1793- » on varieties of domestic animals. 123 
_miastiff, becomes a greyhouad; which by another 
change of climate, scarce perceptible, is metamor- 
phosed into the large Irifh dog.—These surprising. 
transformations might figure very well in Ovid, but 
do not tally quite so well with the character of a phi- 
losophic natural historian. 
** The bull-dog, (he farther goes on), when trans- 
** ported into Denmark, becomes the little Danifh 
«* dog ; and this little Danifn dog, sent into warm 
** climates, becomes the Turkifh dog without hair.”” 
In the last paragraph, we saw the mastiff in a 
morthern climate encrease in size, and become the 
large Danifh dog :—here his brother the bull dog, 
by a like change of place, dwindles into the small 
Danith dog.—How it fhould happen, that the same 
change of climate fhould produce changes so diame- 
trically opposite, remains to be explained. ——When 
this little Danifh dog, however is sent back to milder 
climates again, he does not recover his former size, 
or grow larger, like the mastiff; but by another 
metamorphosis, altogether as extraordinary, be- 
comes the naked Turkifh dog. The hound, the 
- full brother of this mastiff, we saw on a former oc- 
casion, when carried ‘to the warm coast of Barbary, 
got a coat of longer hair, and became a spaniel ; 
this one loses his hair entirely. 
Can any thing be more contrary to reason, expe- 
rience, aod facts that every man has before his 
eyes every day in his life, than the above hypo- 
thesis ! 
It is humiliating for the pride of man, who 
plumes himself on the superiority of reason to re« 
