few kennels breed bloodhounds now. 

 They are used by police departments, both in 

 this country and in Europe, and if brought to 

 the scene of a crime within a few hours after 

 it has been committed, and if the criminal fled 

 across ground not too much trampled over by 

 other people, they can render valuable assist- 

 ance by leading the police directly to the man 

 they are seeking. 



There have been bloodhounds credited with 

 following a trail thirty hours after it was made, 

 but such performances must be made under 

 ideal conditions and are very rare, to say the 

 least. 



FOXHOUNDS 



(For illustration, see page 34) 



The Enghsh foxhound for more than 300 

 years has been one of the principal factors in 

 the great English sport of fox-hunting. Per- 

 haps no other single sport has done so much to 

 mold the national character. The dogs in packs 

 follow the fox across country, and the fox- 

 hunters, under the direction of a "master of 

 foxhounds," ride after them. 



The fine qualities developed by hard riding, 

 by facing all kinds of weather, and by the dan- 

 gers incident to jumping high fences and wide 

 ditches, coupled with the sportsmanly behavior 

 which constitutes the etiquette of the hunting 

 field, were just the traits required to make gal- 

 lant soldiers and successful colonists. 



The English foxhound, while of ancient line- 

 age and highly standardized in England, has 

 not been found to meet exactly the require- 

 ments of the rougher sport in this country. 

 Thus, through the efforts of a few assiduous 

 fox-hunters, there has been produced a some- 

 what rangier, lighter, and more courageous dog, 

 known as the American foxhound. 



The lighter built and more speedy American 

 foxhound is used either in packs, followed by 

 mounted hunters, as in England, or singly, or 

 in couples, to drive the fox within range of a 

 gun. 



The development of this breed has been 

 largely due to the initiative and energy of a 

 few men, notably Mr. Harry W. Smith, of 

 Worcester, Massachusetts, in the North, and 

 Brigadier General Roger D. WilUams, of Lex- 

 ington, Kentucky, in the South. 



In essentials the American and English 

 breeds are, of course, very similar. The Eng- 

 Hsh dog is a little squarer and more pointer-like 

 in the head, with shorter ears and straighter, 

 longer legs. Our dog seems more like a hound 

 to us, with its fuller leather and more elastic 

 pa.stern and hock and stifle. The English dog 

 looks rather stiff and stilty in comparison, 

 though undoubtedly just what the Englishman 

 wants. And surely the English huntsman 

 knows just exactly what he wants. 



The hound is a very primitive type of dog, 

 and one of the proofs of this is his unvarying 

 and rigid adherence to his pattern of color. 

 White, of course, is not natural, but the result 



