35 2 British Dogs. 



the advantage of the outer coat may be in throwing off the rain and sleet, 

 unless the dog were also provided with the inner coat, which not only 

 excludes the wet, but keeps him warm, he would be unable to withstand 

 the rigorous climate of the Scotch Highlands. The swine native to the 

 northern parts of Scotland were covered with short wool, and the sheep 

 of Shetland and Iceland had, in addition to their wool, an outer covering 

 of hair. 



" How long Nature might take to change the coat of any animal it is 

 impossible to say, but in the case of the Skye terrier there was at least 

 three centuries during which the process of adaptation to climate might 

 be going on. That it would require such a length of time is not likely. 

 The fact that the descendants of dogs brought from Skye about forty 

 years ago, and which have all along been carefully housed and fed, con- 

 tinue to exhibit the same peculiarity of coat, shows that it does not 

 change readily, and that the adaptation must have been completed long 

 before these dogs left the island, else the hereditary influences could not 

 be so great. Martin, Pennant, Macculloch, and others, who wrote of the 

 Hebrides, informs us that the houses of the inhabitants were of the 

 rudest description in their time, and where men are themselves badly 

 housed it is not likely they would pay much attention to the kennels of 

 their dogs. That Skyes were left a good deal to their own resources at 

 one period of their history some of their habits sufficiently prove. 



"A gentleman who wrote about forty years ago says of them: ' The 

 terriers which I have had of this breed show some curious habits, unlike 

 most other dogs. I have observed that, when young, they frequently 

 make a kind of seat under a bush or hedge, where they will sit for hours 

 together, crouched like a wild animal. Unlike most other dogs, too, 

 they will eat (though not driven by hunger) almost anything that is given 

 them, such as raw eggs, the bones and meat of wild ducks or wood 

 pigeons and other birds, that every other kind of dog, however hungry, 

 rejects with disgust. In fact, in many particulars their habits resemble 

 those of wild animals ; they always are excellent swimmers, taking 

 the water quietly and fearlessly when very young.' It is only in young 

 animals that the habits of remote ancestors can be seen. Training 

 speedily obliterates all trace of them. 



" It is seldom they quarrel amongst themselves ; however, if they do 

 begin, they fight viciously and take every opportunity of having a new 



