THE IRISH GREYHOUND OR WOLF-DOG. 37 



out in tufts, and not like a brush, as it is when the hair is hard, 

 stiff, and wiry. 



The tail should be long and tapering, slightly curved, but with- 

 out any corkscrew twist. 



Ill— THE IRISH GREYHOUND OR WOLF-DOG. 



This grand variety is now extinct, no one in the present day 

 maintaining that he possesses a strain actually descended from 

 the old stock. An attempt has, however, been made by several 

 gentlemen to " resuscitate it," which appears to me a most absurd 

 one ; for whatever may be the result, the produce cannot be re- 

 garded as Irish deerhounds, but rather as a modern breed, to 

 which any other name may be given except the one chosen for 

 it. Of course the Scotch deerhound is taken as the stock on 

 which to graft greater size and power, and most probably this 

 has been done, partly by the selection of very large specimens, and 

 partly by crossing with the mastiff, or possibly with the great 

 Dane. The result is, no doubt, the attainment of a small number 

 of very fine animals, but there is great difficulty in keeping up 

 the breed, even for the short time during which it has existed, 

 as is generally the case with manufactured strains. Some of my 

 readers may, however, like to see what is to be said by the most 

 ardent of the breeders of this new strain, and I therefore insert a 

 description published by Captain Graham in " The Country " of 

 February 24, 1876, in extenso, as follows, omitting the portrait, 

 which is evidently wanting in fidelity. 



The Irish Wolfhound, by Capt. George A. Graham. 



To do full justice to this subject is almost impossible, owing to the fact that 

 there has been a generally-received impression amongst modern writers that 



