I D O 



a* it shows that there 13 some physiological relation 

 between the fury of dogs when excited to a very high 

 pitch and the dreadful malady of canine madness, or 

 hydrophobia ; for whether as displayed in the dog 

 itself, or in those dreadful instances of human suffer- 

 ing which follow from the bite of a rabid animal, there 

 is an indescribable horror of water, altogether inde- 

 pendent of the difficulty of swallowing that or any 

 other liquid. So remarkable is this that 'the very 

 sight of water appears to shake the whole nervous 

 system to pieces, and from the terrific expression of 

 it the feeling itself must be dreadful. 



If a bull-dog attempts to attack or to bite any part 

 of an animal except the head or throat, he is con- 

 sidered us being of inferior breed, and not wholly a 

 murderer in his disposition, which is the character 

 that procures him the highest estimation among that 

 description of persons who keep bull-dogs. Those 

 dogs are not now so numerous, or held in such high 

 estimation, as they were in former times ; and we be- 

 lieve we may say, that the keeping of them for what 

 is called "sport" is confined to the very lowest and 

 least reputable characters, whatever may be their 

 nominal rank in society. Formerly, however, the 

 savage practice of baiting bulls publicly was very 

 much in vogue ; and it was then held as having no 

 mean place among what were called " manly sports " 

 in England, though they were in truth "beastly cruel- 

 ties." In the reign of Henry II. bull-baiting was an 

 amusement of the London populace. Nay, much 

 more recently, Queen Mary entertained the French 

 ambassadors two successive days with an exhibition 

 of this kind in the year 1559. Queen Elizabeth, her 

 sister, repeated it to the ambassadors from Denmark 

 in 1586, and : what is more extraordinary, the former 

 was herself among the spectators. Paul Hentzner, 

 still later, describes the cruel diversion of the English 

 people, to whom the baiting of bulls, bears, and bad- 

 gers was familiar ; and there is even reason to believe 

 that the horse was sometimes publicly worried to 

 death, to glut their savage appetites for a brutal spec- 

 tacle. On all these and similar occasions, Such as 

 when a bull, jointly pursued by the dogs and their 

 masters, was hunted down or bruised to death with 

 clubs, the minstrels, a miscreant crew, claimed the 

 slaughtered animal as a perquisite. It is long since 

 the worrying of bulls in London was prohibited, but 

 the practice was widely extended ; and the ring to 

 which the bull was chained for the certainty of under- 

 going aggravated torment, is still extant in many 

 towns and villages, where they are sometimes con- 

 verted to use. It is in all probability, from the " bull 

 ring" being the regular place of rendezvous for all 

 sorts of savage sports, and not from the form of the 

 enclosure used on such occasions, that the place 

 whore, for a time, the bull-dogs of the human race 

 continued the " sport," by mauling one another, first 

 obtained the name of the ring. These things have 

 fortunately, however, had their day ; and future ages 

 will be astonished that, not many years ago, the prac- 

 tice of bull-baiting was defended in the British parlia- 

 ment as a means of improving the spirit of the people. 



THE MASTIFF. This is one of the most powerful of 

 the whole race of dogs, and, for the purposes to which 

 he is applied, one of the most serviceable. His aspect 

 is not quite so expressive of unmingled ferocity as 

 that of the bull-dog ; and when he is not aroused, 

 there is a considerable expression of repose, and even 

 of dignity, about him. Those who profess to be 



NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



321 



most deeply learned in the pedigree and progressive 

 history of dogs describe the mastiff as an original 

 English breed ; and we believe it is true that mastiffs 

 were formerly much more numerous in England than 

 they are at present, and that in those earlier times 

 the breed was less contaminated by crosses, and the 

 animals altogether of superior quality. It is under- 

 stood that English mastiffs, as well as English blood- 

 hounds, were known and esteemed in the time of the 

 Romans, though it is perhaps not very easy to say 

 what varieties were then meant, or now far they 

 agree with or differ from those of the present time. 

 There are certainly not so many mastiffs in the con- 

 tinental countries as there are in Britain ; the watch- 

 dogs there usually partake more of the character of 

 the wolf-dog, or of the French martier. 



As it is only in the character of a watcher that the 

 mastiff is valuable, it is easy to see why the use of 

 him in this country should have fallen off. When 

 police regulations were much less attended to, the 

 population thinly scattered, and the moral habits 

 of the people, in matters of meum and tuum, rather 

 lower, the services of the watch-dog were in general 

 requisition ; and both the strength and ferocity of 

 the dog, and the loud alarm which he is capable of 

 giving, were of great service, the one to check the 

 depredator, and the other to arouse the inmates of 

 the house. Though this dog, like the bull-dog, 

 always attacks in front, and aims his attack in a 

 deadly manner, yet he does not, like that animal, 

 attack without warning given. The bull-dog, as a 

 watcher, ought never to be kept in any other way 

 than chained, because he bites without previously 

 giving mouth, bites indiscriminately or capriciously 

 and, even when he is successful in seizing one of a 

 party, he gives no alarm to afford security against the 

 others. The mastiff, by giving an alarm, always 

 warns on the one hand, and calls attention on the 

 other ; and a thorough-bred mastiff, if not kept on 

 the chain, will not bite unless something under his 

 charge is attempted to be taken hold of by some one 

 with whose person he is not familiar. If chained, he 

 is far more ferocious, and flies indiscriminately at all 

 strangers that come within his reach, while, if the 

 animal is powerful, and the chain at all fragile, his 

 violence is apt to tear it asunder. It seems, indeed, 

 that this chaining up completely destroys the more 

 valuable qualities of the mastiff, and inflames -all his 

 bad ones ; for, when he is allowed his freedom, he 

 does not show much ferocity, unless the circumstances 

 are such that, according to his training, there is cause 

 and justification for his rage. In extensive yards 

 and manufactories, where a mastiff is duly fed and 

 watered, and left to his range, it is rather pleasant to 

 observe with what dignity, and in how business-like 

 a manner, he does his duty. All the people employed 

 about the work, and also those who come at tlie 

 regular hours, and in the regular way of business, 

 are quite unnoticed by him ; but, if any one is 

 prowling about, or comes when the people about the 

 place are all at rest, the mastiff instantly has an eye 

 upon him, watches his motions with the most scrupu- 

 lous attention, barks on the least offer of interference 

 with anything under his charge, and attacks whenever 

 interference is actually made. There are many in- 

 stances, too, in which this dog has taken prisoners, 

 and kept them, without doing them any injury, 

 compelling them to stand fast, without advancing or 

 rclreaiing, under dread of the severest penalty. Nor 

 X 



