Chap. I. MEANS OF MODIFICATION. 41 



somewhat added to. It is believed that this was effected by 

 a cross with a greyhound. With respect to this latter dog, 

 Youatt, 79 who is generally cautious in his statements, says that 

 the greyhound within the last fifty years, that is before the 

 commencement of the present century, " assumed a somewhat 

 different character from that which he once possessed. He is 

 now distinguished by a beautiful symmetry of form, of which 

 he could not once boast, and he has even superior speed to 

 that which he formerly exhibited. He is no longer used 

 to struggle with deer, but contends with his fellows over 

 a shorter and speedier course." An able writer 80 believes that 

 our English greyhounds are the descendants, progressively im- 

 proved, of the large rough greyhounds which existed in Scotland 

 so early as the third century. A cross at some former period 

 with the Italian greyhound has been suspected ; but this seems 

 hardly probable, considering the feebleness of this latter breed. 

 Lord Orford, as is well known, crossed his famous greyhounds, 

 which failed in courage, with a bulldog — this breed being 

 chosen from being deficient in the power of scent ; " after the 

 sixth or seventh generation," says Youatt, "there was not a 

 vestige left of the form of the bulldog, but his courage and 

 indomitable perseverance remained." 



Youatt infers, from a comparison of an old picture of King 

 Charles's spaniels with the living dog, that " the breed of the 

 present day is materially altered for the worse : " the muzzle 

 has become shorter, the forehead more prominent, and the eyes 

 larger: the changes in this case have probably been due to 

 simple selection. The setter, as this author remarks in another 

 place, "is evidently the large spaniel improved to his present 

 peculiar size and beauty, and taught another way of marking 

 his game. If the form of the dog were not sufficiently satis- 

 factory on this point, we might have recourse to history:" 

 he then refers to a document dated 1685 bearing on this 

 subject, and adds that the pure Irish setter shows no signs 

 of a cross with the pointer, which some authors suspect has been 

 the case with the English setter. Another writer" remarks 



4e^^'S^Sp^ P ^ the '»*-**—**' 



for the setter, p. 90. B| L « . , 



r The Farrier,' 1828, vol. i. p. 337. 



