382 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Juke 1, 



of this wanton experiment, and the titter usclessness of the 

 act almost overpowers our admiration of the maternal love, 

 and we. blush for humanitv when we contrast the cruelty of 

 the. "person" with the invincible, affection of the dog. Who 

 would, while contemplating this piece, of human barbarism, 

 undignify man bv the nncomphmentarv epithet of a dog, 

 when the truth is the attributes of the latter shine trnnscen- 

 dently bright when held up in contrast with his h irdly mast* r. 

 It is a true saying, and worthy to be. believed, that "a man is 

 known by his treatment of his dog; and I venture, the. asser- 

 tion that no really true man, no genuine type of (rod's image, 

 can inflict unmerited punishment upon "his faithful canine 

 companion. It is only the shams that maltreat the poor, un- 

 offending brute. 



Let us call to memory those expressive and sentimental lines 

 of the poet, written to commemorate his attachment to his 

 lost companion, as a tribute, of affection to his dog whose 

 death he lamented and whose name he honored, viz. : 



"Lie here without a record of thy worth 

 Beneath a covering of the woman earth ! 

 It is not from unwillingness to praise — 

 More thou deserv'st; taut this man gives to man, 

 Brother to brother— this is all we can. 1 ' 



If no stone, is raised, no shaft erected in these monumental 

 days to commemorate his many and excellent qualities, his 

 virtues will live in the many beautiful epitaphs written in 

 monuments of deed — 



Which shall forever last in strength sublime 

 Unshaken through the storms of time. 



Of all these, none yet excel in depth of sentiment, in power 

 of expression, and in sublimity of thought to the eulogy pro- 

 nounced by Mr. Blaze, who knew whereof he wrote from long 

 companionship and close familiarity. "The dog possesses," 

 says he, "incontestably all the qualities of a sensible man, and 

 I grieve to say it, man has not in general the noble qualities 

 of the dog. We make a virtue of gratitude which is nothing 

 but a duty; this virtue, this duty, is inherent in the dog. We 

 brand ingratitude, and yet all men are ungrateful. It is a vice 

 which commences in the cradle and grows with our growth, 

 and together with selfishness, becomes almost always the 

 grand mover of our human actions. The dog knows not the 

 word virtue, that which we dignify by this title and admire 

 as a rare thing— and very rare it is in truth— constitutes his 

 normal state. Where will you find a man always grateful, 

 never ungrateful, always affectionate, never selfish, pushing 

 the abnegation of self to the utmost limits of possibility, with- 

 out gain, devoted to death, without ambition rendering every 

 service, in short, forgetful of injuries and only mindful of bene- 

 fits received. Seek him not, it wouldbe a useless task, but take 

 the first dog you meet and from the moment he adopts you 

 for lis master you will find in him all these qualities. He 

 will love you without calculation entering into his affections. 

 His greatest happiness will be to be near you, and should vou 

 be reduced to beg your bread, not only w'ill he aid you in this 

 difficult task, but he would not abandon you to follow even a 

 king into his palace. \ our friends will quit you in misfortune, 

 your wife perhaps will forget her plighted vow, but your dog 

 will remain always near you, he will come and die at your 

 feet, or if you depart before him for the great voyage, he will 

 accompany you to your last abode." 



Among others of his excellent attributes is his inner con- 

 sciousness, and if we. study canine psychology as intently and 

 earnestly as that of man, we will discover what science is still 

 destined to show, that the dog in his inner emotional and 

 mental attributes does not fall short of the type of God's cre- 

 ation. If the philosophy of Darwin be accepted, it may 

 transpire in the not far distant ages, when the veil of the 

 future shall be lifted, that the dog, under the eternal law of 

 progression, will be developed into a race of scientists and 

 scholars of a grander type than those who have descended 

 from the far less fascinating and valorous stock of simia. 



