So it has been with dogs; our present fox-hounds differ from the old
English hound; our greyhounds have become lighter; the wolf-dog, which
belonged to the greyhound class, has become extinct; the Scotch deer-hound
has been modified, and is now rare. Our bulldogs differ from those which
were formerly used for baiting bulls. Our pointers and Newfoundlands do not
{212} closely resemble any native dog now found in the countries whence
they were brought, These changes have been effected partly by crosses; but
in every case the result has been governed by the strictest selection.
Nevertheless there is no reason to suppose that man intentionally and
methodically made the breeds exactly what they now are. As our horses
became fleeter, and the country more cultivated and smoother, fleeter
fox-hounds were desired and produced, but probably without any one
distinctly foreseeing what they would become. Our pointers and setters, the
latter almost certainly descended from large spaniels, have been greatly
modified in accordance with fashion and the desire for increased speed.
Wolves have become extinct, deer have become rarer, bulls are no longer
baited, and the corresponding breeds of the dog have answered to the
change. But we may feel almost sure that when, for instance, bulls were no
longer baited, no man said to himself, I will now breed my dogs of smaller
size, and thus create the present race. As circumstances changed, men
unconsciously and slowly modified their course of selection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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