INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 97 



writer who notices that peculiarity, would scarcely 

 have mentioned it as such in Persia, if it had been 

 known among any breed of dogs in Greece. 



The Alopecides of Sparta seem not to have been 

 valued, when, according to Xenophon, who com- 

 pares them with the Castorides, they were under- 

 sized, and, consequently, wanting in audacity and 

 perseverance; their principal use was in securing 

 small game. Yet, according to Nicander, the Cas- 

 torides were dun-coloured dogs, of a similar vulpine 

 origin as the Alopecides of Laconia and Amorgia. 

 Amyclea, where they were bred, being a town of 

 Laconia, and the birth-place of Castor and Pollux. 

 Festus calls them, " Sagaces canes ex vulpe et 

 cane." But as crossing breeds was constantly prac- 

 tised, the Spartan, on other occasions, are highly 

 praised ; and then, no doubt, were fit to grapple 

 with the larger animals of the chase. These, pro- 

 bably, were the Castorides of Xenophon. 



Among the breeds of dogs known to the classical 

 writers of antiquity, by report more than by per- 

 sonal information, was that styled Elymaaan. It 

 seems to have belonged to the Elymaai, a tribe of 

 the deserts bordering on Bactria and Hircania, but 

 to have extended as far as Egypt ; for it is depicted 

 on the monuments of Thebes. Cirino, and the 

 commentator on Fracastors Alcon, show the pro- 

 bability, that from this name arose the modern 

 appellation of Lyemer, in French, Limier, applied 

 to the blood-hound, because it was formerly used 

 to track game, such as wild boar, c., through the 