The duration of the term of canine life, as compared with 

 man, is an effectual bar against that advance toward trie plane 

 of the higher in telle ctuality that characterizes the type of the 

 latter. His inferiority of size, his unerect head, his want of 

 hands, his vocal organs, that are incapable of emitting the 

 diversity of notes that constitute the gamut of sound, and his 

 inferior quality of brain substance absolutely precludes him 

 from acquiring those higher attributes that are little less than 

 the angels'. Again, the dog has no tradition, oral or otherwise, 

 to advance him in that sphere of universal intelligence that is 

 the peculiar province of man; but he inherits propensities 

 from his progenitors which, if properly developed and trained 

 into a higher culture; akin to that which the human being re- 

 ceives from the hour of birth to the last moment of life, it is 

 a matter of wonderment how much the canine accomplishes 

 under poor education and in the short space of time he lives. 



Against all these disadvantages, which of themselves are 

 enough to determine the limits of his progress in the higher 

 education, he has those special senses that far exceed man's 

 in its utmost development. Prominent among these is his 

 sense of smell, which possesses such a superior acuteness of 

 olfactory perception that enables him to find his way home for 

 long distances, by devious paths and unknown roads, and 

 many interesting' and almost incredible anecdotes are related 

 of his wonderful faculties in regaining his home under the 

 most trying and difficult circumstances, i remember to have 

 once read an exceedingly remarkable instance of this kind, 

 where a dog, having been conveyed over fifty miles distance 

 to his new home, and meeting a master distasteful to his 

 nature, sought out and arrived at his oldhome sobrokendown 

 by the fatigues and privations of the journey that he died 

 upon the doormat of ins old and loved home. 



Edward Jesse, in his "Anecdotes of Dogs," announces the 

 interesting conclusion arrived at, after a longtime of obser- 

 vation and study, that there are very few human passions that 

 the dog does nut share to n greater or less extent, and a little 

 reflection shows that the dog approaches a man much nearer 

 in the matter of feeling than either of the physical or mental 

 characteristics. "He feels, anger," says he, "as keenly as the 

 human, and after provocation is sometimes vindictive", and at 

 other times placable, according to character and education. 

 He is strikingly jealous when he finds a rival has superseded 

 him in his master's affections, and I have known him to leave 

 his home for days together." 



One. of the most favorite bitches I ever owned, a splendid 

 field dog and an excellent house aud watch dog, became so 

 jealous "of a black cocker spauiel, recently purchased, to 

 whom I gave much care and attention, that 'she actually for- 

 sook hor favorite position under my writing desk and entirely- 

 ceased her fawning around me. She would Withdraw from 

 the company of my other dogs, lie in a secluded place in the 

 yard, seemed indisposed to accept my attentions, and finally 

 left the house and took up her quarters at a neighbor's resi- 

 dence close by. I could only overcome this jealousy by shut- 

 ting my favorite cocker within the kennel, when she returned 

 to Eer former allegiance and affection. 



Regret and grief has been so keenly felt by him that it is 

 said his heart has been broken in consequence. Fear, also. 

 is a passion that is singularly varied in different dogs and in 

 different strains. Some dogs are so exceedingly timid that 

 thev cannot be induced to hunt in a strange woods, while 

 others possess the very superlative of heroism and Courage. 

 Hope, also, is a strong "quality of the canine, and wc sec this 

 sentiment beautifully displayed by the great artist, Landseer, 

 in his justly celebrated picture termed " Expectation," in 

 which he depicts his subject eagerly and hopefully watching 

 for his master's step. You see his chivalry almost daily in the 

 maimer in which he treats those of his brethren who are 

 smaller than he, and his pride and satisfaction in a successful 

 hunt when the game is laid down before him, is u matter 



known to all sportsmen of experience and observation : with 

 quickened pulse and satisfied looks he eagerly catches every 

 word of praise and appreciates the caresses bestowed upon 

 him With all the pride of a victorious chieftain. The gallan- 

 try, too, of the canine family, especially in the relation which 

 the sexes have to each other, is full of incident and sentiment. 

