98 
Beagles and Beagling 
While in the strictest sense acquired characters 
are not transmitted, still in a reflex way this is the 
case. By breeding from generations of broken dogs 
it is more likely that the progeny will be working- 
dogs, than hv breeding from sires and dams sprung 
from generations of bench dogs. The progeny of 
the latter are less susceptible to training than the 
progeny of the field workers; for the latter inherit 
from ancestors who acquired their accomplishments, 
it is true; which is an expression of their intelli¬ 
gence, and in later generations this intelligence is 
handed down as an instinct, but it has its origin 
in the acquired characters of the ancestors. 
This thesis is easily illustrated in the case with 
the pointer and the setter, particularly the latter. 
The setter is descended from the spaniel, a breed 
which in its earliest days was not taught to “set" 
its game. As the years went on and the scatter 
gun came into vogue the art of wing shooting was 
established; hence, the necessity for dogs that set 
or pointed their game. Thus, began the idea of 
teaching spaniels this accomplishment. As the years 
went on, the best of these setting spaniels were bred 
together and the setter was evolved. Generations 
of breeding evolved what was originally an expres¬ 
sion of intelligence into an instinct from the acquired 
character, or trait of setting or pointing; and by 
constant breeding together of these setting or 
pointing dogs, a character which was at first taught 
through the animal’s intelligence and susceptibility 
to training, has become an hereditary instinct, for 
we find our setters and pointers of today a race of 
dogs that point naturally, because the character has 
