INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 117 



perhaps be solved, by presuming, that the New- 

 foundland breed of dogs, being then probably only 

 first introduced, the pretended hybrid was either of 

 that race, or a cross with a mastiff, having had the 

 tail cut off, and the ears, if not then erect, set up, 

 by scarifying their internal surface. As these ani- 

 mals did not at first bark, their howling was well 

 calculated to deceive the unwary ; and their wild 

 and active manners are not even now entirely sub- 

 dued in their native country. There are, however, 

 in Russia, dogs that might pass for this kind of 

 hybrid, as will be noticed in the account of the 

 Siberian varieties. 