 How Often have we seen the dog divide his ration with the 

 unknown female, that growls and shows his teeth upon the 

 approach of another of the male persuasion. I have fre- 

 quently seen the dog drop from his mouth the half masticated 

 bit and yield it up with all the gallantry of a Frenchman to a 

 female Who stood wistfully eying hini for a portion of the. 

 mouthful. To such an extent does he possess gratitude that 

 it may be rightfully termed the leading principle of Ivis na- 

 ture; for once thoroughly imbued with rdd- .ma -■ to hi* toas- 

 ter he is ever after reconciled with true magnanimity to bear 

 cuffs and scoldings from the hand which has given him kind- 

 ness and caresses. But of all the good qualities possessed by 

 the dog none exceeds that enduring faith, which is the most 

 beautiful and affecting of all his inner attributes. We have 

 seen him retrieve the whip for his master to be used for the 

 purpose of flagellation, and looking into his master's face with 

 all the deep trusting faith that grows out of forgiveness, show 

 his confidence by licking the hand uplifted to strike. 



One cither noble, attribute, which should raise him far up in 

 the scale of companionship for man, is his entire emancipa- 

 tion from drunkenness. It is stated by the Rev. Thomas 

 Jackson, in a work entitled "Our Dumb Companions,' 1 that a 

 dog having once been made so drunk with malt liquor that he 

 was unable to walk upstairs, ever after positively refused to 

 take the intoxicating beverage and growled and snarled at 

 the sight of the pewter pot from which he had previously 

 drank the intoxicating draught. The barking of the dog is 

 an acquired, hereditary instinct, for, says Pritchard, "it has 

 become natural to doinesticated dogs "and young whelps to 

 learn to bark, even when separated at birth from their pa- 

 rents. It has been conjectured that barking originated in an 

 attempt to imitate, the human voice ; however that may be, 

 wild dogs do not bark. There are numerous troops of "wild 

 dogs in South America, principally in the Pampas, corres- 

 ponding closely with those in the Antilles and in the isles on 

 the coasts of Chili. These, in recovering their liberty, have, 

 lost the habit of barking, and like other uncultivated breeds 

 of dogs they only howl." It is known that the two dogs 

 brought by Mackenzie to England from the western parts of 

 America could not acquire the habit of barking, but continued 

 to utter their habitual howl. It is remarkable, however, that 

 a whelp bred from them in Europe, learned to bark with all 

 the force and vigor of a native. It is stated that the progeny 

 of the dogs purposely left by the. Spaniards on the island of 

 Juan Fernandez, with the design of exterminating the goats, 

 were never known to bark 



I have shown a few of the many exalted attributes of the 

 dog, and if he possessed no more' good qualities than those 

 d isplayed, he deserves to be placed high up on the scale of 

 man's affection, protection and care. An animal so fond of 

 his lord and master, so watchful of his interests, so obedient 

 to his every expressed wish, deserves a better fate than the 

 whipping post of cruel authority, or the keen blade of the. 

 scientist's scalpel. His attachment for man in general and 

 his fidelity to individuals in particular, claims at the hands of 

 his Mend's the strongest championship. See how he prefers 

 man's protection and care to the natural liberty of his forest 

 home; see how he lingers near the dwelling from which, per- 

 chance, he has been beaten and driven away, perhaps cruelly 

 shunned and disowned by his previous lord and master. When 

 he attaches himself to anyone, all his actions indicate that the 

 relation is one which hasa foundation in the affections of the 

 animal and does not vary with the degree of benefits con- 

 ferred. 



