The Pointing Instinct. 193 
splashes frozen by the cruel wind which swept over the 
moor. As soon as the gallant old fellow saw me, he rolled 
his eye towards me, staggered forward a few paces, and 
stood again. I walked round him, and up sprang the 
miserable little jack snipe that had kept him there on duty 
until he was almost dead with cold. Never did I feel so 
much satisfaction in knocking down anything as that pesti- 
lent little jack; but the poor dog was evidently worn out, 
though he crawled off again with unabated pluck to quarter 
the ground. I believe he would have remained on that point 
until he dropped from exhaustion—a condition he had then 
almost reached. After taking him on to solid land, and 
rubbing him thoroughly dry and warm with wisps of heather, 
I walked him home gently, reflecting the while on the 
singular force of this artificial instinct imposed upon the 
dog by our own agency. 
The training of dogs for shooting could not have been 
begun éarlier than the middle of the sixteenth century; for 
we then first hear of “hail-shot” coming into use. It is 
thus possible to limit the development of the pointing in- 
stinct to about three centuries. If we estimate the average 
life of the dog at five years, it will be seen that within sixty 
generations of dogs the instinct has attained its present per- 
fection, aided by selection. Whatever was the exact meaning 
of the term in his time, Shakspeare says (“Henry IV.,” 
Act IL, Sc. 3), “’Tis our setter, I know his voice.” Assuming 
the dog so described to have been at all comparable as a 
worker to the modern setter, the instinct had become esta- 
blished, partially at least, at an early date after the intro- 
duction of the shot gun. But the most singular fact is the 
transmission of the instinct to their young by well-bred and 
trained setters and pointers. <As all breakers know, puppies 
of these breeds will hunt for game the first time they are 
taken into the field, and often even point it after two or 
three hours’ work, without any previous tuition whatever, 
and without the example of older dogs. The mere scent of 
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