EYOND any question, the aristocrat of the canine family is the Russian wolf- hound, otherwise the borzoi or barzoi, which is the Russian name for coursing dog. He has sundry names, in fact; and in this country we were content enough to call him borzoi or barzoi, but the supporters of the breed got into such a mix-up squabble as to whether it should be borzoi or barzoi, psovoi or psovi that I suggested we adopt the name of Russian wolfhound until there was a general consensus of opinion in favor of some otter one; and as the fight died out without any decision, Russian wolfhound it has remained in this country.

   The Russian wolfhound belongs to a large family, the varieties of which differ in a slight degree just as in the case of terriers. They had one common foundation-stock back in the misty past of Iranian history and then, being distributed in various parts of the surrounding country, became changed by selection and climatic influences.

   There is a refined elegance coupled with the indication of speed and strength about the Russian wolfhound which no other breed possesses. He has the speed of the English greyhound, though perhaps he has not its endurance, but the latter -- the perfection of symmetry in the animal kingdom -- lacks the air of refinement and ''caste" which the borzoi possesses.

   There are two points of view from which to consider this dog: as a hunter, and as a companion. In the land of his birth he is the former as well as the latter, white in western Europe he is merely the ornamental companion that he is in eastern America. In the coyote section of oar continent he can be made as useful as he is in Russia, and can assist in clearing off that scourge of the cattle ranches. When the borzoi was first brought to this country he was hailed as a natural-born wolf-destroyer and we started business under the impression that all one had to do was to let a borzoi see a coyote and the latter's death-warrant was as good as executed. The result was a natural failure, made all the more absurd by the theatrical shooting of one of the uneducated dogs by his owner, who ''would not own a cur."

   Setters and pointers have to be trained, hounds and beagles are properly entered., sheepdogs are shown what to do by much older heads at the business, and it is the same with the borzoi. The best grown wolves of those caught in Russia are taken alive to the kennels for the purpose of this training of the young dogs, which are taught how to pin the wolf by a hold back of the ear, in such a manner that the quarry cannot use his teeth on the dog. It is like the grasp below the head of a deadly snake, rendering it helpless. Not until the young borzoi is an adept in getting this particular hold is he considered fit for use in the field. This, it will be seen, is a very different thing from a rough-and-tumble

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