THE DOG 21 



together, and will seize on an individual only in case he 

 undertakes to break away. They will generally use no more 

 force than is necessary to reduce the recalcitrant to order. 

 They arrest him by catching hold of the leg or fleece, and 

 rarely seize hold of the throat, which other dogs, led by their 

 inherited instincts, are apt at once to assail. Very rarely 

 does a shepherd-dog of good ancestry, even at the outset of 

 his career, attack a sheep in a way which shows that the 

 ancient proclivities have been revived in his spirit. Even 

 then a little remonstrance, or at most a slight castigation, is 

 pretty sure to turn him from his evil ways. If we could 

 measure in some visible manner the psychic peculiarities of 

 animals, we would be led to regard this great change in the 

 instincts of the dog, which has been brought about by his use 

 in herding, as perhaps the most momentous transformation 

 which man has ever accomplished in any creature, including 

 himself ; for none of our own inherited savage traits are so 

 completely sublated at the time of our birth as is this old 

 and sometime dominant slaying motive in the shepherd-dog. 



With the advancing differentiation of human occupations 

 and amusements, our breeds of dogs have, by more or less 

 deliberate selection, been developed until by form and 

 instincts they fit a great variety of purposes. Some of these 

 pertain to industrial work, but the greater portion are related 

 to the sports or fancies of men. The turnspit was bred for 

 its short legs and small, compact body, and was serviceable 

 in those treadmills of the hearth which have long since 

 passed out of use, but which were for centuries features in 

 our kitchens. 



The massive type of bull-dogs, characterized by "heavy 

 frames and an indomitable will, appears to have been brought 



