THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND The American foxhound is a breed developed chiefly from i8th and 19th century importations of hounds from England and less numerous importations from Ireland and France. He is essentially a field dog, bred for performance rather than bench show type, and is employed in hunting both the red and grey fox in three distinct modes. He is also used in hunting wolf and coyote in the West, wildcat and mountain lion wherever found, and deer and moose when the State or provincial laws permit, and occasionally in running artificially laid drags.
In type the American foxhound is lighter and finer in lines than either the English foxhound or Kerry beagle, has a narrower chest, less bone, straight legs not knuckled over, fox-like rather than cat-like feet, a longer and thinner muzzle, more pendant and thinner ears, a rougher coat in a variety of colours and mark ings such as black and tan, liver, black, blue-tick, red, white, the "tri-colour" black, white and tan or ring neck, etc., depending to some extent on the particular "strain" to which the individual belongs. He is invariably less set in type than the English fox hound, with a greater variety between litter mates in size, con formation and colour. American foxhounds come in many sizes. The generally accepted standard of the American Foxhound Club is 22 in. to 25 in. for dogs and 21 to 24 in. for bitches.
Breeders of the American foxhound concur in their emphasis on "nose" to find and carry the trail, whether the country be arid or moist and the day hot or cold ; on initiative to spread, hunt and find their own fox without man's help in making a cast or in "lifting" ; and on cry or tongue which makes following a pack possible in rough or wooded country where it cannot be seen. They seek performance and therefore look first for char acter, individuality and class, as shown by the head, eye and carriage; for the sensitive hunting nose, square muzzle and deep flews; for the clean, strong neck that indicates good cry, and for the sloping, muscular shoulders and strongly muscled thighs that spell activity and speed. The deep chest and well sprung ribs make for stamina. A moderately long, muscular, arched back is desirable, as are strong, well let down stifles, and firm feet with toes set close so as not easily to be bruised or made sore.
As American foxhounds were developed to meet the needs of the country, importations became less necessary, and advocates of the American foxhound for hunting in America more numerous.
In the only English-American test match between the packs of recognized masters of foxhounds, the Grafton hounds, an Ameri can pack, of which Harry Worcester Smith, leader of the Irish pack, was Master, in 1905 took the $2,00o stake and silver plate over the draft English pack of the Middlesex foxhounds of Massachusetts.
See H. W. Smith, "The True American Foxhound," The Foxhound, English Quarterly (April, 1912) ; J. B. Thomas, Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages (1928) ; J. C. Newcomb, "The American Ancestry of Our Native Foxhounds," International Foxhunters Stud Book, vol. iv. (1926) . (J. C. N.) (Apocynum androsaemifolium), N. American plant of the dog-bane family (Apocynaceae), called also ing dog-bane, honey-bloom, wild ipecac and American fly-trap, native to fields and thickets from Quebec to British Columbia and southward to Georgia, Missouri, Arizona and California. It is a rather slender, herbaceous nial, i ft. to 4 ft. high, with widely branching stems, opposite, oval, slightly pointed leaves, and numerous, small, bell-shaped pink flowers, with darker stripes side, borne in clusters at the ends of the branches. When in blossom from late June to August it is one of the most delicately beautiful of North American wild flowers. (See APOCYNACEAE; HEMP.)