BOARHOUND.—Canis fomiliaris. 
successful attack on so dangerous and powerful a brute as the boar, The greyhound 
element is required in order to give the Dog sufficient speed for overtaking the boar, which 
is a much swifter animal than would be supposed from his apparently unwieldy and 
heavy frame. The admixture of the mastiff is needed to give it the requisite muscular 
power and dimensions of body, and the terrier element is introduced for the sake of 
obtaining a sensitive nose, and a quick, spirited action. 
As might be imagined would be the case with an animal which derives its origin from 
these sources, the Boarhound varies very considerably in form and habits, according to the 
element which may preponderate in the individual. A Dog in which the greyhound 
nature is dominant will be remarkably long of limb and swift of foot; one in whose 
parentage the mastiff takes the greatest share will be proportionately large and powerful ; 
while the Dog in whose blood is the strongest infusion of the terrier will not be so swift 
or so large as the other two, but will excel them in its power of scent and its brisk 
activity of movement. 
To train the Dog rightly to his work is a matter of some difficulty, because a mistake 
is generally fatal, and puts an end to further instruction by the death of the pupil. It is 
comparatively easy to train a pointer or a retriever, because, if he fails in his task through 
over-eagerness or over-tardiness, the worst consequence is, that the sportsman loses his 
next shot or two, and the Dog is corrected for his behaviour. But if a Boarhound rushes 
too eagerly at the bristly quarry, he will in all probability be laid bleeding on the ground 
by a rapid stroke from the boar’s tusks, and if he should hang back and decline the 
combat, he is just as likely to be struck by an infuriated boar as if he were boldly 
