240 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Varieties of Dogs. 



Spaniels, Setter, Cocker, Springer. 

 Newfoundland dog. (Smith, Dogs, t. 5.) 

 Water-Spaniel and Poodles. 

 Scotch Terrier and stout-legged Spaniel. 



The popular nomenclature of dogs is very loose and indefi- 

 nite : thus both terriers and spaniels are called Scotcli terriers ; 

 any long and slender-legged dog is called a greyhound, espe- 

 cially if it has a slender nose ; and dogs are called different 

 varieties on the most trivial characters, as the extent of the 

 feathering on the legs or of the hair on the feet, the presence 

 or absence of the small internal toe or dew-claw, and the ex- 

 tent of the membrane between the bases of the toes. 



By careful breeding and weeding, all the characters of 

 either of these classes of variation may be kept more or less 

 pure, the colour and the nature of the fur being as permanent 

 and necessary for the purity of the breed as the form and 

 proportion of the different parts of the animal. 



From the accidental commingling of dogs at large, there 

 are formed hybrids between almost all established and re- 

 cognized breeds of dogs ; but the results of such illicit con- 

 nexion are much more rare than one might expect, the pups 

 arising from such careless breeding being very commonly de- 

 stroyed, from the contempt with which they are universally 

 regarded by all classes of persons, the dog-fanciers, even 

 among the poorest classes, always calling such dogs curs and 

 valueless. It is curious to see even young boys, who, no 

 doubt, take their cue from some dog-fancier of their acquaint- 

 ance, from whom they learn the points of a pure breed, say of 

 such a puppy or dog that it is only a cur and not worth 

 having. It is a general belief that the offspring of such dogs, 

 even of the same litter, have an inclination to return more or 

 less completely to the breed of one of the parents ; but of this 

 I have no certain knowledge, and the instances of the breeding 

 of such curs in that manner must be comparatively rare. 



I have a friend who has a dog that Avas bred between a 

 greyhound and a terrier bitch ; it is black and tan, most beau- 

 tifully formed, intermediate in contour between the two pure 

 breeds ; but on showing the dog to a country boy, he at once 

 said he would not keep such a dog ; it was only a " cur not 

 worth a shilling ; it was neither a good greyhound nor a good 

 terrier, a regular mongrel cur ;" and, beautiful as the animal 

 is to unsophisticated, or, rather, uneducated eyes, it is regarded 

 with contempt in the village. 



