This Dog resembles pretty closely the Deerhound, or old English Hound, but is considerably larger, with longer ears of a soft and delicate texture, and deeper “flews,” or down-hanging upper lips. (See figure on p. 137.) The colour is brown, verging to reddish along the back, and to light fawn-colour below. The eyes should be surrounded with a distinct red ring, due to the exposure of the delicate membrane lining the eyelids. To judge from the animal’s countenance, no one would imagine the horrid purpose for which it was originally bred, for few Dogs have a milder, more benevolent, or more intelligent visage. [Illustration: POINTERS.] In former times, these Dogs were used to track robbers and other offenders, a duty which they performed with the most unerring accuracy, never giving up the chase until they had brought their miserable quarry to bay. When engaged in this work, all their mildness disappeared, and they were transformed into perfect furies. Mr. Youatt, writing in 1845, says:--“The Thrapstone Association lately trained a Bloodhound for the detection of Sheep-stealers. In order to prove the utility of this Dog, a person whom he had not seen was ordered to run as far and as fast as his strength would permit. An hour afterwards, the Hound was brought out. He was placed on the spot whence the man had started. He almost immediately detected the scent, and broke away, and, after a chase of an hour and a half, found him concealed in a tree fifteen miles distant!” THE SETTER, according to Youatt, “is evidently the large Spaniel, improved to his peculiar size and beauty, and taught another way of marking his game, viz., by _setting_ or crouching. If the form of the Dog were not sufficiently satisfactory on this point, we might have recourse to history for information on it. Mr. Daniel, in his ‘Rural Sports,’ has preserved a document, dated in the year 1685, in which a yeoman binds himself, for the sum of ten shillings, fully and effectually to teach a Spaniel to _sit_ Partridges and Pheasants. The first person, however, who systematically broke-in sitting Dogs is supposed to have been Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, in 1335.” The hinder surface of the legs, and the under surface of the tail of the Setter, should be well “feathered,” that is, beset with long hair. THE POINTER. Mr. Darwin says:--“Our Pointers are certainly descended from a Spanish breed, as even the names Don, Ponte, Carlos, &c., would show. It is said that they were not known in England before the Revolution in 1688; but the breed, since its introduction, has been much modified,” the change having been “chiefly effected by crosses with the Foxhound.” The value of this Dog consists in his habit of “pointing,” or standing silently, with lifted foot and outstretched muzzle, as soon as he finds game. A very remarkable circumstance with regard to this habit is the way in which it is inherited: a young Dog points instinctively the first time he is taken into the field.