The Descent of Man

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 deer-hound is not acquired
until rather late in life. The males almost
exclusively are used for coursing, for, as Mr.
McNeill informs me, the females have not sufficient
strength and weight to pull down a fullgrown
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 full dimensions until rather late in life,
they will have tended, in accordance with the
law often indicated, to transmit their characters
to their male offspring alone; and thus the great
inequality in size between the sexes of the