48 



DOMESTICATED HUNTING-DOGS, 



THE IRISH GREYHOUND, OR WOLF-DOG. 



This fine animal is now, I believe, extinct, though there are still 

 some gentlemen who maintain that they possess the breed in all 

 Its pristine purity of blood. They are much larger than the deer- 

 hound, some of them being 35 or even 38 inches high, but resem- 

 bling that dog in shape, being generally of a fawn color, with a 

 rough coat and pendent ears. They were formerly used for the 

 purpose of hunting the wolf. 



THE MATIN. 



The French m:itin is not a very distinct dog, comprehending an 

 immense variety of animals, which in England would be called 

 lurchers, or sheep dogs, according to the uses to which they are 

 put The head has the elongated form of this division of the dog, 

 with a flat forehead ; the ears stand up, but are pendulous towards 

 the tip, and the color varies from red to fawn. He is about 24 

 inches high, has strong muscular action, and is very courageous, 

 being employed in hunting the wild boar and wolf. This dog is 

 said, by F. Cuvier, to be the progenitor of the greyhound and 

 deerhound ; but Pennant, on the contrary, considers him to be de^ 

 scended from the Irish wolf-dog. 



