228 



Nor is there in any of the classics ascribed to other 

 dogs the habitual distinction of pulling down a bull, 

 noticed by Claudian. 



Magnaque taurorum fracturas colla Britannse. 



In Stil. 3. 



Recent experiments have confirmed the result of 

 those instituted in the reign of James I. ; and al- 

 though our dogs are now of a smaller breed, four 

 have still proved more than a match for a caged 

 lion. 



The bull-dog is possessed of less sagacity and less 

 attachment than any of the hound tribe; he is there- 

 fore less favoured, and more rarely bred with care, 

 excepting by professed amateurs of sports and feel- 

 ings little creditable to humanity. In stature the 

 present race is of moderate size, but entirely 

 moulded for strength and elasticity; the head is 

 large; the forehead sinks between the eyes, and 

 the line of the nose rises again at a considerable 

 angle ; the lower jaw projects beyond the upper, 

 often showing the teeth, which altogether, with the 

 frequent redness about the eyelids, produces a most 

 forbidding aspect ; the ears are partially drooping, 

 unless the terrier blood is crossed in the animal ; 

 and the tail is carried high. The present breed is 

 commonly ochry or reddish buff, with the nose and 

 chops alone black. Formerly when the brindled 

 breed, always preferred on the Continent, was ex- 

 ported for strengthening the wolf and boar packs of 

 hounds, the ears were always cropped; and we 

 have seen leathern armour, consisting of a breast- 

 piece and cap, with holes for the eyes, made of 