" The dog that shares the lot of the poor and miserable is 

 no less faithful than another who enjoys all that can gratify 

 the. senses. The peasant boy who rears up his little favorite, 

 in his cabin of mud, and shares with him its scanty crust, has 

 a friend as true as he who has ease and abundance to be- 

 stow. Release the dog from the cord of the blind beggar 

 who wanders from door to door to beg a scanty subsistence, 

 which he divides with his faithful companion, and will he 

 follow you a step for all the edibles with which you can 

 tempt his whetted appetite ? Confine him in your mansion, 

 and feed him with the waste of plenteous repasts, and Jet his 

 forlorn master approach your door, to crave a scrap of food 

 or ask a slender pittance of money, and his dog will fly to 

 him with fidelity unshaken, and bound with joy to be per- 

 mitted once more to share his miserable lot. Again and again 

 has the dog of the humblest and poorest remained faithful to 

 the last, and laid himself down to die on the grave of his ear- 

 liest friend and benefactor." 



Having thus cursorily pointed out those innate and really 

 elevated characteristics of the dog that distinguish him pre- 

 eminently above all others of the "brute creation as the com- 

 panion and friend of man, there yet remains the classification 

 of the various types of canineship that are and have been 

 known since his earliest history, known as the sporting or 

 field dog. From these various" strains I shall attempt to 

 point out the peculiar and distinguishing type of the spaniel, 

 and secure, if possible, a fixed place for the active, intelligent 

 and companionable cocker. I shall leave the other strains, 

 their pedigrees and lineage, to the care of those who are more 

 conversant with then- history, culture and other qualities, 

 and who. from a long familiarity and study of their habits 

 and attributes, have learned not only to admire their useful- 

 ness, but have so shaped and fashioned their external adorn- 

 ments as to lend a higher grace to those inner qualifications 

 that make them emphatically the hunter's favorite. 



There exists at the present time so much confusion among 

 those who are not only the friends but are also the breeders 

 of this valuable little dog as to the. exact physical qualities of 

 his make-up, that it seems next to impossibility for the ordi- 

 nary disciple of Nimrod to determine what really constitutes 

 the true cocker. I have seen such diverse speciuious of what 

 are called cockers that I verily believe either the breeders 

 themselves do not know what a cocker is or that they inten- 

 tionally deceive the trusting purchaser by taking a dishonest 

 advantage of his uncertain stain lard. All agree, as to the 

 marked attributes of the cocker, that he is truly a valuable 

 aid to the sportsman in retrieving game and in beating coverts 

 for the woodcock and partridge fn places where, owing to the 

 modern system of cultivation, pointers aud setters cannot act 

 and all agree again that to accomplish these feats he should 

 be quite small." TTith these fcWO positions admitted by BportS- 

 men. aud then- can be no denial of the facts in the ah I ■' v I 

 will proceed to investigate, first, the type of the spaniel; sec- 

 ond his division into classes; third, the purposes of these divi- 

 sions and what is accomplished thereby. 



It is generally admitted that for all the ordinary purposes 

 of the. sportsman the setter is the sine Qua noil of hunting 

 dogs, except perhaps for thick and impenetrable coverts and 

 retrieving. This admitted. I can see no wisdom in the plan of 

 breeding "the larger type of held spaniels, except for the pur- 

 poses of finding and retrieving dead or wounded game. The 

 smaller, therefore, the spaniel is bred, for such uses, as the 

 setter cannot bo employed, the. better I jud| 3 his adapts 

 tion to the work required of him. I think her,;, is the true 

 secret for breeders in perfecting the type of the cocker, and 



i ' aki him a valuable aid for the sportsman in such condi- 

 tions when the setter cannot profitably be employed. 



[TO BE COOTINUED.] 



Vknnor's "Bulletin" for June is ready and is noticed in ar.ofher 

 column. It is a spicy number and should be iti the hands of every 

 sportsman and traveler. In it the weather is outlined up to the close 

 of 1883, This is a special edition, ou pink paper den cents),— JMv, 



THE BIZMARK SETTER. 



Editor Forest and Streami 



I have just read "Homo's " article, in your issue of the 4th 

 instant, on Brooks's Bizmark. I have been interested in all 



the articles that ever appealed in l-Viii&t AMD" SirSE 



Brooks's Biz., for the reason that I am the person who owned 

 both the dog and bitch referred to all the Mia Ehsywere 

 bred together. Both of said dogs were aporteu Bructt-uyas 

 born m mid-ocean between Liverpool o.d . ;.• w Fork;, I have. 

 hunted some forty years in England and this country and I 

 never did, nor do f ever expect to, see bis lite again. 



