86 DECREASE OF THE RED DEER. 



the sole remnant of her aboriginal animals, when Ireland wag 

 in her wild and independent condition. 



" This is one of the largest of the canine race, with an air at once 

 beautiful, striking, and majestic. He has been known to grow to the 

 extraordinary height of four feet, although the general standard is about 

 three feet. 



" In shape the Irish greyhound somewhat resembles the common grey- 

 hound, only that he is much larger and more muscular in his formation, 

 clumsy in all his different parts, and is quite unserviceable in hunting 

 either the stag, fox, or hare. His chief use in former times was in clearing 

 the country of wolves and wild boars, for which his great size and strength 

 peculiarly adapted him. 



" The colour of the Irish greyhound is a pale cinnamon or fawn. His 

 aspect is mild, and his disposition gentle and peaceable. It is said he 

 is greatly an overmatch for either the mastiff or bull-dog; and when 

 he fights he generally seizes his antagonist by the back, and shakes 

 him to death, which his great strength enables him to do with ease. 



" M. Buffon supposes the great Danish dog to be only a variety of the 

 Irish greyhound : and Mr. Pennant was of opinion that the French matin 

 and the Albanian dog were also varieties of the same. 



" The Irish greyhound is now rarely to be met with, even in his native 

 country. 



" The Marquis of Sligo is among the few individuals who possess 

 that fine animal in a state of tolerable purity ; he keeps a number at 

 "Westport, in the county of Mayo, Ireland, where there is a person em- 

 ployed to look after them. It is said that great care is necessary to 

 preserve the breed, and keep them in good health. 



" Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq. one of the vice-presidents of the 

 Linnaean Society, took the measure of one of the Marquis of Sligo's dogs, 

 which was as follows : * From the point of the nose to the tip of the 

 tail, sixty-one inches ; tail, seventeen and a half inches long ; from the 

 tip of the nose to the back part of the skull, ten inches ; from the back 

 part of the skull to the beginning of the tail, thirty-three inches ; from 

 the toe to the top of the fore shoulder, twenty-eight inches and a half; 

 the length of the leg, sixteen inches ; from the point of the hind toes to 

 the top of the hind shoulders, thirteen inches ; from the point of the 

 nose to the eye, four inches and a half; the ears, six inches long; round 

 the widest part of the belly, (about three inches from the fore legs), 

 thirty-five inches ; twenty- six inches round the hind part, close to the 

 hind legs ; the hair short and smooth ; the colour of some brown and 

 white, of others black and white/ 



" They seem good-tempered animals, but from the accounts Mr. Lam- 

 bert received, it is obvious that they must have degenerated, particularly 

 in point of size. 



" Dr. Goldsmith says he has seen a dozen of these dogs, and assures 

 us the largest was about four feet high, and as tall as a calf of a 

 year old." 



We are sorry to remark, that Captain Brown's statement, " that the 

 Irish greyhound is still preserved by the Marquis of Sligo," &c. is totally 



