Accordingly, I applied to Mr. Cupples, a well-known breeder of these dogs, who has weighed and measured many of his own dogs, and who, with great kindness, has collected for me the following facts from various sources. Superior male dogs, measured at the shoulder, range from twenty-eight inches, which is low, to thirty-three, or even thirty-four inches in height; and in weight from eighty pounds, which is low, to 120, or even more pounds. The females range in height from twenty-three to twenty-seven, or even to twenty-eight inches; and in weight from fifty to seventy, or even eighty pounds.[321] Mr. Cupples concludes that from ninety-five to one hundred pounds for the male, and seventy for the female, would be a safe average; but there is reason to believe that formerly both sexes attained a greater weight. Mr. Cupples has weighed puppies when a fortnight old; in one litter the average weight of four males exceeded that of two females by six and a half ounces; in another litter the average weight of four males exceeded that of one female by less than one ounce; the same males, when three weeks old, exceeded the female by seven and a half ounces, and at the age of six weeks by nearly fourteen ounces. Mr. Wright of Yeldersley House, in a letter to Mr. Cupples, says: “I have taken notes on the sizes and weights of puppies of many litters, and as far as my experience goes, dog-puppies as a rule differ very little from bitches till they arrive at about five or six months old; and then the dogs begin to increase, gaining upon the bitches both in weight and size. At birth, and for several weeks afterwards, a bitch-puppy will occasionally be larger than any of the dogs, but they are invariably beaten by them later.” Mr. McNeill, of Colinsay, concludes that “the males do not attain their full growth till over two years old, though the females attain it sooner.” According to Mr. Cupples’ experience, male dogs go on growing in stature till they are from twelve to eighteen months old, and in weight till from eighteen to twenty-four months old; whilst the females cease increasing in stature at the age of from nine to fourteen or fifteen months, and in weight at the age of from twelve to fifteen months. From these various statements it is clear that the full difference in size between the male and female Scotch deerhound is not acquired until rather late in life. The males are almost exclusively used for coursing, for, as Mr. McNeill informs me, the females have not sufficient strength and weight to pull down a full-grown deer. From the names used in old legends, it appears, as I hear from Mr. Cupples, that at a very ancient period the males were the most celebrated, the females being mentioned only as the mothers of famous dogs. Hence during many generations, it is the male which has been chiefly tested for strength, size, speed, and courage, and the best will have been bred from. As, however, the males do not attain their