Bruce was a large, powerful dog. and never seemed to get- 

 tired. When we commenced 1 hunting him each chicken 

 season he would at on e settle down to -os ■--■ . - hough he 

 had been 1 .:: every daj ; would hunt from tie- < ! 



six days in the week, and when he started he - seined to say: 

 "Lay on Macduff, an:! damned be be that first ories enough." 



He was in form, etc., as •• Homo" describes Bizmark He 

 had a large, powerful head, a splendid nose, was ; and 



deep chested, and large, boiled. I lis coal was short, and rather 

 coarse, very 1 i tt.le feathered. Hair on ears short be l oft and 

 tineas silk.' He was a, fine rangei and pi medium ieed 



Hunted with his head well up and ae stauachast •:-. w. 



was a common saying with the boys that when Bruce found! 

 birds you might stop and eat lunch, and take a smoke, and 

 -when done yon would find Bruce with the birds. He h tin ted 

 by whistle and motion of the hand. You could whistle aud 

 motion "down charge," etc., and he would obey instantly, 

 until again motioned to go on. fie. was an A No. 1 rel rfe reT j 

 never mouthed his birds; and I never could decide, nor can I 

 yet, on winch kinds of game— chickens, quail, snipe, rail or 

 waterfowl— he was the best at, in i'-og. Be v, is as □ 'pel 

 feelion as a dog possibly can be. He was well known all 

 over this city and the Surrounding country, and was the pet 

 of all who 'knew him. His pups, without exception, were 

 natural hunters. All seemed to be broken by nature, and, 

 judging from what I have read of Biz.. Bruce was a true chip 

 of the old block. 



Some time between '15a and 'OS two young men were here 

 from Philadelphia for a few days, hunting chickens; and if 

 my memory serves me right one's name was Brooks, and i f 

 this is the same Brooks I should be pleased to correspond with 

 him about those two grand ol d dogs. Yfell, these young men 

 each brought a crack dog with them, one a setter, the other a 

 pointer. One of these "dogs was ''the best hunter in the 

 world, of the best blood, cost a large price, etc., etc, When. 

 a man came here, to hunt who had '^he best dog, 1 ' etc;, our 

 boys always managed to pair me and Bruce off with the; man 

 and his crack dog. So. in this ease, Bruce was paired off with 

 this crack dog, and started on the prairie. In a very short 

 tune the crack doggwastted uptp the wagon. Bruce was 

 good enough for us both after that. They tried to buy him. 

 of me; dared me to fix a price; but Brtice was never for 

 sale. 



But to tell of his hunting lore, Bis peculiarities, etc., would 

 take, up more room than you would wish to publish in your 

 paper, for I never yet saw the man or dog who seemed to un- 

 derstand the business as well as Bruce, 



If any person will address me I will, if desired, give all the 

 information about the dog and bitch I have. 



I. Ni Whittam. 



Cedak Rapids, la. 



THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN TRIALS. 



THE chicken trials under the auspices of the N. A. K. 0. will 

 be held near Fairmont, Minn., commencing on Monday, 

 Sept. 4. There will be two events. The Derby, open to all setters 

 and pointers whelped on or after March 1. ItiSl. for a purse of 

 *4ai); is:;0u to first, spjr, to second, .sir. to third, and 

 fourth. Entries Will close July i, with $5 forfeit and $10 ad- 

 ditional to fill. The All Aged, for a purse of $500, with $350 

 to first, $105 ro second, $7o 1 1 third, and $30 to fourth, with 

 $3Q entrance foe. Entries close at 8 A. M,. Kept, 4. Mr, Jos, 

 H. Dew, of Columbia,, Tenu.. is secretary, to whom all entries 

 should be addressed. 



