THE DOG FAMILY— GREYHOUND. 



215 



ander killed this one, his like would not remain 

 upon earth. So Alexander made the Dog fight first 

 with a Lion, then with an Elephant, and both of 

 these animals were killed. The ancient Egyptians 

 used Dogs in the chase, and, as is seen from the 

 monuments left by that interesting people, they 

 thought highly of them. The Hebrews, on the 

 other hand, despised the Dog, as is proven by many 

 passages in the Bible, and the Arabs of to-day still 

 hold him in contempt. The ancient Germans hon- 

 ored the Dog highly. When the Cimbri were con- 

 quered by the Romans, 108 B. C, the latter still had 

 a hard fight with the Dogs which guarded the bag- 

 gage of the defeated army. The Canary Islands de- 

 rive their name from Dogs, as Pliny tells us. Von 

 Humboldt writes that in Peru it was customary to 

 beat Dogs during a lunar eclipse, until the eclipse 

 was over. 



It is amusing to read what medicinal uses the Dog 

 could be put to, according to the older authors. 

 The entire Dog was, in their opinion, made up of 

 medicines of varied virtues. 



Having considered the Dog in general, let us turn 

 to some of the breeds of this remarkable tribe, 

 selecting only the most 

 important out of the 

 numberless array of 

 species. Reichenbach 

 counts one hundred and 

 ninety- five different 

 kinds ! 



THE GREYHOUND. 



The distinguishing 

 features of the Grey- 

 hound ( Cards familiaris 

 grajus) are an extremely 

 slender, graceful body, 

 a pointed, finely shaped 

 head, thin, long limbs, 

 and usually smooth, 

 short hair. The fine, 

 elongated muzzle, the 

 rather long, narrow, 

 pointed ears, half of 

 which stand erect, the 

 other half hanging over 

 and grown with short 

 hair, the short, stiff lips, 

 give the head an ex- 

 tremely graceful ap- 

 pearance and at the 

 same time indicate a 

 different development 

 of the senses. The Grey- 

 hound sees and hears 

 excellently, but its sense 

 of smell is deficient, as 

 the nasal bones have but 

 little room for expan- 

 sion in the narrow nose, and the nasal nerves there- 

 fore can never attain as high a development as in 

 other Dogs. The chest is the most remarkable part 

 of the body. It is wide and capacious, and con- 

 tains relatively very large lungs, capable of inhaling 

 enough oxygen to purify the blood, the circulation of 

 which is greatly increased by rapid exercise. The 

 loins, on the contrary, are extremely retracted, as 

 if they were intended to compensate for the extra 

 weight of the large chest. We have noticed a sim- 

 ilar shape in the Long-armed Apes, or Gibbons, 



and the Cheetah, and we find it in a great many 

 other animals, always as an unmistakable proof of 

 capacity for swift and enduring motion. The limbs 

 of the Greyhound are exceedingly fine, and every 

 muscle in them, and especially the strong tendons 

 in which the muscles terminate, are plainly visible. 

 But the chest also shows all the intercostal muscles, 

 and some Greyhounds look as if their muscles had 

 already been laid bare by a skillful dissector. The 

 tail is very thin, rather long, reaching below the 

 ankle-joints, and either hangs down or the Dog 

 extends it horizontally behind him with a slight 

 upward curve. The hair is usually thick, fine and 

 smooth, but in some varieties it is longer and also 

 assumes a hue different from that of the others, most 

 breeds being of a tawny hue. The most perfect 

 Greyhounds, namely, those of Persia and central 

 Africa, are nearly always of this color. Spotted 

 Greyhounds are more rare and always weaker than 

 those of a uniform color. 



Traits and The Greyhound differs from other 



Uses of the Dogs in his mental qualities. He is 



Greyhound. an exceedingly selfish animal, being, 



as a rule, not very faithful to his master, but liking 



/// A^f/rrer£_ 



THE GERMAN MASTIFF. A famous bi 



nd great sagacity; a kind friend, but a powerful anta 



■ has been 

 familiaris moloss 



bout tha 

 ) 



ed of Dogs, popular i 

 onist. Perhapsno anir 

 :'s "Dog of the Empin 



Germany, of strong and vigorous build 

 al of modern times is more widely known 

 "a fine specimen of this breed. [Cants 



to be petted by everybody and inclining to any one 

 who is kind to him. If his master treats him with 

 unvarying kindness, he is pleased and becomes to 

 a certain extent attached to him; but his unfaithful- 

 ness displays itself when somebody else pets him 

 more than his master. This faithlessness is histor- 

 ical. When Edward III. died his Greyhound left 

 him at the very instant and went over to his 

 enemies. However, there are praiseworthy excep- 

 tions among the Greyhounds, individuals which are 

 scarcely inferior to other Dogs in point of affection 



