578 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



In one respect, the grand characteristics of the Mastiff 

 have undergone little change I might almost say none as 

 compared with the vast changes that have occurred in 

 physical conformation. One of the very earliest English 

 writers on dogs Doctor Cains, I think mentions "the 

 Mastie that keepyth the house." Bingley gives the 

 Mastiff a reputation for wise discrimination, careful 

 watchfulness, vigilance, and fondness for affording pro- 

 tection, that seems an inherent characteristic of the race 

 from its origin to the present day. I have known pets of 

 the show ring, dogs of the bluest of blue blood, such as 

 Lord Raglan (brother to the famous Champion Orlando), 

 Boadicea (by Rajah), Persephone (by Debonair ex a Crown 

 Prince bitch), the long-faced, snipy Gipsey, and others of 

 her ilk, to display the same general measure of wisdom as 

 watch-dogs; and it is as the watch-dog par excellence that 

 the Mastiff is admired. Undoubtedly dogs of other breeds, 

 and even mongrels, often (but not generally) display the 

 same traits that so glorify the Mastiff. For instance, I 

 know that the Champion St. Bernard Barry was eminent 

 in this respect; but I also know that in this respect Mas- 

 tiffs average very much higher than any other breed. I 

 have owned and known, intimately, with abundant oppor- 

 tunity to study them, fully a hundred Mastiffs, and in 

 that number there was but one real savage dog; but one 

 that would attack except as a last resort. Let me illus 

 trate and in so doing I must perforce repeat stories I 

 have told before. An old woman came to my house to 

 stay for a fortnight. Being fond of dogs, she soon gained 

 Gipsey' s confidence, and Gipsey seemed as fond of her as 

 of any member of my family. A week or so after the old 

 woman left my house, she came back to get some vege- 

 tables, and the cook, knowing Gipsey' s friendliness toward 

 the old woman, gave the latter a basket, and directed her 

 to the garden, where she began to pick tomatoes. Gipsey, 

 espying this, put a stop to it by pushing the woman away; 

 but finding these intimations insufficient, she bristled up 

 and growled at her. The old woman, in great distress, 