There is a widespread interest manifested by sportsmen 

 from all parts of the country in these trials; and'we have no 

 hesitation in saying that they will prove a grand success. Wg 

 have the assurance that many of the well-known Eastern 

 cracks will be there, and the "air is laden with mysterious 

 whispers of wonderful surprises in store or I te QOWing ones 

 When the "dark horses" are cut loose. Entiles for the I »erby 

 are already coining in, and, judging from the inquiries for 



blanks, there will be a large ntunber. Chicken* are re] led 



very plenty in the vicinity b ulv - vo the assurance A 

 gentlemen" interested th.at the grounds wdl be strictly pre- 

 served. Fairmont is on the Southern Minnesota 1 ;.a ; ' ■ ■ , ■ 

 easily accessible. The hotel and iiyr.i-y accommodations will 

 be found Sufficient, and without doubt the meeting wii i ■■ ; ■ ■ I. 

 if not surpass, anything of the kind that has been held iu the 

 country. Below will be found the entries racei; ed to elate. 



Oolu.miua. Tenn., May B&\ 168& 

 Editor Fore*! anrl Stream: 



The following entries have been made in the American 

 Eield Derby on chickens, Sept. !, 1^88: 



1. It, B. Morgan enters Prairie Wonder, Prairie Joe-Prairie 

 Queen, whelped April 3, 1881. 



8. Sportsmen's Kennel enters Prairie Molly, Prairie Joe- 

 Prairie Queen, wheiped April 2, 1881, 



8. D. C. Sanborn enters Ous Bondhu, Dashing Bondhu-Novel, 

 whelped May 11, 1881. 



4. Same owner enters Blaze, Count Noble-Spark, whelped 

 July, 18S1. 



5. Same owner enters Countess Magnet, CountNbble-Spark, 

 whelped July, friSl. 



(i. If MeKmuoy Lloyd enters Count Dad, Count Noble-Nel- 

 lie, whelped July, 188h 



7. J. A, Titcomb enters Old Walt, Lincoln-Daisy Dean, 

 whelped April, iS&l. 



S. J. H. Dew enters American Dan, Lincoln-Daisy Dean, 

 whelped April, 1S81. Jos. II. Dew, Secy. 



FLIRT.— Milton, Mass.. May SO.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In the FuliEST .\RD StbeAM of May 18 your report of the 

 Boston do^ show states that Flirt, Iridi setter bitch, ■■ 

 awarded first prize in the open class lor bitches, is not the 

 type that shotdd win. Allow me to state that Flirt, when in 

 very poor condition, distemper coming on, was awarded a 

 prize at the Kennel Club show, Dublin, Ireland, I!. I,. Jeph- 

 son, a member of the Irish K. C, being the. judge. According 

 to the Irish idea of an Irish Better, I Was told by several Irish 

 gentlemen breeders that Flirt, bailing lie stern, was nearly 

 a perfect specimen of the Irish setter: and, moreover,] was 

 offered by several of them a handsome price for her; An- 

 other dog hear the ground, "as your correspondent calls 

 them, "awarded a prize at the iloso 

 and, by rite way, your correspondent ;o •;■,!.• ' .'-' lion. i . 



very little difference what, may be written or said about my 



bitch after Mr. Jeph.-on's. Dr. Niven's and the Loudon Field. 



correspondents opinion of for. The Ft, /,/ said 



bitch, and likely to grow into something pul of hbei i 



I would suggest that in future, before you pi tot in your paper 



such a sweeping ;-,, .:,■;: tion :v- (ha; a. dog is in I 



should win, you should be sure that ■■. Is well up 



in what Ueos tvrfti ; e .bout.— Albert MEBBDrrn".— Tj 



respondent begs the question. We have no doubt 1 1 



■'when in very poor condition," would come much ni i 



type of an Irish setter than she did at Boston. We wrote of 



her as we saw hci\ and after a very careful e. 



believe thatin the form in which she was sh ,, 



ft typical representative of the breed,! 



