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Show MARKED DOGS' EYES. An Explanation Wanted of tho Preaenos "of Theso Tan Spots. Can any of your readers explain tb meaning of tho tan spots seen eo commonly com-monly over the. eyes in black and tan Jogs of most ls:tedj? When in Melbourne last year, I went carefully over all tho dogs in a show with one of the stewards, and we found the spots in all tho black and tan tQT riers, foxhound-, deerhounds, collies, lurchers, otc., but I could get no infos mation regarding them fiom the experts. ex-perts. In some of the highly bred toy doga, as tho small black and tan terriers, 1 found on inquiry that theso spots, formerly for-merly so very conspicuous, weio being bred ont and had nearly disappeared. Their persistence through so many itrongly marked varieties, except thoss of late date, is singular, fcff thero if fairly good proof that when first domesticated domes-ticated the dog was reu or brown, lika Mio pariah, &? -v -J. -.jvSvr" &e spots white on a brack or dark ground, nor yet black or dark on p white or light ground. My explanation Is that they havo arisen as a permanent Marking after the dogs "sported" to black under domestication and have oon preserved and developed through uatnral selection. Possibly they aro pro Jective and simulate eyes. One morning, just at dawn, I had oc casion to go out into tho garden, and while stooping to examine some flowers, near a fence partly covered with creepers, creep-ers, I suddenly saw an animal's head looking through, and what seemed to b rwo seemingly large and ferocious black oyes glared at me. Suspecting that a black leopard was about to spring over, I started back, clapped my handa and shouted. iy my relief, however, I saw a tail wag and fotud that the spectator spec-tator was a cooly's dog I knew verj veil and which recognized me. The use of the tan spots in this caso si least then occurred to me. May it not bo that the spots thus lervo a protective purpose and have often of-ten saved the lives of dogs (black dogs) from their enemies, tho smaller felinefl, such as the clouded leopard, eta? Perhaps Per-haps the matter is not new, but if it is It seems worth looking into. I have several dogs about hero now filth blfiok bodies and h&ads. Tho tar spots, rather pale, are of the Bize of a shilling. I havo shot one, keoping th ikin of the head as a curiosity. 8 R Peal in Nature. |